Severe weather

Citation

(2007), "Severe weather", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 16 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2007.07316dac.003

Severe weather

27 December 2006Thailand

A series of devastating floods which have devastated many provinces in Thailand’s South has caused over Bt500 million, US$12.5 million, in damage, with 26 deaths, while an urgent recovery effort is under way, said Interior Minister Kongsak Wanthana. The Interior Minister today reported to the Cabinet that eight southern provinces have been severely affected by the floods for almost two months. The flood losses have included many deaths, injuries and extensive property damage. The reported death toll is now at 26. Eight people were killed by mudslides in Songkhla province, while the other fatalities were mainly children in other provinces who drowned while splashing and playing with water. Air Chief Marshal Kongsak said that the current Bt500 million budget for relief operations may be insufficient; so the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation will give more financial help for all eight provinces, boosting the total budget for emergency relief efforts to Bt800 million, which he said would be sufficient for the current need. The urgent recovery efforts by state agencies concerned are now under way, including restoring and rebuilding infrastructure, local resident’s homes and farmland, he said. In addition to the flood-affected population in the South, relief efforts for those suffering the cold weather, especially in the North and the Northeast, are also proceeding. Blankets and clothing have been distributed in many rural areas, and, ACM Kongsak said, the prime minister himself might visit rural villages to distribute emergency supplies – clothing and blankets – to low-income people himself during the New Year holidays.

2 January 2006Indonesia

Flash floods have killed at least 26 people and swept away hundreds of houses in Indonesia’s East Java province overnight, police said today. “The number of deaths so far stands at 26. Families have reported missing members. We suspect there will be many more victims,” local police commissioner Teduh Tedjo said. More than 100 houses in the Kemiri village in Jember district were swept away while houses belonging to plantation workers nearby were also submerged, he said. Heavy rains have inundated the area since Saturday (December 31), he said. The state-run Antara news agency said hundreds of houses in four villages in Jember district had been swept away by the floods after the swollen Kaliputih river burst its banks.

3 January 2006

The death toll from floods and landslides that have devastated half a dozen villages in Indonesia’s East Java province has risen to 51. Most of those killed were living on hillside coffee plantations and riverbanks. Rescue workers are struggling to reach some villages that are still cut off. Hundreds of rescue workers and soldiers struggled today to reach villages devastated by floods and landslides in Indonesia’s East Java as the known death toll climbed to 63. Eddy Susilo, head of the Information Ministry branch in the town of Jember, not far from the scene, said the bodies of 61 villagers had been found. Two rescue workers had also drowned in swollen rivers today, he added. Heavy rains late on Sunday (January 1) triggered the floods and landslides at six hillside villages near Jember, around 800 km east of Jakarta. Most of the villagers lived on coffee plantations and river banks where many trees had been felled, stripping the area of natural protection from such a disaster. A few villages were still cut off because of collapsed bridges and landslides blocking access, said Muhammad Suryadi of the state disaster management agency. “Thousands have sought refuge and more than 300 can’t get out,” Suryadi said. As well as the fast-flowing rivers, sporadic rains was slowing evacuation efforts, rescue officials said. In Kemiri, around 100 soldiers used fallen trees to build emergency bridges to try to cross raging waterways and reach those in need. Mud was waist deep in some parts of Kemiri, where an avalanche of mud had flattened most houses along the river bank. Flooding and landslides are common in tropical Indonesia. Many mudslides are caused by illegal logging or clearing farmland that removes natural protection

