Confusing seasons

Amidst the victory of Pacquiao, the spread of the swine flu and whistleblower Lozada’s imprisonment on charges of perjury, the effects of two “summer” typhoons, Crising and Dante, were put on the sidelines. Several towns in Bicol had been inundated with floods and landslides, killing at least 25 people and destroying 6,000 hectares of newly planted rice. It is confusing that storms should come in the heat of summer, or maybe I should say, the seasons are confused with the worsening climate change. We are lucky we only have two seasons, rainy and dry season, hence climate change affects us with either more rains or more heat, while other countries would have to deal with more or less ice, delayed summer and autumn and prolonged rains. But now, we have two seasons seeming to overlap and we just hope this is good for the plants and the crops minus the floods.

Undoubtedly storms are here again and we should prioritize preparations for disaster. Rains until tomorrow in Northern and Southern Luzon due to typhoon Emong was predicted ahead by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) because there is a possibility of it becoming a super typhoon. Residents of coastal areas in the provinces of Pangasinan, La Union and Zambales where the storm is expected to be felt, should have already been given a warning by their local governments so that damage to life and property can be avoided.

There is an ongoing activity of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum (ARF) in the conduct of Voluntary Demonstration of Response (VDR) on Disaster Relief exercises in the country which will last until tomorrow. Of the 27 ARF countries, 18 are participating and the other eight serve as observers in civilian-led and military-supported exercise, which is the first ever field exercise participated in the ARF countries since its establishment in 1994.

Launched last Monday under the leadership of the Philippines’ National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), through its Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the United States Government, the VDR is the largest security forum’s disaster response exercise ever held. The VDR aims to enhance the capacities and improved interoperability of the ASEAN region in multinational relief operations. It also aims to build the regional assistance network and response of governments in times of disaster. Demonstration activities that were held in Olongapo City, Pampanga, Manila Bay and Zambales included land, air and maritime search and rescue, medical assistance, evacuation and engineering construction. The good thing about this is the involvement of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Councils as well as members of the local governments to ensure that disaster planning and management is well coordinated with all sectors concerned.

The only good thing about an early typhoon season in what is supposed to be summertime is more rains for the crops, (but again, not floods), less trouble for students who have had either to walk their way to their schools because of stranded public vehicles or walk through dirty flood water and less no-school days because most students are still on summer vacation. We can do nothing about the weather except be prepared. I can say that, due to the hard lessons learned from past disasters here and abroad, the forecasting capabilities of the Pagasa have improved and local government units are now more involved and equipped in disaster planning and management. The public in turn, should not ignore the warnings. Because these are storms in summer, we should not be less vigilant and prepared.