‘Sendong’ not entirely fault of climate change, says research body
By TJ Burgonio, Philippine Daily Inquirer
January 11, 2012

 Tropical Storm “Sendong” that left a death toll of more than 1,260 and P1.3-billion in damage to agriculture and property in Mindanao cannot be definitively attributed to climate change but rather was an extreme weather event that could become more likely and frequent with climate change.

The Manila Observatory made this conclusion in its preliminary analysis of Sendong whose heavy rains caused the massive landslides and flashfloods that devastated the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan last December 16 and 17.

The research institution, quoting the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), said Sendong had a one-minute average maximum wind speed of 100 kilometers per hour and was a weak tropical cyclone.

“Technically, then, according to current wind-based typhoon warnings, Sendong was a ‘weak’ storm. But similar to Tropical storms Ondoy and Pepeng, the rainfall amount associated with Sendong was extreme and resulted in severe flooding,” it said.

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