4 January 2006

More than 200 people were listed missing and are feared dead, in a landslide that buried more than 100 houses in Indonesia’s crowded Central Java province early today, only days after a similar disaster in adjacent East Java province, which killed at least 58, officials said. “We have just got fresh reports from the scene that around 200 people were listed as missing and buried under tons of mud. Two bodies and two survivors were rescued so far,” Yulaika, a spokesperson of the Banjarnegara district office said. The landslide, triggered by several hours of torrential rain, buried at least 104 houses in Cijeruk village of Central Java’s Banjarnegara district, about 360 kilometres south-east of Jakarta, around 05:00, local time, (22:00, UTC, January 3) Yulaika said 44 residents escaped from the landslide and they were temporarily sheltered at other houses in a nearby village unaffected by the disaster. Rescue workers, comprising of military and police officers as well as volunteers, were digging out for possible survivors or bodies buried under tons of mud. Heavy equipment was sent to the scene to help the rescue workers. A resident said that the landslide had flattened more than 100 homes and ten survivors were brought to a nearby hospital with injuries. Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 58 from the flash floods and landslides that inundated East Java over the weekend after rescue workers discovered one more body, an official said. Triggered by heavy rains, rivers passing four sub-districts of East Java’s Jember regency overflowed, flooding thousands of homes and forcing residents to seek shelter at mosques and government buildings, according to Jember district spokesman. The torrential rains also triggered landslides, burying a number of houses. By this morning, up to 58 people have died from the floods and landslides. Many others were injured. Fifty-two of the dead were residents of Panti sub-district, the hardest-hit area, while the other six from three other sub-districts. Local social workers said emergency supplies and paramedics have been sent to the homeless residents, in an attempt to prevent the outbreak of disease among refugees. Environmentalists have blamed deforestation from illegal logging as the cause of the East Java flash flooding and landslides, claiming that the floods occurred after water catchment areas above the villages were destroyed by deforestation.

6 January 2006

Indonesian rescuers today searched for more bodies buried under tonnes of mud after massive landslides on Java Island, while helicopters flew food and medicine to some villagers still cut off. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would investigate whether environmental degradation had caused the disasters this week. The combined official death toll stands at 120. Soldiers and police used excavators to clear mud and logs off hundreds of flattened homes after torrential rains sent landslides crashing into several villages. Rescue officials said their efforts were being hampered by a lack of equipment, thousands of onlookers and those who lost their homes converging on the sites. Meteorologists have predicted more heavy rains for the country in the coming days. Officials said they had found 43 bodies so far at Sijeruk village in Central Java province, after a pre-dawn landslide on Wednesday (January 4). Arif Sudaryanto, head of the search and rescue agency in nearby Banjarnegara, said based on residents’ reports an estimated 40 people were still buried, much less than the hundreds some officials said they feared had died. In neighbouring East Java, rescuers have found 77 bodies from several villages hit by landslides and floods on Sunday. Arifin Muhaji of the Indonesian Red Cross said that helicopters were being used in East Java because some villagers were difficult to reach after bridges were washed away. “We have distributed tents, hygiene kits and food to them. Military helicopters are carrying the injured out,” he said. Speaking near the site of the East Java disaster, Yudhoyono promised action. “We will look in-depth at what has caused these landslides and floods, whether it is the stripping of forest or the destruction of forest,” Yudhoyono said in remarks carried on El Shinta radio after he visited some villagers made homeless. Floods and landslides are common in Indonesia, especially at this time of the year during the wet season. Many landslides are caused by illegal logging or the clearing of farmland that strips away natural barriers to such disasters. Officials have blamed rains for the Sijeruk landslide as the village lies at the foot of a tree-covered hill. Mud up to six metres high encased the remains of many homes, although not all were hit by the debris. However, logging has come under the spotlight around the East Java villages. Most residents there lived on coffee plantations and river banks where many trees had been felled. Meteorologists had predicted heavy rain in the coming days, raising fears of more landslides and floods, Red Cross official Muhaji said. The Indonesian Red Cross had put 50,000 volunteers on standby across Indonesia, he added. Flooding and small landslides have damaged roads and bridges this week in other parts of densely populated Java island, where 130 million of Indonesia’s 220 million people live. Sijeruk lies about 350 km east of Jakarta, while the East Java landslides occurred around 800 km east of the capital.

7 January 2006

Rescue workers carried on the grim task of searching for bodies today after pounding rains sent landslides crashing into several Indonesian villages, while the number of people listed as dead or missing fell to about 180. Authorities revised the figure after dozens of survivors were found to be staying with family or friends. Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promised to investigate the cause of the landslides that hit two mountainous regions of Java Island earlier this week, amid allegations that rampant logging played a role. But he suggested the best way to reduce casualties in the future would be to relocate people living in hilly regions and near fertile flood plains close to rivers. Heavy monsoon rains would likely continue through March, he noted. Bulldozers and excavators shoved aside mountains of mud and shattered wooden houses in the village of Cijeruk in central Java and several hamlets in Jember, hundreds of kilometres to the east. Hundreds of soldiers, police and volunteers also sifted through the mud and rocks. Some environmental groups have said rampant illegal logging was to blame for the landslides and flash floods, but government officials denied that. The number of bodies pulled from the mud in Jember, which was hit by flash floods and landslides on Jan 2, ranged from 78 to 108, according to local officials who had no explanation for the discrepancy. In Cijeruk, 52 bodies have been recovered and 23 other people were feared dead, said Feriyanto, an official at the local Crisis Centre.

