Landslides and their consequences

Legazpi city is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Albay Province - thanks to its close proximity to Mayon Volcano. It's a mixed blessing for the some 160,000 people who live here.

"In June, we had to evacuate some 40,000 people because of the threat of Mayon erupting," said Cedric Daep, head of the city's administrative department of disaster prevention. "This time we were lucky and it turned out to be a false alarm."

After two months, the all-clear was given and the people were allowed to return to their homes. But several weeks later, two typhoons hit the region - with devastating consequences.

When the mountain slides

Anthony Golez from the National Catastrophe Coordination Council was there when it happened.

"The rain was so heavy that even if you had been standing four meters in front of me, I wouldn't have been able to make you out," he said. The rainstorm lasted more than 24 hours, completely flooding the area's topsoil.

"The soil had no hold anymore, it had to let go and that is exactly what it did," Golez said. "It started pouring down the mountain."

It was not only soil that came down, but also an avalanche of mud, volcanic ash, rocks and tree trunks. The people who live in Mayon's foothills have learned to live with natural disasters, but this took everyone by surprise. The sheer mass of debris that came down the mountain towards Legazpi buried an entire district, leaving 260 dead. Two-story houses buried up to their roofs are still evident and visual reminders of the incredible force of the landslide.

Escaping with your life

Melchora Arao still finds it difficult to talk about that day. Friends and neighbors drowned before her eyes or were swept away. Many of the bodies were never found.

"If only we had had some warning, like we do when a volcanic eruption is expected," she said.

Local councilor Mercedes Mediora doesn't accept these sorts of accusations.

"The people were warned, they just didn't want to leave their houses,' Mediora said. She does admit, though, that even the people who monitor natural catastrophes were taken by surprise by the force of the typhoon. More than a third of the local population lost their homes and had to be moved to a village built for this purpose by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. It was a refugee camp of sorts, made up of a few houses but predominantly consisting of temporary huts and tents.

Waiting for the next catastrophe

The storm didn't just cost Legazpi's population their homes, but also their means of income. Many of the people are fishermen or farmers, but today there are neither boats nor fields.

The younger generation has left the city to find work in the capital Manila, to somehow try and provide for their families. Social services are seeking alternative earning possibilities for the women. But in a country where 40 percent of the population lives under the poverty line, on a dollar a day, finding the means to rebuild their lives is slim.

Despite the gloomy prognoses, water and electricity were working again after 40 days and most of the roads were cleared swiftly. This is a small comfort, though, for people trying to come to terms with so much loss.

"The scars that people carry here will stay with them for the rest of their lives," said the town's mayor Noel Rosal. "No one can imagine what it looked like here, what it was like, and all the mini-tragedies that unfurled in such a short time."

Some people lost their entire families in under an hour. And the survivors live knowing that the chances of it happening again are high.

Authors: Cecilia Roxas/Helle Jeppesen
Editor: Sabina Casagrande