Pagasa: Take risk reduction measures seriously

MANILA, Philippines - The chief of the state weather bureau appealed yesterday to the public, particularly local executives, to seriously implement their disaster risk reduction and management programs, saying super typhoons like Yolanda could strike the country again.

Vicente Malano, officer-in-charge of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), noted it was not the first time Eastern Samar and Leyte were hit by storm surges.

Malano said Typhoons Undang in 1984 and Ruping in 1990 also generated storm surges that left thousands of people dead in the Visayas.

Eastern Samar and Leyte were among the 18 provinces identified to be prone to storm surges based on the Hazard Mapping and Assessment for Effective Community-Based Disaster Risk Management or READY Project funded by the United Nations Development Program.

Malano, however, admitted the storm surges that hit parts of Eastern Visayas last Nov. 8 were the highest on record.

A storm surge is created when a powerful storm blows over a body of water, creating abnormally high waves that move towards the shoreline. The high waves can cause severe flooding in coastal areas.

Malano said storm surges could be generated by a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 64 kilometers per hour to 117 kph and a typhoon with more than 117 kph.

The Philippines is visited by an average of 20 cyclones annually, of which nine usually make landfall.

A total of 25 cyclones have entered the country so far this year. The weather agency expects one or two more cyclones to hit the country this year.

Malano said PAGASA had warned coastal communities in Eastern Visayas of possible five- to seven-meter high storm surges that could be generated by Yolanda.

Mario Penaranda, chief meteorological officer of PAGASA-Tacloban station, said they met with local officials before the super typhoon to discuss contingency plans.

“The local government and various agencies were prepared. But some people refused to leave their houses,” he said.