by Ram Maxey
WE who live in Davao City, and most of the rest of Mindanao, for that matter, should be grateful to the Almighty for sparing us from the wrath of typhoons that have periodically swept across parts of our country leaving death and destruction in their wake.
The past several days have been especially traumatic for the victims of typhoon Pedring in many parts of Luzon, especially Nueva Ecija and Bulacan where thousands of people had to contend against floodwaters that in some places were so deep that people had to seek safety on their roofrops.
Watching television coverage showed what hundreds of victims, many of them children, the aged and the infirm, had to go through. It was wrenching to those of us who watched the unfolding drama that seemed surreal to Dabawenyos glued to their TV sets in the comfort of their living rooms their feet dry while typhoon Pedring did its thing.
Now comes typhoon Quiel. And after Quiel typhoon Ramon is waiting in the outskirts of our archipelago to clean up what Pedring and Quiel have left in shambles. By the way, haven’t you noticed that succeeding typhoons seem to be getting more vicious than their cousins before them? Floodwaters have become deeper, their current stronger while government functionaries still haven’t really gotten around to improving their capabilities aimed at mitigating the damage to life and property. Typhoons seem to be able to outwit and put one over those who are charged with anticipating what a particular typhoon is going to do at any given time. There seems to be never enough trained rescuers, never enough equipment, never enough food and water to meet the demand.
Global warming no doubt is part of the problem, with glaciers in the polar regions melting at an ever faster rate, causing oceans and seas to rise, thus threatening to submerge islets and in time even islands. Rivers have been known to swell and threaten dwellers along riverbanks. The US Embassy along Roxas Boulevard in Manila had to be evacuated for the first time ever last week because of huge waves battering against the seawall. That eye opener has made embassy officials wonder what the future holds in store for the landmark facility on the edge of Manila Bay.
Makes you think, doesn’t it?. What is happening to our planet? Where do we go from here? Is the end of the world at hand? Hardly, but don’t ask P-Noy. He wouldn’t know either.
