As typhoons become more frequent and intense, Filipinos are getting married in flooded churches
But one couple in Bulacan province was undeterred by the extreme weather, which fell on their wedding day — and chose to wade down the aisle in a flooded church.
Jade Rick Verdillo and Jamaica Aguilar saw the decision to persevere in the unusual conditions as a symbol of their commitment to one another.
"It's just a test. Before we got married, we were in this relationship for 10 years. We have been through a lot.
"This is just one of the struggles that we've overcome."
Images of the wedding went viral on social media, a symbol of Filipino resilience in the face of extreme weather.
And wedding guests, knee deep in water, praised the couple.
"It's an extraordinary wedding, like you will see love prevailed because even against weather, storm, rains, floods, the wedding continued for the blessing of our Lord, they become one," Jiggo Santos, a friend of the couple said.
It's reportedly not the first time a Filipino couple has tied the knot in a submerged chapel.
Two years ago, another pair walked down the flooded aisle of the same church, at the same time of year.
Flooding is a perennial issue for the South-East Asian nation located in the Pacific typhoon belt, with at least 20 storms or typhoons striking each year.
According to the UN, the country is the most prone to natural hazards in the world, and these hazards are becoming more intense due to climate change.
Mahar Lagmay, a geologist at the University of the Philippines and an expert in disaster response, said infrastructure in the country was ill-equipped to deal with weather extremes made more likely by climate change.
"Rainfall events that generate big floods are now becoming more frequent, they're not as rare anymore, they used to happen every one in 100 years," he said.
"There should be a shift in mindset and try to entertain moving into a safer place that's safe and more liveable because these places are not liveable unless they convert it to a Venice type community."
Dr Lagmay said construction of properties and roads over natural waterways and flood plains in the capital Manila rendered the city particularly vulnerable to inundation.
But he said the country's disaster risk reduction efforts had made significant strides in recent decades, pointing out that the average number of fatalities from hydrometeorological hazards went down significantly from 1,000-1,250 average deaths a year for the period 1986-2013 to about 250 a year from 2014 to the present.
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ABC News
5 hours ago
- ABC News
Pelican Point residents build seawalls despite scepticism of rising sea-level threat
Their houses are just a few metres from the sea, but many locals in the South Australian town of Pelican Point are sceptical of predictions their town will one day be under water. Still, almost all of the homes in the small South East town that face directly onto the ocean now have home-made sea walls in front of them. The local District Council of Grant is preparing a coastal adaptation strategy for the town, along with other areas under threat from rising sea levels and rougher seas caused by climate change. With legal costs rising, the council and the Coast Protection Board abandoned legal action in 2017 against property owners who built sea walls decades ago. These first unauthorised sea walls were built by some homeowners on crown land up to 30 years ago but experts say they can exacerbate wave damage to neighbouring properties. Both the council and the board decided a town-wide approach was needed but, while waiting for action, residents and holiday homeowners such as Adrian Ferguson have put rocks weighing up to 3.5 tonnes between their properties and the Southern Ocean. "The last shack to our right was done just before the [recent] storms," Mr Ferguson said. A draft version of the council's coastal adaptation strategy says there is a 50 per cent chance that almost all the land the town is on will be eroded away by 2100. The same area is also expected to be inundated by more than 1.25 metres of water during 1-in-100-year floods by the end of the century. Mr Ferguson has also helped other property owners with houses facing west towards the ocean to install new or improved sea walls. Now the only land without a protective barrier is council-owned. "It's stopping erosion in front of our shacks; otherwise it would just be gone, the way the sea has been." He believed the increased urgency for building seawalls came down to increased house prices, which reach up to $700,000, rather than the predicted sea-level rise. "I think the costing of the shacks has got out of control like everything, but I don't think the sea is rising … you talk to the old guys here, they've seen this before." The council's draft plan says Pelican Point is very exposed to both inundation and erosion hazards. It is forming a Pelican Point Working Group to advise on implementing solutions to the expected