Philippines lashed by rain. by Jo Farrow
Heavy rains have certainly taken their toll on the Philippines in the last week. It has been reported that in the last week 20 people have been killed in landslides, while several million Pesos (around £1000,000) of crops have been destroyed, including many livestock.
In the southern Philippines at least four people have been killed and thousands of families split up as the government forced an evacuation of the region. Thousands had to flee their homes after three days of continuous rain which made the river levels rise so much that they burst their banks and caused widespread flooding.
Since Monday 6th of February 416mm (16.3 inches) of rain has fallen in the town of Tacloban which is nearly double the average for the whole month (211mm). Even more rain fell in Surigao where 836mm (32.9 inches) has fallen since Monday and is again nearly double the monthly rainfall (422mm).
Government meteorologists have all said that there is an unusual weather situation in the Philippines at the moment, marked by un-seasonal monsoon rains and the onset of a phenomenon known as La Niña.
The La Niña phenomenon is being blamed for above normal rainfall in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam while China, Japan and Russia are experiencing colder than normal winter. The phenomenon should develop further over the coming months, definitely one to watch out for…
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