Image:Durian 24nov-1dec06 rain TRMM.gif

TYPHOON DURIAN TRIGGERS MASSIVE MUDSLIDES IN THE PHILIPPINES

In what has turned out to be a deadly combination, torrential rains brought on by the passage of Super Typhoon Durian together with leftover volcanic ash has resulted in massive mudslides in the Central Philippines. So far at least 425 people are confirmed dead and nearly 600 more are still missing with little hope of survival. Super Typhoon Durian (known as "Reming" in the Philippines) made landfall in the Central Philippines on the 30th of November 2006 (local time) with reported wind gusts of up to 140 mph. The center crossed over Albay province in the southern part of the main northern Philippines island of Luzon. It was the accompanying heavy rainfall that turned out to be a disaster for the region.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite (known as TRMM) was placed into service in November of 1997. From its low-earth orbit, TRMM has been measuring rainfall over the global Tropics using a combination of passive microwave and active radar sensors. The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi- satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center monitors rainfall over the global Tropics. MPA rainfall totals due to Durian are shown here for the period 24 November to 1 December 2006 for the Central Philippines. Rainfall totals exceeding 200 mm (~8 inches) are shown in red and extend from the western Philippine Sea across southern sections of Luzon, Catanduanes Island (northwestern most island shown), and northern Samar. Locally up to 18 inches of rain were reported in Albay province. Mayon volcano (2462 m) is also located in Albay province and is the Philippines' most active volcano. An eruption earlier in the year left the steep slopes covered with a large amount of volcanic ash. It was this combination of ash and the torrential rains from Durian that led to the massive mudslides that buried entire villages in the region.

http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/publications_dir/philippine_mudslides_30nov06.html

2006-12-04

Images produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC).