The Philippines is no stranger to typhoons. Over the years, typhoons, like unwanted visitors wreak havoc and destruction to an already impoverished nation. Each direct hit amounts to millions worth of damages and thousands of families displaced. Well, the fact that Philippines is in what the call, ‘the typhoon belt’ makes you think it has been used to it and disaster measures are already in place to spare its inhabitants incase a major typhoon strays ashore right? Wrong! Just Recently, Typhoon Ondoy puffed the Northern regions and brought relentless rains that caused widespread floods in metropolitan areas in Luzon.
Natural disasters are difficult to predict, let alone, averted; but experience has taught us that being prepared at all times improves our chances of getting out from disasters alive and if more lucky, salvage material belongings. When Ondoy struck Manila, the rain caused flooding of epic proportions. Places that are not prone to flooding were soaked few meters deep, drowning anything in its path. Garbage floated back to where they once came and cars were put into a halt and eventually swept away as the waters flowed like they would in a raging river. Families rushed to schools-turned-evacuation-centers to seek refuge from the rising tide. People who refused to leave their homes had gone as high as their rooftops to seek refuge from the flood. Fatalities and the missing have been logged as another chapter of woes unfolded for the Philippines, which seemed has grown numbed over tragedies.
Typhoons have become part of our life; yet, we still haven’t learned, have we? People have gone lax over typhoons and disasters that they tend to underestimate their wrath. We are so hard-headed and think every typhoon is just another wind that won’t pass us and even if it does, it won’t be as strong as the typhoon we had in 1990. We easily forget the headlines like the Princess of the Orient and Princess of the Stars that were sunk by typhoons too. We have lost properties and loved ones over the years of having typhoons and yet, we still have become ever so complacent about it. We get rains the whole year round but our city infrastructures are still poorly designed to consider worst flood scenarios. Homes are sold and built on places prone to flooding, where they should have not been erected in the first place. Need I say more about the garbage clogging the drainage and canals?
If the rumor is true that the president spent emergency funds to foot her bill for her lavish diner with her cabinet members in New York, then it is a big shame on the government. Until we learn from our mistakes, we will always be at the mercy of global donations and charities everytime a disaster strikes. A typhoon is something that we can prepare for; sometimes it’s the snowball effect of our negligence, laxity and greed that makes one a disaster!
