Recent Climate-Related Disasters

Philippines:

November 28, 2009 – Tropical depression Urduja

Four people were killed and 13 others injured when tropical depression “Urduja” pummeled several provinces in Mindanao, Philippines according to disaster officials.

Three of the fatalities occurred as a result of landslides triggered by heavy rain and flooding.

“A total of 82,324 families or 404,623 persons were affected in 93 barangays, four cities and 23 municipalities in the provinces of Camiguin, Lanao del Norte and Misamis Oriental in Northern Mindanao and Agusan del Norte and Dinagat Island in Caraga Region,” the NDCC reported.

“At the height of Tropical Depression ‘Urduja,’ 3,293 persons, 110 vehicles and 99 vessels were stranded in various ports in Southern Tagalog, Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao.”

Northeast Monsoons

In the first week of November,  Northeast Monsoons and strong winds affected up to 120,000 people in 165 districts throughout Mindanao, northern and eastern Luzon and other regions in the Philippines.

Argentina, Uruguay:

Severe flooding caused by the “heaviest rains in 50 years” have killed at least 10 people and forced 15,000 people to evacuate in northern parts of Argentina and Uruguay. The fatalities were caused by drowning and mudslides.

The recent heavy rain in the regions follows months of drought in NE Argentina. Extensive deforestation in the country’s northern regions has impacted the regional climate resulting in  extreme of  droughts and deluge.

The land use change, transforming forests  to agricultural land for growing soybeans, has negatively affected the soil’s water-carrying capacity, environmentalists say.

The local weather service has warned that a severe storm front could bring additional heavy rainfall, wind gusts and  hail this week.

Related Links:

• Storms, Extreme Rain Events, Floods, Landslides
• Drought and Deluge
• 500 Weather-Related Disasters A Year
• Environmental Disasters: Too Close for Comfort?
• Early “Dividends” of Climate Change