Disaster council readies for 'stormy last quarter'

Aside from preparing for the 12th ASEAN Summit, the Regional Disaster and Coordinating Council has prepared for the possible entry of typhoons expected to hit the province between the months of November and December this year.

Pagasa Mactan weather observer Al Quiblat said that since the year 1990, a storm or typhoon often hits the province between the months of November and December.

"Sixty-five percent of the typhoons that hit Cebu usually occurred from November to December," Quiblat said.

At present, Cebu is experiencing an intertropical convergence zone that causes thunder and rainy weather in the metropolis, he explained.

But Quiblat said that the ITCZ is expected to slow down in November or December and the cool easterly wind will prevail on these months.

For his part, RDCC chairman and PRO-7 regional director Silverio Alarcio, Jr. said that they have always been preparing for possible natural calamities to occur, "short term for the ASEAN Summit and long term as part of the preparedness of Region 7 after the summit," he said.

Meanwhile, the RDCC is expected to pass a resolution asking the National Disaster Coordinating Council and the Department of Interior and Local Government to direct local chief executives to implement a municipal or barangay disaster coordinating council. This is part of its goal to raise vigilance and disaster preparedness, among the public, in the event of natural calamities. - Jasmin R. Uy