If another Ruping hits Cebu…

Typhoon Milenyo struck southern Luzon last week in a swath of destruction and death. Official death toll was 197 with 22 people still missing. The number of houses wrecked was 146,000 while 171,000 people were displaced by flood and strong winds. Damage to property and infrastructure was estimated at more than P2 billion. After the storm Metro Manila was in total darkness. Water supply was reduced to minimum. Vehicular traffic was in a standstill as roads went under water. The strongest typhoon to hit Manila in eleven years, Milenyo could be the most destructive weather disturbance to hit the country this year.

As we Cebuanos watched the footages on the wrath of Milenyo, most of us must have been touched. A mother crying ever the lifeless body of her child, a family wading waist-deep over a swollen thoroughfare, an old man sadly watching the remains of his house flattened by a toppled tree - these and more we saw as we basked in the comfort of our homes, safe and undisturbed.

Thank God, the typhoon spared Cebu. This must have been our unspoken reaction. Thank God, indeed, for if by some twist of fate Milenyo got us in its claw we would have been part of the spectacle on the screen. It is said that Cebu gets its share of a destructive typhoon once every ten years or so. The last to ravage the province, Ruping, struck in December 1990 or 16 years ago. Are we now ripe for another fatal hit? God forbid. Ruping was actually much stronger than Milenyo. Rushing at 240 kilometers per hour, it walloped Cebu City and environs like a giant scourge, snapping lampposts as through these were matchsticks and smashing to pieces residential and business houses. In the pier area boats of several tonnage were thrown off their moorings and one of these rammed hard into the under-belly of the old Mactan bridge rendering it impassable for weeks. Transmission lines were blown off and most of the province went about for days sans electric lights. With power gone water was a problem. For days people queued before private wells because their own faucets emitted nothing but air.

As we watched the catastrophe in Luzon, some of us must have asked: Suppose another Ruping would hit Cebu this year, would the damage be as extensive as before?

The probable scenario would be almost like a replay of the 1990 event. Houses would lose their tops, or get blown to pieces, bridges would collapse and power posts toppled down. Most likely, casualty would be heavier because flood waters will have more houses to sweep away, there being more of these now than years ago in rivers and esteros. In coastal areas too there is an evident proliferation of makeshift structures. These too would be vulnerable to giant waves and many people could drown.

Even without a strong wind, flooding in city streets has become a regular occurrence. With a storm-driven downpour floodwater could swell to threatening levels, and this could also result in more casualties.

Unlike in other cities, most of the electric posts in Cebu are still of the old wooden variety. These are veritable death traps when a strong wind strikes. They could crush people or get them electrocuted. Now that technology has produced a more sturdy material, there ought to be a law against the use of wooden lamposts.

Disaster preparedness is certainly the urgent call when typhoon season sets in. When a weather disturbance threatens people in the mountains brace their houses with bamboo poles. They gather fuel and fill their jars and "sag-ob" with water. They shelter their livestock. And, of course, they pray.

In the city most houses are of permanent materials so bracing them is not necessary. But like their mountain brothers, they ought to take precautions. And they (and the authorities) should ask: Do we have enough rescue volunteers, fully equipped to do their job? Do we have helicopters on standby for emergency mission? In the wharf, are there fast-crafts ready to swing into action when needed? What about our LGUs? Do they have a ready supply of food items, of medicine and other necessities for displaced people? Do we have a pool of heavy equipment for immediate road-clearing jobs?

Even if we are fully prepared, however, there is still a need for prayers. For man can do only so much. Without God even the strongest structure could fall. Unless the Lord builds the house in vain are the efforts of the workmen, says the Good Book.

For another Ruping, prepare we must. And pray we must also.

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