YEARENDER THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2015 2014 disasters Typhoon belt shifts to Visayas By RUDY FERNANDEZ The typhoons that hit the country in 2014 were not only stronger, the "typhoon belt” also shifted to the Visayas and outlying islands. From northern Luzon, particularly Batanes and the Bicol region, the typhoon belt is now in southern Luzon and the Visayas, including Mésbate, Romblon, Aklan, Iloilo and northern Palawan, Commission on Climate Change (CCC) commissioner Naderev Sano told a recent science forum sponsored by the Los Banos-based Southeast Asian Regional Center far Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). He said most of the typhoons followed the Pacifie-Visayas-West Philippine Sea path Of the 20 typhoons that hit the country each year, Saito said five to six are stronger with wind speed of 220 kilometers per hour, compared to a maximum of three in previous years. “They bring a lot of rain,” he added, citing PAGASA’s computer models projecting that the rainy season could be 60 percent wetter and the dry season 60 percent drier. Getting worse ‘The country’s climate also appears to be getting worse. A decade ago, the Philippines ranked as the third most vulnerable to climate change among countries in Southeast Asia, Vietnam topped the list followed by Indonesia. In 2013, the Philippines topped the list of countries aifecied by climate change, asSen. Cynthia Villar noted in her lecture last Dee.4 SEARCA Agriculture and Development Seminar Series in Los Bafios. The senator, who chairs the Senate committee on agriculture and food, cited a sspast by Gemmin think-tank Gemanwatch, which said that the Philippines, followed by Cambodia and India, sutiered the most from the effects of climate change in 2013. Germanwaich cited the damage caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda that left thousands dead and missing particularly in Leyte and Samar. Disastrous year The year 2014 was also disasttous, with the arrival of another super typhoon — Ruby. The [8 deaths caused by Ruby were fewer compared to Yolanda but iis strong winds pummeled hundreds of thousands of homes across the same path as Yolanda. ‘Among the killer typhoons in 2014 was Glenda, which cut a wide sivath of destruction from the Bicol region to Metro Manila, toppling counties trees and electri¢ posts, including those in the University of the Philippines-Los Banos complex. ‘Typhoon Seniang eapped 2014 with at least 55 deaths.