2 January 2006 Kenya

Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki, has declared a state of national disaster in areas of the country hit by severe shortages of food and water following a prolonged drought, and appealed for donations to alleviate the plight of those affected. “In the next six months, up to 2.5 million of our people will be in need of famine relief,” he said in his New Year speech to the nation early yesterday. The region most affected by the drought is North-eastern Province where, according to news reports, at least 20 people died of malnutrition related illnesses in Mandera and Wajir districts. The situation is also critical in Marsabit District in the north. A significant proportion of farming households in the southeast and coastal lowlands are also under severe food stress, particularly in the Makueni, Kitui, Malindi, Kwale, Kilifi and Taita Taveta districts where long rains failed for the second consecutive year and the short rains were poor. Kibaki said the initial cost estimate for the provision of food was 11 billion Kenyan shillings (US$153 million). However, he said, additional aid will be required to meet other needs arising from the drought. Some of these needs include the provision of water for people and animals, education, healthcare, restocking of livestock, and distribution of seeds to farmers in preparation for the next crop season. The government has stepped up food aid deliveries to the worst affected districts in North-eastern Province, with the army transporting grain and water to some areas. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement it had allocated $326,073 from its disaster relief emergency fund to begin meeting immediate needs of those affected and to start detailed assessment activities.

29 December 2005 Mozambique

Heavy rains in Mozambique have killed at least three people and left thousands homeless since Sunday (December 25), the Lusa news agency reported today, citing officials in the south-eastern African country. The deaths occurred in the city of Nampula, the capital of the northern province with the same name, city officials told the agency. The rough weather damaged about 1,200 homes in Nampula, destroyed more than 100 homes in the capital of southern Gaza province, Xai-Xai, and left hundreds homeless in Beira, Mozambique’s second largest city, the agency said. The torrential rains follow a severe drought, which has left about one million people in the former Portuguese colony facing hunger.

3 January 2006

At least eight people died after heavy rain swept Mozambique and left about 1,700 families homeless, destroying roads and other infrastructure, a disaster management official said today. Radio Mozambique said 13 people had died in rainstorms over the last week in the central and northern regions of the country but disaster authorities contacted by Reuters could only confirm eight deaths. Officials were watching water levels in Mozambique’s major rivers after the Pungue river rose to 6.27 metres, just below the seven-metre flood alarm level, Mozambique Disaster Management spokesman Rogerio Manguele said. “The situation due to continued rains is worrisome. Our access links and the houses used by most of the population cannot resist the bad weather,” he said. Mozambique weather services predicted rain would continue to fall over the next four days, although with decreasing strength. Meteorologists have forecast normal to above-normal levels of rainfall in central and northern Mozambique through to the end of the rainy season in March, while the southern part of the country was expected to see normal to below-normal rain.

5 January 2006

Floods in central Mozambique have killed at least 15 people in two central provinces and left thousands homeless after heavy rains in the southern African country since Christmas, officials said yesterday. “We can confirm that ten people have died because of the floods and lightning, as well as a small boat that capsized,” said central Sofala provincial governor Alberto Vaquina, who had given a figure of 13 deaths on Tuesday (January 3). But Vaquina added the toll could still rise as provincial authorities have not yet received information and damage reports from all Sofala’s districts. He said Beira and at least three districts had been heavily affected by the torrential rains. Without giving exact numbers, Vaquina estimated that hundreds of families were left homeless and more than 4,000 hectares of crops have been destroyed. “We have also re-launched a provincial emergency committee which will coordinate any help needed in the disaster,” he said, adding that the committee will meet with UN officials to “co-ordinate the aid effort.” In northern Nampula province, Castro Namuaca, president of the municipal council for the provincial capital, also called Nampula, announced yesterday that three of 12 people taken to hospital had died. “More than 1,700 homes have been destroyed and around 9,000 people have been left homeless and schools destroyed,” Namuaca said. Two deaths were earlier reported in Nampula province. The Nampula provincial government had by yesterday put together about 600-million meticals to aid victims. Mozambican meteorologists said a tropical disturbance affecting Sofala and Nampula province was moving toward the south of the country and had already reached Inhambane province.

