By Henrylito D. Tacio
“The calamity that comes is never that one we had prepared ourselves for.”
— Mark Twain
There is increasing evidence that natural disasters will be more frequent, intense, and costly in the coming decades.
“Every year, between 600 and 800 natural disasters occur, some small and localized, others affecting several countries and many thousands of people,” writes Bob Hansford, disaster risk management advisor at Tearfund, a Christian relief and development agency.
Climate change has significantly contributed to these disasters. “Climate change is expected to lead to more intense typhoons, higher sea levels, and storm surges,” says the World Bank report, Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts and the Case for Resilience.
The regional office of the Department of Science and Technology issued this statement during the recent “Iba Na Panahon: Science for Safer Communities”: “(The) Philippines has experienced different kinds of natural calamities for the past few years. In December 2012, typhoon Pablo (Bopha), the strongest tropical cyclone to ever hit Mindanao in Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, left thousands of homeless and hundreds of fatalities.
“In October 2013, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake shocked the whole province of Bohol and nearby provinces including Cebu. A month later, the deadliest super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), flattened the Visayas area, destroying hundreds of houses, trees, buildings and other properties, leaving a thousand of dead people.”
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje has urged Filipinos to accept the increasing numbers of natural calamities lashing the country as a way of life. As he said in a television interview: “There is nothing we (can) do but adapt to climate change, and the only way we could be prepared for the impact of climate change is to accept that these recent developments in our country, like intense weather disturbances, heavy rainfall, as well as (the) long dry season, are now the ‘new normal.’”
“The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone places on Earth,” says Kathleen Tierney, director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado. “They’ve got it all. They’ve got earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tropical cyclones, landslides.”
“When disaster strikes no one is indispensable,” says Wilhelm Suyco, the regional officer-in-charge of the Department of Interior and Local Government in Davao region. “We need to be prepared for the worst impacts of the natural calamities brought by climate change,” urges the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services (PAGASA).
The World Wide Fund for Nature, in its edict titled Business Risk Assessment and the Management of Climate Change Impacts, recommends that Davao City be ready for the possible calamities that will befall the country’s largest city.
“Davao City is likely to face the impacts of sea level rise, increases in sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification, and inter-annual variability of rainfall. It is also likely that Davao will become the refuge of many migrants – a trend, which has already begun,” the study says.
In a speech delivered during the Davao workshop, Dr. Mario Montejo, the Secretary of Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said he believes science can be used “to better understand and improve our disaster planning and preparations at the national and local community levels.”
His science-based formula in dealing with natural calamities: “Early warning leads to early action. Early action minimizes loss. Therefore, reduced amounts of loss leads to early recovery.”
Based on the lessons of Super Typhoon “Yolanda,” the DOST has come up with a 4-point agenda to guide community disaster preparedness: (1) increase local risk knowledge, (2) capacitate hazards monitoring, (3) test warning and communications protocol, and (4) build response capability in communities.
“Filipinos should make it like a part of their lives. They should be like Japanese who are always prepared; in fact, they have some survival kits which have already become a part of their day-to-day activities,” said Dr. Teofredo T. Esguerra, a flight surgeon who is an expert on emergency medical services, when asked how Filipinos can respond to disasters.
Indeed, preparedness is the key to reduce the impacts of disaster. On November 8, 2013, super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) battered Tulang Diyot, a 1.5-kilometer long by 500-meter-wide island in Camotes group of islands, levelling the houses to the ground. With more than 1,000 people, no casualty was reported.
A day before Yolanda hit Eastern Samar, former mayor Alfredo Arquillano told the residents to evacuate to higher grounds with no ifs or buts. “It’s a good decision,” he says. “It’s fair to say it saved everyone’s life. There is not one house left standing on the island; everything was wiped out.”
His secret: he heeded the warnings of government agencies like the weather bureau. “It just shows that preparedness pays,” he says. “We have been working for years on early warnings, evacuations. The awareness level of the community was so high that it went well.”
The world’s weather has completely changed. Filipinos should not be complacent when it comes to disasters. Senator Loren Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on Climate Change, reminds us: “There will be many more typhoons, earthquakes and other natural hazards that will come our way. But, let us not be content in having beautiful systems for disaster response and relief. The challenge at hand is to do more and to do better in prevention and risk reduction.”
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