The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Municipalities in the northwestern coasts in Leyte province are likely to be affected by landslides and rockfalls, while the eastern seaboards of seven coastal towns are prone to erosion.
These were revealed by the coastal geohazard study conducted in the province by teams from the Marine Geological Survey Division of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
The seven coastal towns are Palo, Tolosa, Tanauan, Dulag, Mayorga, MacArthur and Abuyog.
MGB said the findings of the study would help coastal communities prepare for the effects of changing storm regimes driven by the strong effects of climate oscillations, like El Niño and La Niña.
Furthermore, the information yielded by the study is especially important, in light of potential future climate changes associated with rising sea levels, in reducing, if not totally inhibiting, the destructive effects of these changes on the coastal population.
Future impacts associated with storms, tectonic movement and rising sea levels amplify the region’s vulnerability to coastal hazards, highlighting the need to mobilize people in the coastal village to mitigate the effects of natural hazards on lives, properties and the environment.
The MGB said the study showed that the erosion rate was further aggravated by the effects of strong typhoons, such as Yolanda and Ruping. The coastlines and towns in the east are particularly dynamic, as they are often exposed to strong waves and storm surges generated hundreds of kilometers away in the Pacific Ocean.
These are manifested in long sandy beaches, sheared coastal cliffs, dramatic headlands and, ultimately, the power of the Pacific Ocean that serves to erode and change the shape of the coast, especially during the monsoon season and typhoons.
Marine erosion
On the western side of Leyte, assessed to be moderately to highly susceptible to marine erosion, are the coastal areas of Baybay City, from Barangay Hipusngo up north to Barangay Maybog, near the boundary with the municipality of Albuera. The susceptible villages are Poblacion 22, Poblacion 21, Poblacion 20, Poblacion 16, Poblacion 9, Poblacion 8, Candadam, San Isidro, Sta. Cruz, and Kilim.
These coastal areas are mostly marked by long sandy beaches covered by unconsolidated alluvial deposits largely composed of sand, granules and pebbles that are easily carried away by waves and currents even at calm sea conditions.
The presence of uprooted coconut trees, as well as partially or completely collapsed hard engineering coastal-protection structures, are indicative of severe coastal erosion in the past.