Since early January, the Philippines has been enduring severe weather conditions marked by heavy rain, flooding, and landslides, prompting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare a “state of calamity” in the southern province of Misamis Occidental.
This crisis has claimed at least 28 lives and displaced over 211,000 people, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
The torrential rains, which are atypical for the cool, dry season usually experienced from December to February, have wreaked havoc across the nation. The provinces of Misamis Occidental, Northern Mindanao, and Eastern Visayas have been particularly hard-hit, with widespread destruction to homes, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Despite being situated in an archipelago of over 7,100 islands, the Philippines, although a minor contributor to global climate change, faces significant vulnerability to climate-related disasters.
This crisis has claimed at least 28 lives and displaced over 211,000 people.The nation typically encounters 20 typhoons each year, with six to nine making landfall annually. Additionally, frequent landslides and floods are exacerbated by increasingly intense tropical cyclones.
President Marcos, who has been actively overseeing relief efforts in Misamis Occidental, emphasizes the need for a long-term solution to address the persistent flooding issues. “We are looking at everything to find a solution,” Marcos stated recently. “But in the long term, we need to think about how we can do it so that this never happens again.”
The recent severe weather has heightened concerns about the impact of climate change, which is expected to amplify extreme weather events such as typhoons, rising sea levels, and storm surges.
These changes place urban and coastal populations in the Philippines at heightened risk, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive and sustainable solutions to mitigate future disasters.