Mild La Niña hits the Philippines

Cebu Daily News (Philippines): Brace yourself for more rains in the next few days as the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Association (PAGASA) warned the public on Tuesday of the effects of a mild La Niña in the country. Engineer Oscar Tabada, senior weather forecaster, told Cebu Daily News on Tuesday that PAGASA has noted an increase in the average rainfall in the region from October this year.

Tabada said Central Visayas, particularly Cebu, had more than its average rainfall last month. Rains continued to pour in the first week of November causing floods in various towns and cities of the province.

“Based on our bulletin in October, we usually average 18 days of rain but we already recorded almost 30 days of rainfall in October. This is an indication that we are experiencing mild La Niña in the region, particularly in Cebu. It's possible that the weather will neutralize, but if the trend continues, we will continue experiencing rains and the so-called La Niña,” he said. Tabada said flash floods or landslides are likely to occur and diseases spread more easily during rainy weather. He said more rains are expected as PAGASA sighted a low pressure area in east northern Mindanao which might develop into a storm.

“We're now experiencing a climate change. We should be averaging 19 to 20 tropical cyclones by December, but Kabayan, which was the latest storm to hit the country was the 11th storm. We are still short of about eight to nine storms this year,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Civil Defense, through its regional disaster coordinating council (RDCC), is monitoring at least 11 areas in Central Visayas that are prone to flash floods and landslides. This month, floodwaters claimed two lives in Balamban, while in Carmen, crops were damaged, said Neil Sanchez, RDCC coordinator. Damage to crops in Barangay (village) Fuente and Luyang has been estimated to cost P300,000.

Sanchez said the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Talisay and Naga, as well as the towns of Minglanilla, Consolacion and Balamban are flood-prone areas….