EDITORIAL - Empty talk

It was like Typhoon Carina enhanced by the monsoon all over again. There were no storm warning

signals in many areas including Metro Manila as a low-pressure area strengthened into a tropical depression named Enteng last Sunday. With peak winds of only 55 kilometers per hour, Enteng merited only Signal No. 1 in selected areas in Luzon and the Visayas. Like Carina, however, Enteng was enhanced by the monsoon, and heavy rainfall pounded much of Luzon and parts of the Visayas throughout Sunday night until yesterday morning.

Storm warning signals are based on wind speed. As of yesterday, the National Capital Region was only under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1, which would not have warranted the suspension of classes at least in the tertiary level or even in high school. Yet classes in all levels in the NCR and many other areas in Luzon and the Visayas were suspended yesterday, and remain suspended today, because of heavy rainfall and flooding.

The expected amount of rainfall is tracked by Doppler radars. Weather experts have said the country has enough Doppler radars to do the job accurately. Yet local government officials complained that the warnings for heavy rainfall and flooding for Enteng were not given early enough. Even President Marcos found it necessary to order concerned agencies to announce by evening if classes would be suspended the following day.

Forecasters at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said they issued the requisite storm and rainfall alerts accurately and early enough. Color-coded rainfall alerts are given by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, which is under the Office of Civil Defense. Most people, however, receive the NDRRMC rainfall alerts on their cell phones only when they are already stuck in floods while struggling to reach schools or workplaces.

In the case of Enteng, it wasn’t just the rainfall warning that was delayed; reporting of casualties also moved slowly. As of early evening yesterday, the NDRRMC still had no confirmation of what the Antipolo Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office had reported – that six people died in a landslide while three others drowned amid torrential floods in the city that swept away vehicles, in scenes reminiscent of the cataclysmic floods spawned by Typhoon Ondoy in September 2009.

Carina did not even make landfall in the Philippines, but the monsoon-enhanced heavy rainfall, floods and landslides during its passage last July caused massive devastation. After that cataclysm, there was a lot of talk about improving the storm and flood warning system as well as coordination among the weather experts, disaster mitigation officials and local government units. The passage of Enteng showed that it was all empty talk.