‘Deadly’ Philippines rain not caused by nature alone: study

Deadly disasters in the Philippines due to faulty warning systems, poverty, and deforestation highlighted in recent report.

Faulty warning systems, poverty and deforestation of mountains in the southern Philippines turned recent unseasonably heavy rains into deadly disasters, scientists said in a report Friday.

More than 100 people were killed in landslides and floods in January and February on the country's second-largest island of Mindanao as the northeast monsoon and a low pressure trough brought downpours.

A study by the World Weather Attribution group found the unsually heavy rain in eastern Mindanao was not "particularly extreme".

But with people living in landslide-prone areas and shortcomings in weather alerts, the rains became "devastating".

"We can't just blame the rain for the severe impacts," said Richard Ybanez, chief science research specialist at the University of the Philippines' Resilience Institute.

"A range of human factors is what turned these downpours into deadly disasters."

In the deadliest incident, more than 90 people were killed when the side of a mountain collapsed and smashed into a gold mining village on February 6, burying buses and houses.