Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar last May 3, specifically in the Irrawaddy delta, have left more than 60,000 now dead and thousands more missing, with 1.5 million people left homeless. The delta breaks out into dozens of large river channels flowing into the Andaman Sea from the mighty Irrawaddy River, the country’s main waterway. It is also a low-lying region where about 6 million people reside. The casualties came mostly from this place, where, first, a tidal wave up to 12 feet high swept away the houses in the village. Thereafter, a cyclone also hit the area. The people had nowhere to flee.
According to Weather Underground, Cyclone Nargis' devastation ranks the storm as the 19th deadliest in world history. If Nargis’ death toll does exceed 100,000, the storm will still only rank as the tenth deadliest tropical cyclone of all time. Human factors helped make the storm surge worse. About 80% of the mangrove forest along Myanmar’s coast has been destroyed, to make room for rice paddies and shrimp farms. Ma mangroves — tall, gnarly, salt-tolerant trees — act to blunt and slow down the progress of the storm surge and reduce the wave action of the ocean. Had more mangroves been left to survive, the impact of the storm surge would have been lessened.
It is important for our local civil defense authorities to take note of these details before and after the devastation brought by such calamities, if we are really to be sufficiently and effectively prepared. This could happen to us especially in similar vulnerable areas in our archipelago. For a tidal wave and a cyclone to hit one after another is a weather phenomenon that must be studied.
We are glad to note that our Office of Civil Defense (OCD) is the lead agency of “Project Ready”. Also known as the High Risk Mapping and Assessment for Effective Community Disaster Risk Management, it brings together the expertise and resources of four other key agencies — the Philippine Institute of Volcanology (Phivolcs), Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), Mines and Geosciences Bureau, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA). This elite weather group aims to identify through scientific mapping and professional assessment of local disaster-prone communities and disseminates vital and timely information to avert disaster in local high risk and vulnerable communities even before it happens. Barangays and local communities in various risk-prone provinces are being appraised on the hazard mapping on storm surge, landslides caused by rain and earthquake, ground rupture, ground shaking, liquefaction and tsunami.
In previous columns, we have mentioned that the Bicol region had distinctly earned a reputation as the first to be hit by the most destructive calamities. Our country is subject to all types of calamities due to its geographical location in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent. We have many active volcanoes and therefore we are prone to landslides, earthquakes and tsunamis.
Knowing about these disaster preparedness and mitigation program is a relief especially that the rainy season has started. The more important thing is to be able to implement “Project Ready” based on cooperation and teamwork among the project officials, the local town officials and the local residents themselves. With previous risk knowledge and an effective mechanism in place, it’s about time we get to really avert disaster, rather than our people get swamped by it.