In August 2016, the
southwest monsoon brought heavy rainfall and flooding to
Metro Manila and nearby regions.
Background
A
low pressure area that barely entered the
Philippine area of responsibility (PAR), and which at one point was north of
Batanes
Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes ( ivv, Provinsiya nu Batanes; Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; fil, Lalawigan ng Batanes, ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It i ...
and exited the country by August 14, as well as a tropical depression located in the
Pacific Ocean outside the PAR, enhanced the southwest monsoon.
Impact
On August 14, 2016, the
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), formerly known as the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), is a working group of various government, non-government, civil sector and private sector organizations o ...
reported that about 70,000 people, or 15,665 families, were affected by the enhanced monsoon rains in the regions of
Central Luzon (Region 3),
Calabarzon (Region 4-A),
Mimaropa
Mimaropa (usually capitalized in official government documents), formally known as the Southwestern Tagalog Region, is an administrative region in the Philippines. It was also formerly but still colloquially designated as Region IV-B until 2016 ...
(Region 4-B),
Western Visayas (Region 6), the
Negros Island Region, the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and the
National Capital Region (NCR). Occasional rains were also experienced in the rest of
Luzon and the
Visayas.
The most affected provinces were reportedly
Bataan,
Bulacan, and
Zambales.
The enhanced monsoon caused a tornado to spawn in
Manila's port area, causing damages.
At least five were reported to have died from the floods.
Response
The
Department of Social Welfare and Development opened at least 79 evacuation centers across the island of Luzon.
[ In Marikina, Metro Manila, where the Marikina River overflowed due to enhanced monsoon rains, 21 evacuation centers were set up where at least 9,152 people were housed.
]Maynilad
Maynilad Water Services, Inc., better known as Maynilad, is the water and wastewater services provider of cities and municipalities that form the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area in the Philippines. It is an agent and contractor of the Metrop ...
, which serves significant portions of Metro Manila, reduced its water production due to raw water sedimentation at the La Mesa watershed
The La Mesa Watershed Reservation is a protected area that preserves the only major watershed in Metro Manila, Philippines. Also known as the Novaliches Watershed, it contains the last remaining rainforest of its size in Metro Manila surroun ...
caused by the monsoon rains. The rains also caused soil erosion in the Angat watershed.
See also
*2016 Pacific typhoon season
The 2016 Pacific typhoon season is considered to have been the fourth-latest start for a Pacific typhoon season since reliable records began. It was an average season, with a total of 26 named storms, 13 typhoons, and six super typhoons. The seaso ...
*2012 Luzon southwest monsoon floods
The 2012 Luzon southwest monsoon floods (informally known in Tagalog as ''Hagupít ng Habagat'', "wrath of the monsoon" and ''Bagsík ng Habagat'', "fierceness of the monsoon", from ''habagat'', the Filipino term for the southwest monsoon), was an ...
References
{{reflist
2016 disasters in the Philippines
Philippine southwest monsoon floods
Floods in the Philippines
2016 meteorology
August 2016 events in the Philippines