Headless chickens

BBM said the government’s response to the victims of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine was not enough. “It’s never enough. I wish we could do more…” He went on to say that the rainfall from Kristine was almost double that of Ondoy, as he explained why the flood control failed and why they failed to do more.

Of course, BBM must convince himself that they couldn’t have done more. But they could have if there was more systematic planning on how this country prepares for these natural calamities. After all, we get at least 20 typhoons every year.

Yet, we never seem to be ready to handle the consequences such as flooding, landslides and population displacement. Our officials, both national and local, still run around like headless chickens when typhoons hit.

That shouldn’t happen anymore. We have scientific resources that can help prepare our response, long before the typhoons inflict any damage. Our officials need to make an effort to learn how to use these resources. Assuming the provincial governor or mayor is in his or her locality rather than in some beach resort away from the typhoon’s path, they can have all the information they need to make intelligent decisions that will reduce the storm’s impact on the lives of their people.

Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) which is now based at the UP Resilience Institute makes real-time scientific data available to LGUs and national government agencies to help prepare and respond to typhoons. NOAH uses a variety of advanced technologies to deliver early warning systems and hazard maps.

NOAH has mapped out the hazardous areas nationwide. It should be criminal for our officials not to use NOAH’s data to protect people from natural calamities.

There are maps for floods and landslides and storm surge inundation that can identify local critical facilities. NOAH’s satellite data provides early warnings to communities on the amount of rain that can be expected. NOAH also has sensors that measure the rise and fall of river water levels and provide early warning of overflow and flooding of adjacent areas.

There should be policies on land use that prevent people from living in areas prone to floods and landslides based on NOAH hazard maps. LGUs must have active contingency plans to evacuate endangered residents as quickly as PAGASA warnings are issued. This presupposes that adequate evacuation infrastructure is in place.

By now, we ought to be experts in responding to these natural calamities rather than just distribution of ayuda or relief goods. During Kristine, the flood caught our officials with their pants down.

Flooding was the most damaging aspect of Kristine. It is something that could have been predicted, and people could have been moved to safer places. Most likely, drowning was the cause of death of a good number of the over 150 deaths recorded in the aftermath of Kristine.

I received an email from Cynthia Quirino, a granddaughter of the late President, expressing her reactions to the aftermath of Kristine.

Ms. Quirino thinks that our officials, national and local, are remiss for the glaring lack of proper evacuation centers. As she correctly pointed out, with the Mandanas ruling giving LGUs a bonanza in available funds, they should have put up multipurpose buildings as evacuation centers.

“The DSWD and other government agencies distribute food packs, including rice, canned goods, etc. but how can these poor victims cook when they no longer have their kitchens or even pots, pans, utensils to cook with? It is better to set up soup kitchens in these evacuation centers to provide hot meals. A hot meal can go a long way to alleviate the desperation of these victims.”

The good news is that the Ligtas Pinoy Centers Act will soon be signed into law. The Act mandates the establishment of storm-resilient, fully equipped evacuation centers across all cities and municipalities to provide safe havens for Filipinos during natural disasters. It was approved by a near unanimous vote in the Lower House with Rep. Paolo Duterte casting the lone negative vote. That’s apparently because the principal sponsor is House Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Migs Nograles who is running against him for Davao City’s congressional seat.

Under the bill, facilities will be built to withstand typhoon winds up to 300 kilometers per hour and earthquakes up to 8.0 magnitude. Under the bill, priority will be given to high-risk, disaster-prone areas. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, as the lead implementing agency, will coordinate with local governments to determine where new centers are most urgently needed.

Facilities will include sleeping areas, health care stations, shower and toilet facilities and spaces for children and women, ensuring full accessibility for people with disabilities.

In addition to essential amenities, each Ligtas Pinoy Center will include sanitation facilities, food preparation areas, emergency power and even designated areas for livestock — recognizing that many Filipino families evacuate with animals essential to their livelihood.

The question is, why only now? Then again, this looks like legislators will have a new excuse for more pork funds. Given the increasing number of contractors who are also members of Congress, the construction frenzy for these facilities would be at fever pitch.

Citizens must be vigilant to ensure that corners are not cut and substandard materials are not used because their lives depend on having really strong buildings during this era of increasingly violent typhoons.

The Dutertes are apparently not too appreciative of the dangers to life and property that these weather disturbances bring. During his term, former president Duterte cut off funding for the NOAH project. Luckily UP picked it up. NOAH’s treasure trove of climate and other data should be used to save lives. Indeed, DICT should help produce a mobile app that will enable ordinary citizens to get NOAH information to prepare for incoming storms.

We have resources to do better if only our officials weren’t so focused on enriching themselves.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco.