President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines has declared an official “state of calamity” in Misamis Occidental province as the country continues to grapple with heavy rain, flooding and landslides since the beginning of January.
Data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council shows that at least 28 people have died in January while more than 211,000 people have been displaced in the island country that is ranked among the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate-related disasters albeit it is a minor contributor to global climate change.
Torrential rains have occurred nearly every day this month and have destroyed homes, agriculture and infrastructure across the country. The downpours are happening even though the Philippines is normally in its cool, dry season from December to February. Misamis Occidental, the Northern Mindanao region and the Eastern Visayas in central Philippines are among the affected areas.
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Every year, the Philippines is typically hit with 20 typhoons and roughly six to nine storms that make landfall annually while the country also experiences frequent landslides and floods that are partly a result of the increasing intensity of tropical cyclones.
The president said there must be a long-term solution to the flooding in the country when he was recently overseeing aid distribution in Misamis Occidental.
“We are looking at everything to find a solution,” Marcos said last week. “But in the long term, we need to think about how we can do it so that this never happens again.”
The deadly flooding this month has prompted fears over how climate change is triggering more frequent and intense extreme weather across the country. Typhoons, sea level rise and storm surge, all of which put the Philippines’ urban and coastal populations at high risk, are expected to intensify as climate change worsens.
Story was adapted from CNBC.
