The state weather bureau advised the public yesterday to brace for recurring heavy rains brought by La Niña that could last until the first quarter of 2012.
“We will have to plan now for the impacts of La Niña, which in latest models is now full blown,” Graciano Yumul, supervising undersecretary of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said.
Yumul said the recurring system is likely to bring heavy rains until February next year.
La Niña brought torrential rains that caused severe flooding in 25 provinces in the Philippines from December 2010 to March 2011.
Officials of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said the flooding and mudslides during that period killed at least 42 people, with eight injured and five people missing.
The massive flooding also affected over 1.3 million people from 144 towns in the eastern provinces.
Yumul said the torrential rains were a combined effect of the northeast monsoon and the tail end of a cold front that started on Dec. 29, 2010 caused by La Niña.
He said a new tropical cyclone is likely to bring more rains over some parts of the country this week.
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