EDITORIAL - Typhoon Tino one year on

Exactly a year ago today, Typhoon Tino lashed Cebu.

Cebu is no stranger to strong typhoons; it had faced Typhoon Nitang in 1984, Ruping in 1990, Yolanda in 2013, and Odette in 2021. But what made Typhoon Tino different was that the rains it brought caused floods in areas that weren’t previously prone to it.

Areas that were near rivers, quarries, and upland development projects fared the worst. So did subdivisions and communities with narrow roads.

Look at the photos online from that time and you can see how an entire riverside neighborhood vanished, how posh subdivisions weren’t spared when floodwaters picked up cars and turned them into metal barricades, how neighborhoods were turned into lakes that rescuers had to navigate them by boat.

After all was said and done, 96 people were confirmed dead 1,836 injured, and 43 missing. This was the most casualties Cebu had suffered from a storm in a while.

We thought we were prepared for it, but even after our so-called experience with howlers response came in trickles and often too late. Getting to disaster areas was hard because of congested roads and lack of transportation options. Even government response left a lot to be desired.

According to a Commission on Audit report published the following year, donated relief items like canned goods, rice, bottled water, modular tents, hygiene kits, and other essential supplies remained undistributed as of December 31, 2025, while ?9.43 million in cash specifically intended for Typhoon Tino victims had yet to be used.

We might have been prepared for high winds. We might have been prepared for a period of time without power, water, or internet. We might have been prepared to bug in at home for a while as the streets outside were being cleared, but we were not prepared for the floodwaters and the damage it could cause. We were not prepared for the number of people that needed help.

One year on, the biggest lesson we can learn from Typhoon Tino is to be prepared for the unexpected, because we are sure to be hit by storms as regularly as the seasons change.