Tropical Storm Washi caused widespread flash floods throughout the Philippines
The typhoon in south-east Asia dumped a month's worth of rain in just 12 hours on Friday, smashing homes and bridges, uprooting trees and carrying vehicles off in the torrent. The storm moved slowly out to sea yesterday, but more than 35,000 people flocked to hastily erected evacuation centres. An entire army division - some 10,000 soldiers - are involved in the rescue efforts around Cagayan de Oro, and many people are still missing.
During the peak of the rain, the water rose to about 11 feet (3.3m) in just a single hour. The Philippines are struck by about 20 major storms every year but most of them take a more northerly track, hitting Luzon island.
What was the real cause?
Lack of flood warning combined with darkness are partly to blame for the high death toll. Officials have also acknowledged that illegal logging and mining contributed to the storm's damage since there were fewer trees to hold water and prevent erosion.
Philippine Federal Environmental Official Nereus Acosta stated:
"We can really see how vulnerable we are. When you tamper with the watersheds and the forests, we become vulnerable."
This is an all to clear reminder that anthropogenic change of not just the atmosphere, but land can have devastating effects. More on the story can be found here.
