Between life and property, what weighs more?
It’s both an easy and difficult question especially when it involves one who has to choose between saving lives including one’s very own and saving one’s property. That’s exactly the choice people had to face at the height of the flashfloods that hit Davao City last week affecting nearly 4,000 households.
When the city’s disaster operations center sounded the alarm and called for preemptive evacuation, residents were caught in quandary whether to seek safe refuge amidst high waters and leave their homes unattended or to stay in their property for fear of losing them either to floods or to looters.
Vice Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte explained the call for preemptive evacuation as the best option for people to be safe and secure. Over and above anything else, life is more precious. That is why the young city official said it is important for people to heed the order to evacuate during emergency situations as those responsible for sounding the alarm are trained to assess the situation when it is time to evacuate. The problem during last week’s flooding was there were people who were hesitant to leave their belongings and would rather take the risk staying in their homes than leaving. Stubbornness has no place in emergency situations and it will cause even more damage.
In the light of last week’s experience, it is imperative that the city government conduct disaster management information drive to residents of areas prone to flooding. Residents must be trained how to respond to emergency situations and to be inculcated with the safety-first mindset. People must also be taught how to assess their areas whenever calamities like floods hit them and to be able to familiarize with the easiest escape route out of their locations.
Finally, the city can invest with more calamity response equipment like more rubber boats, personal flotation devices, rescue throwbags and other tools.
It is when people are ‘armed’ that they need not have to pick between life and property during emergencies.
