Tropical Storm “Wilma” (TS30W) made landfall on the morning of Monday 4 November 2013 in Surigao del Sur province on the island of Mindanao in the Republic of Philippines, thereafter weakening into a tropical depression. Nevertheless, flash-floods caused by “Wilma”, known outside the Philippines Area of Responsibility (PAR) as “Thirty”, damaged 59 houses in Loreto Barangay and 24 houses in Rosario, two villages in the municipality of Cortes on Bohol Island. The 18m long wooden bridge connecting Barangays Alegria and Baang in Catigbian was washed away by floods, being displaced some 75m downstream. The Bohol Provincial Engineer’s Office began work on a replacement bridge on Monday afternoon, in order to speed up delivery of relief supplies to villages in the mountain areas affected by 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck on 15 October. Construction of the new wooden pedestrian bridge was estimated to cost P1.2m (US$27,727). Motorists will need to make a detour to a cement bridge in Liboron to reach the Poblacion, the Engineer’s Office said. Other bridges in the area also suffered damage, including a wooden hanging bridge that linked the villages of Tupas and Loreto in Antequera town in Bohol, as show below.
It is reported that the towns of Calape, Tubigon and Clarin were also affected by flooding.
Moving westwards, “Wilma” passed over Palawan Island on Tuesday 5 November, causing flooding that led to the evacuation of 146 families from their homes in Duamaran and Roxas. Two municipal bridges were reported to have collapsed due to the flooding, and a further two provincial bridges made impassable.
“Thirty” (Wilma) made landfall in southern Vietnam on the morning of 6 November and is expected to emerge as a low pressure area over the Gulf of Thailand on the evening of 7 November after passing over southern Cambodia.
Following closely on the track of TS30W is TS31W, named “Haiyan”, known in the PAR as “Yolanda”, which is approximately 1 500km east of Mindanao, with sustained winds of 120km/h, gusting up to 150km/h, and is moving at 30km/h towards the central Philippines. “Yolanda” is classed as a Tropical Storm, but is expected to strengthen into a Category 5 ‘Supertyphoon’ with peak wind intensity of 240km/h within the next 48 hours. The typhoon is forecast to make landfall on southern Leyte Island in the early hours of Friday 8 November 2013.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) can expect occasional heavy rains and thunderstorms which may trigger flash floods and landslides.
Eddie Llamedo, spokesperson of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the region, said local governments in areas worst hit by the quake should resort to “proactive evacuation.”
These are Tagbilaran City and the towns of Baclayon, Corella, Cortes, Alburquerque, Panglao, Dauis, Loon, Calape, Catigbian, Balilihan, Batuan, Sagbayan and Carmen.
Isabelo Montejo, Central Visayas Director of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said authorities should keep people out of areas prone to landslides and flooding.
“It is very important that mayors and barangay captains pay attention to critical areas found highly vulnerable to flooding and landslides, which have been known to them and indicated in the geohazard threat advisory issued them,”
Sources:
Inquirer; Sunstar; GMA Network; Wunderground; WO Europe
