Phl tops 2011 UN disaster league table

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines topped the disaster league table last year with 33 major reported events, affecting 12.5 percent of the population, according to the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR).

The UNISDR said tropical storm “Sendong,” which claimed 1,430 lives after it struck in the middle of the night on Dec. 16, 2011, is the second most deadly disaster of the last 12 months.

The head of the United Nations’ office dedicated to disaster risk reduction wrapped up her visit to the Philippines on Friday by comparing the damage caused by Sendong to that of major tsunamis such as the one that struck Japan last March.

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction Margareta Wahlström visited the typhoon-devastated coastal cities of Iligan and Cayagan de Oro in Mindanao last week.

“What I have seen in Kalakala in Cagayan de Oro reminds me of the impacts made by major tsunamis such as the one which hit Japan last year or the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. In Kalakala you really feel the magnitude of the disaster and the force of the water which took so many lives, uprooted trees and swept away houses,” Wahlström told Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.

Wahlström and Del Rosario discussed the need for social mobilization to be linked to early flood warnings to ensure timely evacuations.

They also discussed the combination of environmental factors that contributed to the disaster, including illegal logging; the need to develop risk-sensitive comprehensive land use plans.

“The Philippines has a very sophisticated disaster response system and it has the capacity to be a world leader in disaster risk reduction,” said Wahlström, who met with representatives of UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), churches and 20 local mayors during her visit.

“I am confident the government will act on the lessons learned from typhoon Sendong to ensure better coordination and improved dissemination of early warnings as well as implementing existing legislation on land use and deforestation,” she added. “The UN system will be fully engaged in helping the country in the recovery phase.”