10 January 2006

At least 22 people have been swept to their death in Mozambique and thousands more have fled heavy rains there and in neighbouring South Africa and Malawi. Government officials in Mozambique said the death toll had risen sharply from the initial eight reported on January 3, and heavy rains were expected to continue until March, forcing the government to put the country on a cyclone alert. Rains had fuelled the spread of disease, with 114 cases of cholera reported in the central Sofala region, but Mozambique had contained the crisis well and there were no deaths from cholera, state administration minister Lucas Chomera said. “The death toll stands at 22. Heavy rains continue but there is no cause for alarm yet,” a senior emergency official said. Officials said Mozambique’s major rivers remained near the 7 m flood alarm level but were not a concern at the moment.

6 January 2006Japan

Japan was bracing for more snow today after some of the heaviest snowfall on record that has left 53 people dead and paralysed transport. Almost 13 ft of snow has piled up in the worst-hit areas of Niigata near the Japan Sea coast, though the snowiest season of the year is yet to come. Television pictures showed drifts burying the ground floors of houses and almost covering street lamps. A 93-year-old woman and her daughter were crushed to death in Ishikawa Prefecture, 186 miles northwest of Tokyo, yesterday when their house collapsed under the weight of the snow. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 53 people, including the latest fatalities, have died because of the inclement weather in the past few weeks, many of them elderly people trying to clear snow from their roofs. Akita prefecture in the north of Japan’s main island of Honshu, has been hit hard by snow in recent days. Many train passengers were left stranded in the area as services, including the high-speed bullet trains connecting Akita with Tokyo, came to a halt. “If the snow continues to fall, we will have to think about calling in the armed forces to help out,” a spokesman for a disaster management center in Akita City told the daily Asahi Shimbun. Japan’s Meteorological Agency said cold weather and heavier-than-usual snowfall would likely continue through January, caused by cold air flowing over the country from the North Pole. This is a phenomenon that occurs on a regular basis, but has lasted longer than usual this winter, an agency official said.

 7 January 2006

Heavy snowfall lashed western and northern Japan yesterday and is expected to continue through tomorrow as record amounts of snow wreaked havoc on transport, claiming 57 lives and injuring hundreds of people since the snow season started in early December, officials said. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of the possibility of avalanches and other weather-related incidents as well as further traffic disruption from snow and cold weather. Snow has damaged 579 houses, halted train operations in 15 sections of 14 rail lines and shut down traffic in 85 sections of roads across Japan. About 1.38 million houses have had temporary blackout, officials said.

8 January 2006

Heavy snow falls continue to cause chaos along the Sea of Japan coast, with the Hokuriku and Sanin areas in central and western Honshu being worse hit, the Meteorological Agency said. The snow claimed the lives of two people in Niigata Prefecture and one each in Nagano and Toyama prefectures over the past two days, bringing the death tool across the country to 57 since December. By 06:00 today, the cold air is estimated to have brought 80 centimetres of snow to Niigata Prefecture, up to 70 centimetres to Nagano and Hokkaido prefectures, and up to 50 centimetres to areas along the Sea of Japan coast in the Tohoku region, Gunma Prefecture, the Hokuriku region and the northern Kinki region. Furthermore, it is expected to bring about 40 centimetres of snow to Gifu Prefecture and the Chugoku region. At the request of the Nagano Prefectural Government, the Ground Self-Defence Force dispatched 113 members to the prefectural city of Iiyama to remove snow from the roofs of elderly people’s homes. A snowplough developed trouble while it was removing snow from the tracks of the Joetsu Shinkansen Line at Echigo-Yuzawa Station in Niigata Prefecture, forcing the suspension of services on the line for about an hour and delaying bullet trains by up to two-and-a-half hours. Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways cancelled 22 flights to and from Niigata Airport by 10:30 because of the snow.

 9 January 2006

The death toll from snow-related incidents since the start of the snow season in early December rose to 68 after a 57-year-old man tumbled down into an irrigation ditch when he tried to dispose of snow in Nagai, Yamagata Prefecture, yesterday evening. The Akita prefectural government, meanwhile, requested the Ground Self-Defence Force on the same day to deploy in the city of Akita, which has been hit by its heaviest snow in more than 30 years, to help elderly people living alone to remove the snow from their roofs, its officials said.

10 January 2006

The death toll from snow-related incidents since the start of the snow season in early December rose to 71 in 16 prefectures after three people were found dead yesterday, according to data compiled by Kyodo News. The three apparently died due to accidents that occurred during work to remove snow.

