VERY few perhaps knew that Nov. 5, or three days ago, was World Tsunami Awareness Day. In 2015 the United Nations declared the day as such to promote a global culture of tsunami awareness.
What is a tsunami? It is a series of great sea waves caused by an underwater earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption. It can be very destructive like the one triggered by a major earthquake in Japan in 2011.
The Philippines, an earthquake-prone archipelago between the vast Pacific Ocean and the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), is vulnerable to tsunamis. It is thus a must for us to be aware of and be prepared for this destructive phenomenon.
One area we should focus on is the importance of building safe and resilient homes and structures, especially in rebuilding communities devastated by disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes and storm surges. The structural integrity of homes, buildings and other structures should not be compromised.
We need to rebuild communities with the confidence that we are not rebuilding the risks again. We need to ensure that construction of homes, even the temporary shelters, will be on safer ground following sound construction standards.
Super typhoon “Yolanda”, which struck central Philippines in November 8, 2013, was the new benchmark for disaster prevention, which means that the country should raise the standard for building structures. For instance, structures must be designed to be able to resist winds of more than 300 kph.
Local government units must include in their development and investment plans the establishment of shelters that are resilient to typhoon, storm surge and tsunami.
The way forward is to aim for resilience and we should start treading this path when rebuilding disaster-hit communities. We need to ensure that we rebuild lives and communities better, stronger and more resilient. We should give disaster survivors not only hope for the present, but also confidence in the future. We must build back better communities to be able to build a resilient nation.
