Deadly Philippine Flooding And Landslides

Deadly Philippine Flooding And Landslides

People in the southern Philippines are used to heavy rainfall this time of the year but rainfall totals have recently been exceptionally high. A tropical low northeast of Mindanao has been an almost permanent feature on weather maps for the past week. It has caused nearly continuous rain in the area of northeastern Mindanao triggering floods and landslides that have caused the reported deaths of 34 people.

The TRMM Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA), produced at Goddard Space Flight Center, combines the rainfall estimates generated by TRMM and other satellites (3B42). The analysis above shows a near-real time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) for the period from January 10-17, 2014. Extremely high rainfall totals of over 1168 mm (about 46 inches) for the past week were found near northeastern Mindanao. This past Monday a landslide on Dinagat Island Island caused the deaths of six people in this area.

Heavy rain amounts (from satellites), flood inundation calculations (from a hydrological models) and landslide potential maps are updated as often as every three hours globally. Results are shown at the "Global Flood and Landslide Monitoring" TRMM web site pages.