Weather ‘neutral’ but La Niña signs present

CEBU, Philippines - The weather these days is on “neutral condition” but the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) confirms the extreme rainfalls experienced here were already indicators of the entry of La Niña.

“Latest update nato, based sa PAGASA July 13, 2016 update, we are in the neutral condition. There is no El Niño, no La Niña but PAGASA agreed that there could be a La Niña episode before the end of this year kay ang manifestation ana, there is a continuing decrease of temperature sa sea surface sa Eastern and Central Pacific Ocean,” said Engr. Alfredo Quiblat, Jr., officer in charge of PAGASA-Mactan.

 “Even though ang latest forecast for La Niña for this year is weak, ako giingon sa council, do not be complacent about it because duna nata’y pre indicators katong July 1 and July 2 nga extreme rainfall events,” Quiblat added.

He said the July 2 rain accumulated 152 mm of rainfall in just 35 minutes downpour of rain, breaking the historical record of the greatest rainfall for one day, which was registered on July 8, 2012.

“We will be having a seasonal forecasting, daily, monthly, and we are also disseminating information regarding La Niña; IEC (Information, Education Campaign Technical Expert)” Quiblat said.

 Governor Hilario Davide III has urged local government units anew to brace for La Niña and be proactive since destructive scenarios may happen during heavy rains.

“Mangandam kita kanuna’y.  Which is really part of our advocacy sa PDRRMO” Davide said during the 2nd quarter meeting of the Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management (PDRRM) Council.

 La Niña is a weather phenomenon characterized by unusually cool ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific.

PDRRMC has passed a resolution that would allow Davide to realign the P83 million disaster preparedness fund to the Quick Response Fund since the latter’s P9 million remaining budget from 33 million this year will not suffice for preparedness efforts for La Niña.

It was Danilo Rodas, chief provincial budget officer, who suggested to realign the budget.

Rodas said it is better to be prepared as early as possible.

The province has already spent funds from the QRF earlier this year because of the effects of El Niño in the whole region. Damage caused by the drought across the province even reached P158.8 million.

Six frontline Capitol offices have already allocated funds for immediate emergency response. The Provincial General Services Office has 2.9 million, the Provincial Social Welfare office has P795 million, the agriculture office has P31.5 million, the disaster office has P92.2 million, the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources office has P1.7 million, the engineering office has P55.1 million, and the veterinary office has P11.1 million.

The action plan of the province for La Niña extends up to the early part of 2017. (FREEMAN)