Days before Kristine (international name: Trami) developed into a severe tropical storm, the Philippine Sea was warmer than usual. Under the warming climate, the typhoon-prone Bicol Region is more vulnerable with decimated forests. Both Camarines Sur and Albay saw a net loss of tree cover from 2000 to 2020, according to Global Forest Watch.
“We might need semi-dam dikes to hold the river’s water capacity, while the Bato Lake needs desiltation. But our urgent need is to block the side of the river with collapsed dike,” Mayor Domingo Escoto Jr. said.
Provinces in the south were hit the hardest while a “state of calamity” has been declared in the city of Cotabato where some 67,000 residents have been affected by the storm.
Farmer Edgardo Gases and the thousands of affected families in the province are getting by through relief aids and with the help of relatives working in Manila.
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat.com It is no longer raining hard in Metro Manila and in most parts of the country. The skies are cloudy, rain showers are intermittent and hardly a cause for concern. That is why the damage wrought by the monsoon rains three to four weeks ago has almost been forgotten, except by…
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Analysis When Pagasa announced, early this week, that typhoon Chedeng might hit the country, local government officials frantically inspected and dredged rivers, canals, and drainage systems. They readied rubber boats and set up an emergency communication system. President Aquino called on his administration to aim for zero casualty. The people living near…