EDITORIAL - Timely weather alerts

The local government units in Metro Manila reportedly want the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration to issue weather bulletins at 3:30 a.m. The LGUs issued the call to PAGASA amid public criticism of late advisories on the suspension of classes during this rainy season.

PAGASA in fact issues weather bulletins every 6 and 11 in the morning, and at 6 and 11 p.m. It issues rainfall advisories every three hours. PAGASA forecasters have previously defended their track record in terms of accuracy and timeliness of their weather bulletins.

What LGUs should do is improve their monitoring of the weather bulletins – both the cyclone alerts, which reflect wind speed and on which storm warning “signals” are based, and the rainfall advisories, which are picked up by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. The NDRRMC, which is under the Office of Civil Defense of the Department of National Defense, sends out the color-coded rainfall alerts on cell phones.

By 11 p.m., wind strength of a tropical cyclone and the amount of rainfall expected from a monsoon-enhanced weather disturbance should already be known. Based on such data, LGUs can alert school supervisors about the need to suspend classes. The PAGASA website with all the weather advisories is accessible around the clock; what’s needed is someone to monitor the website, and for LGUs to undertake timely action.

If LGU officials want an advisory from PAGASA at 3:30 a.m., they must first make sure that someone is awake at city hall to monitor the weather bulletin, rouse school supervisors from sleep at that hour and then issue the appropriate advisories about class suspensions or shift to remote learning.

Without dedicated monitoring of weather bulletins and efficient coordination with PAGASA, the NDRRMC, the Department of Education and agencies with related functions, weather alerts can be issued at 3:30 a.m., 6 a.m. or in real time, and local governments will still be caught flat-footed, unprepared for torrential rainfall and flooding.