When nature strikes

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

 When nature strikes, disaster preparedness may contribute in saving lives, but then, like a thief in the night, more often than not, it can still catch people by surprise.

Cordillera Disaster and local government officials may have thought they had it all figured out and were prepared enough for Typhoon Rosita. This, following lessons learned from deadly Typhoon Ompong which claimed more than a hundred lives in the region particularly in the mining town of Itogon, Benguet.

But then, Rosita unleashed her mayhem in Natonin, Mountain Province where more than 10 people died after being trapped inside a Dept. of Public Works and Highways building. In adjacent Ifugao members of a family were also killed.

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No amount of disaster preparedness can really fully stop the Grim Reaper from claiming more lives when nature unleashes its wrath.

In Itogon, for example, with the fatal landslide due to “Ompong” in the town still fresh in their minds, people prepared for onslaught of “Rosita” and this time, there were lesser casualties.

Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan said on Monday locals started moving out of their places while the police and barangay officials told folks to evacuate to avoid getting harmed by the typhoon.

This time, those staying in areas identified as geologically hazardous voluntarily moved out, a report by the Philippine News Agency said.

Palangdan said the Itogon government had identified Aleho Pacalso Memorial High School as evacuation site for residents of Barangay Ucab, where the massive landslide killed at least 80 people, mostly small-scale miners, at the height of Typhoon Ompong in mid-September.

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The mayor said other evacuation sites for the other villagers of Itogon were identified. The PNA report said after the fatal landslide, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau declared a major portion of Itogon town as geohazard or unstable, or highly susceptible to landslides and flooding due to cracks and hollow areas underground.

Meanwhile, provincial governments of Abra and Apayao announced as early as Oct. 28 suspension of classes in all levels in both public and private schools.

Abra Gov. Jocelyn Bernos also suspended work in government agencies and offices in the province from Oct. 29 to 31.

Bernos heads the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council of Abra.

She signed Advisory No. 15 on Oct. 28, suspending classes in all levels in both public and private schools in the entire province.

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The advisory also suspended work in government offices and agencies for three days, from Monday to Wednesday, ahead of All Saints' Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls' Day (Nov. 2), which are special non-working holidays.

The advisory said it was “in consideration of the welfare and safety of the school children in Abra and in order to give ample time for government employees to prepare for the impact of another very strong typhoon (Rosita) that entered the Philippine area of responsibility on Oct. 27.”

It also mentioned that work suspension in private offices shall be at the discretion of their respective heads.

The same order raised the alert level in the whole province from “white” to “blue,” making all disaster risk reduction management councils and committees in the barangay level on guard, monitoring the weather for 24 hours.

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Bernos has also ordered all offices and government agencies concerned with the delivery of disaster-related services to stay in operation to serve the public continuously.

Apayao’s order suspending classes was based on PDRRMC Memo 2018-031.

As of noontime of Monday, classes in pre-school, elementary, and high school in the provinces of Ifugao, Baguio-Benguet, Mountain Province, and Kalinga were also suspended, following the weather bureau’s announcement that the typhoon signal in the said provinces has been raised to Signal No. 2.

As early as last Friday, the Cordillera Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council raised the alert level in the entire Cordillera to “blue” and ordered the activation of all DRRM councils and committees of the barangays.

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Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan also called for an emergency meeting on Friday of the CDRRMC and ordered the activation of all councils and the full monitoring of the weather situation in Baguio. 

There were lesser casualties this time when Rosita struck, but being prepared for disasters helps a lot and Disaster and local government officials and volunteers deserve commendation for doing their jobs to mitigate the situation.

In the case of Natonin, another lesson is learned after the Itogon experience: buildings or houses should not be built in landslide or flood prone areas.

This, as families of casualties like those in Natonin and Ifugao grieve the passing of their loved ones. Our condolences.