TYPHOON “Hanna” is unlikely to hit land but is enhancing the habagat or southwest monsoon. Thus, according to the state weather bureau, moderate to heavy monsoon rains are expected to lash portions of Aklan, Antique, Iloilo and Guimaras, the northern portions of Palawan, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Romblon, Zambales, and Bataan. Residents in all these areas should be on the lookout for possible floods and landslides.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed, so to speak. Adequately preparing for storms means knowing them fully well and the dangers they bring.
When and where a typhoon will strike, and how, are critical knowledge that will allow the community to timely seek safer ground and fully protect their homes and properties.
But scientific data, sound disaster management policies and the political will to implement them won’t complete the formula for effective disaster prevention if there is no public cooperation. Early and mandatory evacuation would be useless if the people do not understand the need for such efforts.
Thus raising public awareness should be made to resonate loudly and as far deep into the communities as possible. If some of our people do not yet see how the issues could affect them, still it is our responsibility to draw them in. The government can conduct training for building the resilience of families covered by the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, together with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the League of Barangays.
For example, during the onslaught of super typhoon “Yolanda”, all 500 houses in the island of Tulang Diyot (Municipality of San Francisco, Cebu province) were destroyed but the entire population was saved because of prompt evacuation. When it was clear from weather forecasters how bad the typhoon would be, the local government decided to evacuate all 1,000 people. Because they’ve done so much work on disaster risk, everyone fully understood the need to move to safety.
