A long wet season

First it was Asiang, the first typhoon this year, which arrived earlier this month, hitting Catanduanes but sparing Metro Manila.

The capital was not so lucky when Biring came along this week, leaving six people dead and thousands homeless as it battered Northern and Central Luzon and flooded Metro Manila.

The heavy rains that swept the metropolis these past days, weather forecasters said, were caused not so much by the storm but by the seasonal southwest monsoon.

And while the fiesta month of May might be a little early for heavy rains, two of the early-bird typhoons indicate that it's going to be a long wet season this year.

With these signs of a lingering La Niña, the government must move swiftly to guard against the usual banes of the rainy season. There may be no escaping floods, but they can be made to subside as quickly as possible and their effects minimized. This requires the annual ritual of declogging drainage systems and cleaning up waterways. It includes driving away those squatters whose shanties straddle canals, unless they prefer to endanger their lives by waiting for the floods to wash away their makeshift homes.

And before the monsoon season officially starts, street diggings must also be finished and the pavement restored, except of course for major projects that are still a long way from completion. Are the flood control systems working in the North Expressway and the South Luzon Tollway? Traffic enforcers --who often disappear at the first sign of rain --must be on standby for blackouts that knock out traffic lights, especially during rush hour. Remember the collapse of Cherry Hills in Antipolo? Let's hope we don't see a repeat of that tragedy this year.

Rains also create puddles of stagnant water --and occasional tidal waves whenever heavy trucks pass by a flooded street --that are the favorite breeding grounds of disease-carrying mosquitoes. The government must once again alert barangay personnel and school administrators to keep their surroundings clean as a protection from mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue. In recent years this part of the world has seen regular outbreaks of dengue during the rainy season.

Even in the age of cyberspace, we are still at the mercy of the elements. But we can guard against the worst effects of nature's wrath. Weather forecasters have given a warning -- the country is in for a long period of rain. There's no reason for the government to be caught unprepared. Or has it been already?