Alert status vs flooding, landslide raised in Albay

LEGAZPI CITY – Heavy rain pelting Albay province on Wednesday prompted the Albay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) to raise the alert status for flooding in low-lying areas and landslide in villages along mountain slopes.

Albay Gov. Al Francis Bichara issued on Wednesday an advisory placing all local disaster councils in the 15 towns and three cities to be on alert for possible flooding and landslides, lahar or mudflows due to heavy rains that poured without letup since 11 a.m.

Bichara said the local weather here reported that rainfall reading from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday registered a 71.2mm rain interpreted
as “heavy rainfall.”

The local weather station explained that the heavy rainfall was triggered by the tail end of a cold front which affected Albay province. Weather instruments indicated that the peak of the rainfall was at 17mm per hour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

As a precautionary measure, residents were advised not to cross swollen rivers and not to go near mountain slopes for possibility of
lahar, mudflow and landslides.