Mud. Lots & Lots of Mud.

As most of you have probably heard from the international news Southern Leyte was hit by a massive mud slide that buried a town in around 10m of mud. Most of the inhabitants are thought to be dead. Luckily the Peace Corps volunteer working in the area was un-harmed and we all were warned of the conditions in the area by our Saftey and Security Coordinator before the incident. For more on the tradgety you can read about it on the BBC here.

Specific to my site, while it has officially been designated, though that doesn't exactly carry much weight as it is was determined by a few general factors. Here's a quote from the S&S notice we got.

"With the recent disastrous landslide in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has reported to the media that there are eleven (11) areas/provinces susceptible to landslides that may be triggered by continuous rains. The provinces DENR mentioned are Benguet, Mountain Province, Nueva Vizcaya, Kalinga, Apayao, Southern Leyte, Abra, Marinduque, Cebu, Catanduanes and Ifugao... Ms. Malyn Tumonong, a senior science research specialist of DENR-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), said these provinces have met three or four criteria to be considered prone to landslides. "They have 18-degree slopes and above, have several fault lines, tributaries like rivers and are densely populated," she said in a briefing."

While the road is periodically cut off for short times due to slides the rocky terrian does not lend itself to the massive slides as experienced in Leyte. Fortunately, as well, I live on top of the hill, so I would just get a quick sudden trip down. :o)