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The Great Ilocos Flood of 1867
Book chapter

The Great Ilocos Flood of 1867

Droughts, Floods, and Global Climatic Anomalies in the Indian Ocean World, pp.199-229
Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies, Springer International Publishing
2022
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Abstract

Abra River El Niño Great Ilocos flood Philippine typhoons Valentina Mendoza
This chapter examines a huge flood in the Northwest Philippines caused by a typhoon during the strong El Niño of 1867. The ‘great flood’ for nineteenth-century inhabitants of the Ilocos region occurred on 25–27 September 1867. The typhoon sent a huge amount of water rushing down the hills of the Abra Valley. This extraordinary flood, with waters reaching a height of 25 meters (82 feet) above normal level, killed 1800 persons and many thousands more draft animals. The newspaper accounts following the disaster and the urgent reports sent by the provincial governor led the Manila authorities to declare a state of emergency. The colonial government launched a public subscription in the Philippines and Spain to meet the relief and recovery needs of the people of Ilocos. The chapter also briefly recounts the deeds of a remarkable female first responder who saved several hundred lives during the flood.

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