In the Philippines, the 2022 holiday season was meant to be a time of celebration and a relief after two Christmases marred by the sanctioning of coronavirus lockdowns. But on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, families faced tragedy on Christmas Day when rain triggered flooding and landslides, killing at least 51 people and displacing thousands, authorities said.
The Philippines is a tropical archipelago that has been ravaged over the years by numerous Pacific typhoons and catastrophic flooding. The capital Manila is particularly sensitive to the effects of climate change. Yet the magnitude and timing of this year’s disaster, in a country with the largest Roman Catholic population in Asia, felt particularly tragic and brutal.
As of Tuesday afternoon, at least 19 people were still missing and thousands more were living in emergency shelters on Mindanao. One victim identified so far is Laurence Grace Patarlas Rapols, 8, who, according to authorities, was riding her aunt’s motorcycle when the water swept her away.
Churches and charities in the Philippines are calling on relief funds and emergency supplies. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said he plans to visit Mindanao after his previously scheduled trip to China ends on Thursday.
A challenge for rescuers is that the heavy rainfall hit northern Mindanao, an area less prepared for such disasters than other regions in the Philippines, said Alan Tanjusay, the country’s secretary of state for social welfare.
Mr Tanjusay said many people in Northern Mindanao had spent their Christmas and New Year’s celebrations eating donated food, and the mood there was sombre.
“Imagine losing your home” on Christmas Day, he said.
The water has receded, but more bad weather could be on the way. Forecasters said on Tuesday they expected more heavy rain and possible flooding at least Wednesday morning on several islands, including Mindanao.
This is the second consecutive year that extreme weather has caused death and destruction during the holiday season in the Philippines. In December 2021, Super Typhoon Rai made landfall in Bohol province at the same intensity as that of a Category 5 hurricane, killing hundreds and forcing millions more from their homes.
Linking a single flood to climate change requires extensive scientific analysis. But climate change, which is already increasing rainfall in many storms, is an increasingly important part of the mix. One reason is that a warmer atmosphere holds and releases more water.
Climate change can also increase the effects of poor urban planning. In Manila, over-pumping of groundwater has caused the land to collapse even as sea levels rise, increasing the risk of future flooding.
The importance of Christmas in the Philippines can hardly be overstated. In a country of 111 million that has about as many Catholics as the United States, Roman Catholicism has long been a pillar of identity and a force in national politics in the Philippines. And because millions of Filipinos work abroad, Christmas is often the only time of year when entire families get together in person.
This year, the holiday woe was compounded by a New Year’s Day power outage at Manila International Airport, which caused chaos and stranded tens of thousands of passengers.