flooding and erosion. "The town's low elevation makes it highly vulnerable to inundation during storm events, which is likely to cause substantial damage to both public and private assets," the draft strategy states. A council survey of mostly Pelican Point, Carpenter Rocks and Port MacDonnell residents found only about a third would support moving private property as part of the adaptation strategy. Almost three-quarters said they were willing to make changes to their homes or assets as an adaptation strategy. More than half said they would be willing to contribute financially to improving coastal management and hazard resilience of the community, despite previously rejecting a similar proposal. "Several [residents] demand immediate action, fearing irreversible damage; others question the need for drastic measures, seeing changes as natural," a report on the survey said. "Scepticism exists toward climate modelling and long-term projections." Sally Stower lives in Carpenter Rocks, just a short distance from Pelican Point. She said the coastal adaptation strategy put properties like hers in the medium-to-high risk category of erosion because it did not take into account the offshore reef that caused the wreck of the SS Admella, South Australia's largest maritime disaster, 166 years ago. This could affect the ability to sell the property, its price, insurance and planning approvals. "My major concern is that the report is missing a major piece of infrastructure that already exists and that's the reef structure," she said. The consultant who is developing the strategy, Andrew Pomeroy, said the risk of inundation and erosion at Pelican Point had been known for a long time and that feedback through submissions and public meetings would be considered in the final plan to be released soon. "It is important to note that the mapped hazard areas indicate zones at risk under a 'no action' scenario and they do not represent definitive predictions of where erosion or inundation will occur — simply that those areas are at risk of impact as a consequence of those processes," Dr Pomeroy said. The council's chief executive, Darryl Whicker, said the strategy at least gave it some detail about what was under threat. "What this plan does is give us a base in which to work from, how to prioritise those adaptation strategies, and to seek funding into the future," he said. David Miller has lived for 55 years in the small area in Pelican Point where the coastline is predicted to stay the same or expand into what is now the ocean. He said he could understand why others had put in seawalls despite their legal ambiguity. "I think most of the people down there are aware of what's going on and they're making their own way of protecting their asset," he said. Mr Miller would not like to have to pay for a sanctioned seawall in front of the at-risk properties, an attitude Mr Ferguson understands. "I wouldn't either if I was up on the reef over the other side there safe and dry," Mr Ferguson said.
The Advertiser
17 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Four killed as heavy rain soaks northern China
Heavy rain has intensified around Beijing and nearby provinces, with four people killed in a landslide in northern Hebei and eight people missing, as authorities warn of intensifying conditions and heightened disaster risks in the coming days. Authorities relocated more than 4400 people on Monday as colossal rain continued to pound the suburban area of Miyun in Beijing causing flash floods and landslides, affected many villages, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Images circulated on China's Wechat app showed areas of Miyun where cars and trucks were floating on a flooded road where water levels had risen so high that it had submerged part of a residential building. Electricity cuts were also affecting more than 10,000 people in the area, CCTV said. Northern China has seen record precipitation in recent years, exposing densely populated cities, including Beijing, to flood risks. Some scientists link the increased rainfall in China's usually arid north to global warming. China's Central Meteorological Observatory said heavy rain would continue to drench northern China during the next three days. Beijing issued its highest-level flood alert on Monday, the official Xinhua news agency said. The storms are part of the broader pattern of extreme weather across China due to the East Asian monsoon, which has caused disruptions in the world's second-largest economy. Xiwanzi Village in Shicheng Town, near Miyun Reservoir, was severely affected, CCTV said on Monday with an additional 100 villagers transferred to a primary school for shelter. It comes after the maximum flood peak flow into the Miyun reservoir reached a record high of 6550 cubic meters per second, Beijing authorities said on Sunday. In neighbouring Shanxi province, videos from state media showed roads inundated by strong gushing currents and submerged vegetation including crops and trees. Shaanxi province, home