City exceeds rain threshold
BAGUIO City experienced 300 millimeters of rainfall in two days according to the Baguio City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO)
brought about by the southwest monsoon or Habagat.
From August 13 to August 14, the amount of rainfall was recorded at 310.6 millimeter bringing the total to 959.4mm since August 1 or 54.4mm beyond the threshold of 905mm.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the average monthly rainfall is at 400 millimeters while the average weekly rainfall is around 100 millimeters.
Despite the increase in rainfall, City DRRMO Officer Julius Santos reported City Camp lagoon was spared from flooding.
“We have our flood early warning station installed (in City Camp) which we can activate anytime. Once we monitor that the flood water is increasing if we have strong rains, we trigger this to activate its siren which has an audio alarm and visual light for residents to be alert and for them to know when to start evacuation,” The City DRRM Officer explained.
The City DRRMO was activated since August 4 to monitor the effects of the monsoon rains experienced in the city.
“So far, we have not recorded any major incidents in Baguio City. We have given appropriate action to reports forwarded to our office which consisted of fallen trees, trees about to fall and soil erosions,” Santos added.
Quoting PAGASA, Albert Mogol, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) director in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and the chairman of the regional DRRM council, said from 8 a.m. of August 3 until 8 a.m. of August 13, a total of 648.8mm was recorded from the continuous rain due to weather disturbances such as “habagat” and tropical storm Hanna.
In August 2018, Baguio and Benguet experienced over 1,600mm of rainfall due to the southwest monsoon that persisted for months.
On September 16 at the height of typhoon Ompong, 760mm rainfall was recorded, which triggered to the massive landslide in a mining village in Itogon, Benguet, some 20 kilometers away from Baguio City, leaving around a hundred people dead.
Almost all areas of Itogon have been declared highly susceptible to landslide by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.
Mogol warned residents of the possibility of landslides due to drenched and soaked soil caused by continuous rains in the region.
Residents living at the foot of the mountains and on slopes are advised to be on alert for any signs of movements of the soil and cracks, and if possible, to initiate preemptive evacuation and avoid accidents.