EDITORIAL - After the drought, the floods

Weather experts have issued several warnings: after the severe El Niño that has induced a prolonged drought, the nation must brace for unusually heavy rainfall that may be spawned by a looming La Niña.

The approaching weather phenomenon is not expected during the usual monsoon season that starts in mid-June or early July, but in the third quarter of the year until the early months of 2017, the weather experts said. This means a prolonged period of heavy rainfall and the likelihood of severe flooding.

The nation has seen such a prolonged period in recent years. Typhoons Milenyo in 2006 and Ondoy in 2009 spawned torrential floods that took months to subside in certain areas particularly around the natural floodplain surrounding Laguna de Bay. The floodplain continues to be degraded by indiscriminate reclamation and the continuing expansion of fish pens, many of them owned by local politicians, making worse flooding inevitable. The incoming government must prepare for the disastrous consequences even as the use of Laguna de Bay for commercial fishing must be rationalized.

Typhoons carry the accompanying threat of powerful storm surges. Super Typhoon Yolanda struck in November 2013, triggering cataclysmic storm surges that flattened Tacloban City and many other areas of Leyte and Samar. Even while the affected areas have not yet fully recovered from the devastation, they must brace for the next typhoons, like the rest of the country.

Disaster preparedness should have vastly improved after Yolanda. Apart from boosting rescue and relief capability, the government must prepare for further crop destruction. El Niño-induced drought has devastated farmlands; heavy flooding after the drought will aggravate the loss of crops and livelihoods.

In parts of the Visayas and Mindanao including the Davao provinces, vast tracts of coconut plantations have not yet fully recovered from the previous years’ typhoons and destructive flooding. The incoming administration, still busy with the transition, must heed the experts’ warnings and ensure preparedness for disaster.