to China's historic city of Xian, also issued flash flood disaster risk warnings on Monday. In Beijing's Pinggu District, two high-risk road sections had been sealed, authorities said. China's Water Resources Ministry has issued targeted flood warnings to 11 provinces and regions, including Beijing and neighbouring Hebei. Two were dead and two missing in Hebei province, CCTV said on Sunday morning. Overnight rain dumped a record 145 millimetres an hour on Fuping in the industrial city of Baoding. Heavy rain has intensified around Beijing and nearby provinces, with four people killed in a landslide in northern Hebei and eight people missing, as authorities warn of intensifying conditions and heightened disaster risks in the coming days. Authorities relocated more than 4400 people on Monday as colossal rain continued to pound the suburban area of Miyun in Beijing causing flash floods and landslides, affected many villages, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Images circulated on China's Wechat app showed areas of Miyun where cars and trucks were floating on a flooded road where water levels had risen so high that it had submerged part of a residential building. Electricity cuts were also affecting more than 10,000 people in the area, CCTV said. Northern China has seen record precipitation in recent years, exposing densely populated cities, including Beijing, to flood risks. Some scientists link the increased rainfall in China's usually arid north to global warming. China's Central Meteorological Observatory said heavy rain would continue to drench northern China during the next three days. Beijing issued its highest-level flood alert on Monday, the official Xinhua news agency said. The storms are part of the broader pattern of extreme weather across China due to the East Asian monsoon, which has caused disruptions in the world's second-largest economy. Xiwanzi Village in Shicheng Town, near Miyun Reservoir, was severely affected, CCTV said on Monday with an additional 100 villagers transferred to a primary school for shelter. It comes after the maximum flood peak flow into the Miyun reservoir reached a record high of 6550 cubic meters per second, Beijing authorities said on Sunday. In neighbouring Shanxi province, videos from state media showed roads inundated by strong gushing currents and submerged vegetation including crops and trees. Shaanxi province, home to China's historic city of Xian, also issued flash flood disaster risk warnings on Monday. In Beijing's Pinggu District, two high-risk road sections had been sealed, authorities said. China's Water Resources Ministry has issued targeted flood warnings to 11 provinces and regions, including Beijing and neighbouring Hebei. Two were dead and two missing in Hebei province, CCTV said on Sunday morning. Overnight rain dumped a record 145 millimetres an hour on Fuping in the industrial city of Baoding. Heavy rain has intensified around Beijing and nearby provinces, with four people killed in a landslide in northern Hebei and eight people missing, as authorities warn of intensifying conditions and heightened disaster risks in the coming days. Authorities relocated more than 4400 people on Monday as colossal rain continued to pound the suburban area of Miyun in Beijing causing flash floods and landslides, affected many villages, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Images circulated on China's Wechat app showed areas of Miyun where cars and trucks were floating on a flooded road where water levels had risen so high that it had submerged part of a residential building. Electricity cuts were also affecting more than 10,000 people in the area, CCTV said. Northern China has seen record precipitation in recent years, exposing densely populated cities, including Beijing, to flood risks. Some scientists link the increased rainfall in China's usually arid north to global warming. China's Central Meteorological Observatory said heavy rain would continue to drench northern China during the next three days. Beijing issued its highest-level flood alert on Monday, the official Xinhua news agency said. The storms are part of the broader pattern of extreme weather across China due to the East Asian monsoon, which has caused disruptions in the world's second-largest economy. Xiwanzi Village in Shicheng Town, near Miyun Reservoir, was severely affected, CCTV said on Monday with an additional 100 villagers transferred to a primary school for shelter. It comes after the maximum flood peak flow into the Miyun reservoir reached a record high of 6550 cubic meters per second, Beijing authorities said on Sunday. In neighbouring Shanxi province, videos from state media showed roads inundated by strong gushing currents and submerged vegetation including crops and trees. Shaanxi province, home to China's historic city of Xian, also issued flash flood disaster risk warnings on Monday. In Beijing's Pinggu District, two high-risk road sections had been sealed, authorities said. China's Water Resources