13 January 2006

The nationwide death toll from the recent blizzards rose to 81 yesterday with the finding of five more bodies, and helicopter relief and airlift operations were hampered by poor visibility and strong winds. The Meteorological Agency meanwhile issued an avalanche warning to snow-packed areas because it expects temperatures to rise nationwide from today to Sunday. The number of deaths from snow-related incidents since December rose to 81 in 17 prefectures yesterday after a 75-year-old man in Yamagata Prefecture died after being buried in snow and four other men were found dead in Fukui and Gifu prefectures.

16 January 2006

A government team visited North-Western Japan today to measure the damage from heavy snow as the death toll from extreme weather reached 95, an official and a news report said. The team visited Nagano Prefecture, one of the hardest-hit regions, to meet with local officials and survey the relief efforts, according to official Hisashi Yumoto. Heavy snow across Japan since December has cut off mountain villages and been blamed for hundreds of injuries, prompting the military to mobilise about 2,000 troops to remove snow from roads and homes. Nagano officials asked the central government for more money to clear snow and compensate farmers whose crops were damaged, Yumoto said. The team will also visit Tsunan, Niigata Prefecture, which was blanketed with 2.89 meters of snow, the Cabinet Office said in a statement. Kyodo News agency said today there had been 95 snow-related deaths since early December, citing its own tally. Over the weekend (January 14-15), rain and higher temperatures triggered several avalanches. No injuries were reported. The snow and cold spell had caused damage to Japan’s agriculture and fisheries worth about 3.67 billion yen as of January 13, Mamoru Ishihara, vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said today. Low temperatures ruined vegetables and fruits, while greenhouses collapsed under the weight of snow, said Agriculture Ministry official Mitsuru Fukuda.

16 January 2006 Afghanistan

At least 13 people have been killed in a landslide while heavy snow has left hundreds of thousands of others stranded in northern Afghanistan’s mountainous villages, officials said today. Heavy rain and snow triggered the landslide in remote villages in northern Sar-i- Pul province killing residents including women and children late Friday (January 13), provincial governor Mohammad Iqbal Munib told AFP. “Thirteen people, men, women and children were killed when part of a mountain fell over and destroyed five homes in Ghil Dara district of Sar-i-Pul on Friday night,” Munib said. Meanwhile more than 300,000 residents faced “serious disaster” after heavy snow blocked roads leading to their mountainous villages in Badakhshan, also in northern Afghanistan, another official said.

20 January 2006Burundi

At least 120 Burundians have died and thousands of others have fled to neighbouring countries due to food shortages brought on by drought prevailing in northern and eastern parts of the country, local officials have said. “A total of 2,500 people in Ruyigi have crossed to Tanzania since December,” Moise Bucumi, the provincial governor, said on Thursday. He said some 771 of these had settled in a refugee camp in Kigoma, a region in the west of Tanzania. “It is difficult to determine the exact number of those who cross the border since some of them seek shelter in Tanzanian households, where they work in exchange for food,” Bucumi said. The drought-related deaths occurred in the northeastern province of Muyinga, where the governor, Feruzi Mohammed, said 2,512 residents had fled, either to other provinces in the country or to neighbouring Rwanda and Tanzania. Mohammed said 84,093 people – representing 80 percent of Muyinga’s population – were facing food shortages as crop production had drastically dropped. “Crops that had been planted on huge tracts of land have been affected by drought before they could ripen,” Mohammed said. He said admissions to therapeutic centres were on the rise. By the end of December 2005, he said, 80 cases of malnutrition were recorded at the Muyinga therapeutic centre, including five adults suffering from the protein deficiency, kwashiorkor. He added that in mid-January, 40 cases were recorded, in addition to 128 others previously recorded. In 16 supplementary feeding centres in Muyinga, he added, 275 admissions were recorded, bringing the total to 2,667. The drought in Muyinga has also forced 3,926 children to abandon school following physical weakness due to food shortages.

24 January 2006Papua New Guinea

A landslide sent mud and boulders smashing through a remote village in Papua New Guinea, killing at least eight people and leaving five more missing and feared dead, an emergency service official said today. The landslide swept through the village of Bapa, 75 miles north of the capital Port Moresby, on Friday (January 20) night after weeks of rain soaked the area, the Morobe Province disaster coordinator Tera Gauba said.

