Preparing for disaster

It’s always this time of year that we all can’t help but get wary when it comes to the weather. As rainy season approaches, it’s only normal for us to be slightly on our toes due to the trauma brought about by previous disasters that wreaked havoc on our country and our countrymen. This happened after Ondoy and Milenyo and even more so this year, barely one year after typhoon Yolanda swept through the Philippines and changed everything.

Prior to Yolanda, we had been hit by several bad storms already. Who could forget the photos and videos making the rounds on the Internet after Ondoy turned Edsa into a veritable river with cars and boats sailing down it? Or all the people who were killed, displaced, and lost after Pepeng? And I’m sure we all remember the power outages that lasted for over four days following Milenyo.

Those were hard times for the country and even though we made it through it was not unscarred. However, even with the “preparation” that those storms put us through, we were still horribly unprepared for the devastation that was Yolanda. The super typhoon ripped thorough the country and left so many dead, lost, and homeless in its wake.

Now, eight months after the storm, we still haven’t even fully recovered. So many are still without homes and even basic necessities. Some areas still don’t have all the utilities back and so many of our countrymen are still left uncertain about their future and struggling to find work and way to rebuild their lives.

The only good thing to emerge from typhoon Yolanda — if you can even call it a good thing — was the knowledge that so many people cared. The world came together to lend a helping hand and it really was heartwarming to see everyone doing whatever little he or she could to help. So many people around the world praised the Philippines for being so resilient in times of catastrophe and learning to make the best of their situation.

That is something that we hear a lot in times of disasters in the country, and I feel it is something that is really a double-edged sword. Sure Filipinos are resilient, some Internet memes would even go as far as saying the Filipino spirit is waterproof. While all that is true and our strength is certainly something to be proud of, I can’t help but feel we shouldn’t have to fall back to that every year. Yes, we already know we can somehow make our way back when disaster hits, we’ve done it time and time again, but instead of having to do so, can’t we just prepare better for disasters instead? After all, it’s not like we don’t know storm season is coming. It comes every year, like clockwork, and we’ve already seen what it can do.

Additionally, each year seems to get more and more precarious when it comes to the weather. This is due to climate change and the continued abuse of the environment. After Yolanda hit last year, the first super typhoon of its kind, meteorologists claimed that it would most likely not be the last and that freak weather storms similar to Yolanda would become the norm if climate change continued. Typhoons, earthquakes, hurricanes, and more would just be the planet’s response to years and years of humans treating it badly. This just means that now, more than ever, we have to be ready for all types of natural calamities including freak storms and never before seen weather.

And speaking of freak weather, few weeks ago I mentioned in a previous column that the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warned that a 7.2 magnitude earthquake could have catastrophic effects on the country, and if the epicenter is Metro Manila, it could cause over 34,000 deaths, countless injuries and even more fatalities from simultaneous fires in buildings all throughout the metropolis. It could even sever certain cities from one another leaving them isolated in the aftermath. The scary part about this type of doomsday prediction is that it is not impossible anymore. And, if a quake like this hit it would not be ludicrous to assume that a tsunami would immediate follow.

A few years ago, we might have laughed at the thought of these scary predictions claiming them to be the work of overactive imaginations just trying to scare people. But now, it can happen any time and we need to be prepared. In line with this, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) held a nationwide earthquake drill last July 2, to help prepare the departments concerned if the “big one” were to hit. The drill was held in Manila (with simultaneous drills in Makati, Mandaluyong, and more) and according to Manila’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) chief Johnny Yu, 70% of offices and establishments in the city participated. This included hotels, hospitals, schools, and offices.

It was a good start and when the drill started at around 9:30 a.m., the response time was relatively quick with everyone out of their buildings in record time and the firemen on the scene to put out the planned “fires” — roughly around three. They also included “road accidents” in the drill including the crashing of a truck carrying liquid nitrogen. Part of the drill included responders to arrive in biohazard suits and contain those struck with the biohazard material. That afternoon, a tsunami drill was held with people again evacuating their buildings.

This is definitely a good start, but there is much work to be done. The drills familiarized the people with the evacuation plan and protocols and also tested the communication between disaster responders and government teams. However, we have to realize that response times for drills will always be fast because everyone is already anticipating it. This is something that we can’t do with an actual disaster. It won’t hit us on a schedule and we have to be prepared at a moment’s notice.

Plus, it was noted that while people participated in the drill, not everyone took it seriously. Some participants just evacuated and milled around speaking to friends or taking selfies without rushing to the evacuation area and really following instructions. This is sadly a very typical Filipino trait wherein nothing is serious until it is actually happening. It saddens me to think that we would not take advantage of this opportunity to truly prepare.

At the end of the day, I suppose a start is better than nothing. I can’t say I think we are prepared for whatever lies ahead, but I do hope we are at least on our way. Other than just drills, the government really has to invest their attention and money on better urban planning. Strict building codes for safety have to be implemented and followed and the roads and drainage systems — as well as proper garbage disposal — have to be addressed once and for all. We experienced minor rains last week and there were already knee high floods in certain areas around the city. This is not a comforting thought.

Hopefully we continue to prepare more this July — dubbed as “National Disaster Awareness Month.” There is no such thing as being too prepared or over prepared, so the more work we do the better. After all, our very lives depend on it.