Davao LGUs told to prepare El Niño measures

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 10 July) – The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC)-Davao Region has directed the local government units (LGUs) to formulate their preparedness measures against El Niño, warning them to brace for the potential adverse impact of such phenomenon.

In an interview at the sidelines of Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Monday, Karlo Alexie C. Puerto, information officer II of the Office of the Civil Defense-Davao, said the LGUs should have their plans ready to aid them in addressing the possible devastating effects of El Niño.

He said the LGUs should prepare response mechanisms to cushion the impacts of El Niño, particularly in the communities and sectors like agriculture, the latter projected to suffer “extensive damage.”

Puerto noted that local governments must set aside a budget for mitigating measures, including the prepositioning of relief goods that would be distributed to the affected families.

He said that the LGUs have been reminded as early as May to prepare their El Niño mitigation measures, and that more than half of them have already complied.

In an advisory released by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) last July 4, it said the El Niño, which is characterized by fewer occurrences of rainfall and typhoons, is already present in the tropical pacific.

It said that Pagasa’s climate monitoring and analyses indicate that “the unusual warming of sea surface temperatures along the equatorial Pacific that was established in March 2023 has further developed into a weak El Niño, which shows signs of strengthening in the coming months.”

It said that the El Niño increases the likelihood of below-normal rainfall conditions, which could bring negative impacts such as dry spells and droughts in some areas of the country that may adversely impact the different climate-sensitive sectors, such as water resources, agriculture, energy, health and public safety.

It added that the enhanced Southwest monsoon season (Habagat) may still be expected, which may result in above-normal rainfall conditions over the western part of the country.

The agency said that the climate outlook suggests that the “aggregate impacts of El Niño is expected towards the last quarter of the year and the first half of 2024, bringing dry spells in most areas of the country.” (Antonio l. Colina IV / MindaNews)

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