Worst Floods In The Philippines
Worst Floods In The Philippines Until 2008
The Philippines is an archipelago located in the Southeast Asia. It is a country dowered with abundant natural resources. The mountains were covered by tropical rainforests. Majority of the land area of the country is agricultural. The Philippines has a good tourism industry because of its beautiful tourist spots like beaches, rivers, falls, mountains, and springs. It is indeed, a beautiful place to live.
However, the Philippines is not lucky enough to be spared from natural disasters. Since the county is located in the Pacific Ring of fire, it is really prone to natural calamities. Throughout history, the Philippines has been challenged by floods often triggered by typhoon.
Listed below are some of the most devastating floods that hit the Philippines.
1. On Ormoc City, a huge flash flood descended on November 5, 1991. This flood killed about 8, 000 people all over Leyte. The floodwaters brought plenty of mud from the mountains. The water was able to wash away properties and even people into the sea. This flood left a serious amount of damages including government owned infrastructures as well as private homes and properties. Hundreds of families were affected and evacuated because of this flood.
2. In September 1972, before the declaration of Martial Law by the former President Ferdinand Marcos, heavy rains hit Luzon for more than two weeks. This resulted to floodwaters merging with the Agno and Pampanga rivers that submerged most part of Central Luzon.
3. In September 1998, a continuous rain caused the rivers to overflow along Pasig, Marikina, and Taguig. This flood affected over 900 families. Primary and secondary roads of Metro Manila were submerged in floodwater making business and government transactions disabled.
4. The super typhoon “Reming” with the international code name of “durian” took its landfall in the Philippines on November 2006. The heavy rainfall and strong winds brought by this typhoon caused floods and power block out. There was a record of over 700 people missing and another 700 people dead because of the flood. There are also more than 200 people injured and more than 3.5 million people affected. The most badly hit province of this typhoon is Bicol.
5. In June 2008, Western Visayas was struck by typhoon Frank with the international code name of Fengshen. The typhoon triggered continuous and heavy rainfall which caused rivers to overflow. The level of the floodwater is the highest ever experienced by most of the people of Western Visayas. The affected provinces of the flood are Aklan, Capiz, Antique, Iloilo, Guimarras, and Negros Occidental. The capital town of Aklan which is Kalibo was covered with thick mud after the flood.
There are more or less 500 people who died because of flood and almost 400,000 families were badly affected. The whole Western Visayas were without portable water and electricity for months after the flood.
Every natural disaster has indeed created a countless stories among affected people. Some has stories of fear, worry, sorrow, and pain. There are also stories of relief after surviving the disaster; stories of love, hope, and courage. After all, the Philippines remained to be a strong country and the people remained to be the usual optimistic and happy Filipino nation. It is just a proof, that no natural disaster can ever break the Filipino faith.