27 January 2006Bolivia

Newly elected Bolivian President Evo Morales declared a state of emergency today after floods killed 50 people in the San Borja region in the northern part of the country. The rainstorms and flood have affected six of the country’s nine departments, and Morales ordered aid for 800 displaced families in the worst-hit region. The government is also considering to offer help for another 3,600 families badly affected in Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Pando andTarija, Defense Minister Walker San Miguel said. The wealthy area of Santa Cruz is on high alert due to the high water level in the Rio Grande river. In El Alto, a city close to La Paz, torrent from a river which normally has little water washed two public buses off the roads, killing a 16-year-old girl.

2 February 2006

Devastating floods have killed at least 13 people in Bolivia and brought misery to more than 12,000 families following heavy seasonal rainfall in recent weeks, government officials said today. President Evo Morales declared a state of emergency across the impoverished country and has led rescue operations, which have been concentrated in the eastern lowlands. General Gustavo Gandarillas, civil defence director, said more than 12,000 families had lost homes and crops due to the floods and that thousands more had been affected by the above-average rainfall that is forecast to continue. Some of the worst-hit areas are in eastern Santa Cruz province where the Eastern Agricultural Chamber reported that some 60,000 ha of soy crops had been wrecked, though export targets would still be met. About $US2 million in aid has been pledged to help the flood victims following an appeal for international help by Morales, local media said.

15 February 2006

Flooding and mudslides caused by heavy rain have killed 19 people in Bolivia and injured dozens. Some 100,000 people across the country have been affected by the natural disasters and electric power outages, officials said yesterday. Bolivia’s new president, indigenous leader Evo Morales, has appealed for international aid after heavy rain ravaged the poverty-stricken country for more than a week.

15 February 2006 Afghanistan

At least 33 people have died in the past week in severe weather in Afghanistan’s northern Badakshan province, including 15 villagers who were killed in an avalanche, a provincial official says. The bodies of three people who had died from cold were recovered late on Thursday (February 3), the provincial head of administration said. Another 15 people died from cold earlier in the week and the bodies of 15 more were recovered after an avalanche destroyed several homes in about five villages late Monday, he says. “Up to now we have received 33 bodies,” he said, warning the figure could increase as information came in from parts of the province that were inaccessible, even by horse, because of the heavy snow. The administration planned to use helicopters to begin ferrying food and other aid into cut-off villages yesterday, he says.

10 February 2006Philippines

At least four people drowned in flash floods that hit 15 towns in the southern Philippines, the Office of Civil Defence said today. Two other people were reported missing in the floods that submerged the 15 towns in the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte. At least 27,900 families were affected by the floods, said Salvador Estudillo, regional director of the Office of Civil Defence in Butuan City, 795 kilometres south of Manila. Estudillo said heavy rains since Tuesday (February 7) swelled the Agusan river that passes through the four provinces and its tributaries, causing the flash floods.

15 February 2006

The Philippines has warned farmers and ordered government agencies to prepare for heavy rains and flash floods from a stormy La Nina weather pattern that has already killed 16 in the country’s Southeastern provinces. Heavy rains, which the weather bureau blamed on a nascent La Nina, have triggered landslides, massive flooding and the evacuation of hundreds of families in the Philippines, which grows rice, corn, coconuts, mangoes and other tropical fruit. The damage to infrastructure and agriculture from recent heavy rains in central and southern provinces has already cost pesos 114.6 million (£1 million), the National Disaster Co-ordinating Council said. The country’s weather bureau said damages across the country from continuous heavy rains were likely to rise. Flaviana Hilario, weather services chief at the meteorological bureau, said that the number of storms passing through the Philippines would not necessarily rise during a La Nina but the storms were expected to hit closer to the country’s 7,100 islands, resulting in more damage. “Not all La Ninas are the same in terms of impact,” Hilario said. “In some La Nina years, the number of storms reached as high as 23. But in most episodes, the track is closer to the Philippines.” Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban said in a radio interview he was drafting a contingency plan to widen areas planted for rice, the country’s water dependent staple, and to help farmers in areas likely to be hit by heavy rains to shift to other crops. Agriculture makes up about one-fifth of the country’s gross domestic product and is one of the largest employers. La Nina features unusually cool surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean resulting in storm surges and strong winds. The weather bureau said typhoons, floods and rains since November may be linked to the development of the pattern. Hilario said a La Nina episode, expected to last three to six months, would be confirmed if sea surface temperature thresholds were breached for five consecutive months. The Philippines was likely to see normal to above normal rainfall at least up to May, more tropical cyclones and flooding in some areas, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said in a statement.