PHILLIPINE MUDSLIDE February 18, 2006
Posted by wmmbb in The Neighbours.trackback
The immediate problem in a disaster such as this is to save as many people as possible.
Then comes the post mortem. ABC TV news reported this evening that due to illegal forest clearing on the background mountains. How could that happen without the Government and local authorities knowing about it? Who bought the timber or the wood chips? According to the same report it is not as though this incident did not have a precedent.
With disasters such as this example, prevention is better than cure.
The BBC has the story here. And a view that appears to contradict the television report:
Officials said the mudslide happened after about 200cm of rain (79 inches) fell in the area in the space of 10 days.
PHILIPPINES STORMS
Dec 2004 About 1,800 people killed after a series of storms in north-eastern Philippines
Dec 2003 Up to 200 people die in landslides in Southern Leyte
Nov 1991 Typhoon Thelma strikes Leyte causing floods that drown at least 5,000
Eva Tomol, a board member for the Southern Leyte provincial government, denied that deforestation caused by illegal logging could have contributed to the disaster.
Correspondents say the area lies in the path of several typhoons each year, and that coconut trees – which are common locally – have shallow roots which leave the soil vulnerable to landslides.
Governor Lerias said many residents had left last week, fearing landslides, but had begun to return as rains eased in the past few days.
Of course, no one thought to grow trees with deep roots.
21 February 2006 – The New York Times provides a critical analysis, reviving in part, deaforestation as a cause.
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