Thousands displaced by floods in the Philippines by Alex Deakin
A week of intense rainfall has triggered widespread flash floods and caused several landslides across the Philippines leaving 11 people dead and another eight missing.
More than 200,000 people have been displaced by the rains which have been affecting eastern, central and southern parts of the country. The Bicol region and eastern parts of Visayas and Mindanao have been worst hit. Over the last few days, Northern Samar has also been badly affected, as mudslides and flooded roads cut it off from the rest of the country and displaced more than 11,000 families. Storm surges were also reported in coastal parts of the east resulting in coastal flooding and numerous boats capsizing.
Authorities have set up temporary shelters for the homeless and are waiting for the rains and floods to subside before the clean up operation can begin.
The unusually heavy rain has been caused by the tail end of an active cold front. The front has lingered across central and eastern areas allowing for continuous heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms mixed in.
The Philippines experience heavy rain throughout most of the year with some of the heaviest rain falling between August and October. Around this time, tropical storms develop out in the eastern Pacific and often brush past the Philippines en route into the South China Sea, dumping huge amounts of rain across the country.
Between November and March, eastern parts of the country can be affected by heavy rains caused by the Pacific trade winds. However, the combination of these winds and the recent active cold front has produced rain of extreme intensity.
