Mesocyclones and flotsam

When typhoon Gener entered the country, we didn’t know what hit us! What many thought would be a routine walk-in-the-rain type of typhoon – one we always have thirty or forty times a year – would have many drenched even with deployed umbrellas! Millimeters upon millimeters of rain fell on the metro, and the wind, my goodness! The whole city was suddenly in the middle of a cyclone of sorts. Not the type where wind and rain were sustained for hours, but gusts of wind that sent buildings howling! The rains were enough to cause floods, since it is obvious that the city’s flood control programs did not work in any capacity! But what really set this typhoon apart from the rest was the wind it hit the metro with. So strong were the gusts of wind, that the only other thing strong enough was the blame on the country’s weather forecasters, PAGASA!

But this time, the Palace came to the defense of the beleaguered, under equipped and understaffed agency, saying that it was incumbent upon the public to follow regular weather updates on the internet and on news channels, TV or radio. In other words, we should be just as vigilant in watching the weather and how it progresses, so we don’t get caught in the brunt of it. But they could not explain why Gener packed so much power, when no storm signals were even raised! Enter the term mesocyclone.

According to Wikipedia, a mesocyclone is a vortex of air, two to fifty miles in diameter within a convective storm. I am quoting Wikipedia verbatim, so please bear with me. They even have a satellite photo of typhoon Gener, and the location of the mesocyclone within it. So I guess this was the best example to date of such a weather event to make it into the information website. What made this typhoon even remarkable was the length of time it stayed within the country’s area of responsibility! It didn’t want to go anywhere! PAGASA explained that a low pressure area was slowing its travel towards China. Maybe it’s a weapon we still have no idea about! As Gener finally left the country, fourteen people were dead, mostly due to drowning in flood waters caused by the sudden downpours. Ironic that there are still a lot of people who do not know how to swim, in a country surrounded by water. But last week, the city of Manila was drowning on another kind of ocean – garbage!

As of this writing, one hundred seventy-seven trucks of garbage “returned” by Manila Bay to the baywalk was collected by the local government and the MMDA! Apparently the storm surge sent the flotsam back to its origin! The seawall literally turned into a sea of garbage! People could only shake their heads in disbelief of the amount of trash! Scavengers had a field day though.

We all know where the trash came from. Let’s not kid ourselves and try to intellectualize the situation by giving probable scenarios as to how and why. It is really time to relocate the families living on the edge of the Bay, and I mean all of them. From what I hear, there are housing projects ready for the every families in the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal and Laguna. But there is still resistance to moving out. Why? It is really beyond me that people would reject the help of government, when it serves the good of everyone. Like they still need more than the promise of housing and livelihood. Something more tangible in their hands. Something more liquid.

And I don’t mean more rain.