By Gerry T. Estrera
“Science tells us why these extreme weather events happen; it tells us how we can build our resilience to disasters; it warns us what we should and should not do to prevent further rise in global temperature. We have a multitude of studies provided by our scientists and we must use this wealth of information to our advantage. The key is to turn science into practice or promote knowledge into action,” Senator Loren Legarda, the UN Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific”
Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) is touted to be the mother of all typhoons to hit the country. Associated Press reported: “Yolanda slammed the island nation with a storm surge two stories high and some of the highest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone – 314 kilometers per hour as clocked by US satellites, or 237 kilometers per hour based on local reports.”
When he arrived after visiting Tacloban City, which was devastated by Yolanda, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte told reporters: “God must have been somewhere else or he forgot that there is a planet called Earth. I don’t know if I have to cry. I cannot shout in anger because you cannot be mad at anybody there.”
When asked his idea on the possibility of a similar typhoon to hit Davao City, the mayor replied: “The Pacific Ocean generates the warm and cold. It’s always the typhoon comes from the east of our country. If such kind of typhoon would hit Davao, I would begin my counting at 5,000 dead.”
Experts classify tropical cyclones either as tropical depression, tropical storm or typhoon. But among Filipinos, they’re known as bagyo.
“About 95 percent of the tropical cyclones affecting the Philippines originate in the Pacific Ocean while the rest come from the South China Sea,” says the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Tropical cyclones are low atmospheric pressure areas of tropical origin characterized by strong winds and normally accompanied by rainfall. Every year, 20 tropical cyclones on the average enter the country’s area of responsibility.
Depending on their windspeed, tropical cyclones are classified as depression (winds less than 63 kilometers per hour), storm (winds from 63 kph to 117 kph), and typhoon (winds of more than 117 kph).
According to Pagasa, typhoons usually occur from the month of June to November. Most, however, occur in the months of July and August “though other months outside of this period are not entirely free from tropical cyclones.”
During the early part of the typhoon season, Pagasa claims, tropical cyclones pass the northern regions of the country. In the latter part (from October to December), the central and southern parts are more prone to the passage.
Based on a study conducted by Pagasa from 1948 to 1989, Northern Luzon experiences five cyclones every two years. Central and Southern Luzon encounter 3 cyclones in 2 years and 5 cyclones in 3 years, respectively. A cyclone passes Eastern Visayas every year.
The weather bureau considers tropical cyclone as “the most commonly occurring natural hazard in the country.”
“While we cannot prevent tropical cyclone from taking place, many disasters brought by this weather disturbance can be abetted with adequate preparedness, response and protection,” a Pagasa official said.
For its part, Pagasa issues any of these 4 public storm warning signals through its domestic bulletins:
· Storm signal no. 1- when winds of 30 to 60 kph may be expected in at least 36 hours.
· Storm signal no. 2-when winds between 61 to 100 kph may be expected in at least 24 hours.
· torm signal no. 3-when winds between 101 kph and 185 kph may be expected in at least 18 hours.
· Storm signal no. 4-when very strong winds of more than 185 kph may be expected in at least 12 hours.
“Although it is the responsibility of the government to save lives and protect property from typhoons or other natural calamities, total protection from disasters cannot be provided by any government,” Pagasa argues.
“The involvement of our community in disaster preparedness and prevention activities is very essential in the reduction of the effects of natural hazards,” it adds. “In fact, the first line of defense against hazards is the community itself.”
In the Philippines, typhoons are named after females. This started in 1963 when then Philippine Weather Bureau adopted four sets of Filipino women’s nicknames ending in “Ng” from A to Y. Typhoons entering the Philippine area of responsibility would be named using lists prepared and arranged according to the Pilipino alphabet.
Names for each set are used for each year so that the groups will be repeated every four years. Each group is accompanied by an auxiliary list from A to G just in case the number of tropical cyclone within the season exceeds the number of Pilipino alphabets.
The auxiliary list, explained a Pagasa official, is necessary since the weather bureau has been erasing from the lists names of typhoons which have caused much disaster and fatality in the country.
A tropical cyclone causing a total damage of P1 billion or more and claiming three hundred lives and more are classified as destructive and consequently, decommissioned or erased from the original list. So far, more than 20 names have been deleted from the original list.
So far, the typhoons that hit the country were named Agaton, Basyang, Caloy, Domeng, and Ester. The other names of typhoons for this year are: Florita, Glenda, Henry, Inday, Juan, Katring, Luis, Mario, Neneng, Ompong, Paeng, Queenie, Ruby, Seniang, Tomas, Usman, Venus, Waldo, Yayang, and Zeny.
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