When the earthquake struck the other day, I had to get my lady out of the bathroom in such a blur as I had never experienced all these years of our togetherness. Whew, what adrenalin could do! There was panic written on her face and I had to re-assure her that I was with her so that she had nothing to fear. Well, the truth was, feared gripped me too, but I had to remain calm in the midst of that horrible situation.
The incident seemed to be the longest 37 seconds of our lives. After that traumatic temblor, I also remembered my daughter. Belynda, who celebrates her birthday today, is in a distant land. She was with us when super typhoon Ruping battered the city more than two decades ago and so I felt that I did everything to keep her (and my family) out of harm's way. She should be safe in the US but I wished she was within my reach each time such calamities as earthquakes and typhoons hit us.
In recent previous issues of this column, I wrote about disaster response. Except as regards tsunamis when I said that we have a natural defense in Mactan island, I suggested ways to control, if not avert, the devastation brought by rising flood waters and what to do in case of monstrous typhoon's winds. If we were to expand ourselves beyond the diverse horrifying experiences of that Tuesday's tremor, what lessons then have we learned?
1. The city has to organize a better disaster response set up. Let us start with the leadership. While we had to congratulate His Honor, Cebu City Mayor Michael L. Rama, for demonstrating effective leadership, something else could still be done. We need to know who should constitute the hierarchy of leadership from supreme commander to next-in-rank lieutenants, in case of calamities. This must be announced to us every now and then so that we will know from whom orders are taken.
2. It is ideal if we are able to establish a disaster-resilient communication system. The other day, the mayor, as disaster response chief, was visible on television and radio, as if to tell us that the city government was in control. But what if vital electric power was down and consequently, broadcast stations were rendered out of commission? We would be clueless and in case of the absence of accurate information, we would panic even more. A tool which can relay information has to be established in such a way as to be able to reach all parts of the city as quickly as possible. Such a devise shall help appease a startled community.
3. When our city organizes a system of a massive emergency and relief operation, it should establish a primary command post and as many field offices as are necessary. These offices should be identified now. Are they the city hall and barangay halls? If we are told beforehand where these posts are located, then the manpower, who shall constitute as the corps of rescuers, can go and assemble there without waste of time. And people should be told, in frequent drills, where these command quarters be so that when they have to report anything, they know where to go.
4. Let us improve our preparedness. Men should be assembled, taught and trained to meet the needs of city residents reeling under severe natural disasters. For example, let us not think of isolated fires but of city-wide conflagrations. I point this out because experts tell us that earthquakes in longer durations than the 37 seconds we suffered thru the other day, could trigger fire situations in many places. If, God forbid, there would be multiple fire-hit areas, our firemen should be adequate to meet the task on hand.
5. We should modernize our equipment and acquire new technology. Do we have vehicles that run on city streets littered with debris? Are there tools to use to free a man pinned down by concrete slabs? Can we quickly move fallen trees or mud from highways so that we can bring help to those in distress?
When, not if, we are able to do these, we shall be more prepared when the next disaster strikes.