Ministry has issued targeted flood warnings to 11 provinces and regions, including Beijing and neighbouring Hebei. Two were dead and two missing in Hebei province, CCTV said on Sunday morning. Overnight rain dumped a record 145 millimetres an hour on Fuping in the industrial city of Baoding. Heavy rain has intensified around Beijing and nearby provinces, with four people killed in a landslide in northern Hebei and eight people missing, as authorities warn of intensifying conditions and heightened disaster risks in the coming days. Authorities relocated more than 4400 people on Monday as colossal rain continued to pound the suburban area of Miyun in Beijing causing flash floods and landslides, affected many villages, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Images circulated on China's Wechat app showed areas of Miyun where cars and trucks were floating on a flooded road where water levels had risen so high that it had submerged part of a residential building. Electricity cuts were also affecting more than 10,000 people in the area, CCTV said. Northern China has seen record precipitation in recent years, exposing densely populated cities, including Beijing, to flood risks. Some scientists link the increased rainfall in China's usually arid north to global warming. China's Central Meteorological Observatory said heavy rain would continue to drench northern China during the next three days. Beijing issued its highest-level flood alert on Monday, the official Xinhua news agency said. The storms are part of the broader pattern of extreme weather across China due to the East Asian monsoon, which has caused disruptions in the world's second-largest economy. Xiwanzi Village in Shicheng Town, near Miyun Reservoir, was severely affected, CCTV said on Monday with an additional 100 villagers transferred to a primary school for shelter. It comes after the maximum flood peak flow into the Miyun reservoir reached a record high of 6550 cubic meters per second, Beijing authorities said on Sunday. In neighbouring Shanxi province, videos from state media showed roads inundated by strong gushing currents and submerged vegetation including crops and trees. Shaanxi province, home to China's historic city of Xian, also issued flash flood disaster risk warnings on Monday. In Beijing's Pinggu District, two high-risk road sections had been sealed, authorities said. China's Water Resources Ministry has issued targeted flood warnings to 11 provinces and regions, including Beijing and neighbouring Hebei. Two were dead and two missing in Hebei province, CCTV said on Sunday morning. Overnight rain dumped a record 145 millimetres an hour on Fuping in the industrial city of Baoding.
West Australian
20 hours ago
- West Australian
Strong attendance as Albany remembers Korean War with annual commemorative service at St John's Church
The Albany RSL held its annual Korean War commemorative service at St John's Church on Sunday afternoon, which was a moving ceremony despite wet and windy conditions. Albany RSL services director Michael Tugwell said the weather forecast deterred some attendees, but a smaller congregation did not take away from the respect of the service. TS Vancouver naval cadets marched the flags of Australia, New Zealand and the UK in to begin the service, followed by the Australian and UK national anthems. Korean War veteran Ivan Tilney, who served in Korea as an engineer in the British Army, read the traditional verses after the opening address by Albany RSL president Rex Hendriks and the prayer by Reverend Karen Cave. Mr Tilney was joined by fellow veteran Ken Morrison, and the service again acknowledged the service of Albany's John Atkinson, who was killed in Korea at the Battle of Kapyong on April 24, 1951. Mr Tugwell gave the keynote address and said it was very special to have two veterans still in Albany and able to attend this year's service. 'There are very few Korean War veterans still alive in WA, so it's significant for us to have both of them in Albany with us,' he said. He said the peacekeeping operations following the 1953 ceasefire in Korea remained a significant part of Australia's involvement in the conflict, and its servicemen and women deserved to be remembered. 'Peacekeeping still has its risks, not in the same way as war, but the risk is still definitely there,' Mr Tugwell said. 'The Korean War was the first test for a newly formed UN. 'It was a hastily assembled force and not many people realise North and South Korea are still officially at war; there was a ceasefire, but never an end to the war. 'The large American force that remains in South Korea is what I think continues to act as the main deterrent to North Korea.' The service concluded with the Ode, read by Mr Hendriks, and the Last Post and Rouse, both played by City of Albany Band bugler James Cooper. A temporary reprieve in the rain enabled the TS Vancouver cadets to re-lay wreaths outside at the Albany War Memorial on York Street, led from the church by piper Andy Davis.
