Newsbyte by Raissa Robles
The most vivid descriptions of Typhoon Yolanda (a.k.a. Haiyan) came from TV journos Jiggy Manicad and Ted Failon.
Manicad, whose colleague Love Añover took shelter inside a Cathedral in Leyte that had its roof ripped away by the storm, described the ordeal as like being inside a washing machine.
Here is a video that he shared –
Failon, who was also in his home province of Leyte, said “nilamon ng dagat ang Tacloban”. It was not just a a storm surge, he emphasized.
Here is his video:
The catastrophe forces a serious rethink of disaster-preparedness policies.
For instance, where can you run for cover if you live on an island that would be eaten up by the sea during such storms which – as the oceans warm up – are predicted to be more frequent in number and more devastating?
The good news is that according to University of the Philippines Professor Mahar Lagmay, proponent of Project Noah, disaster risk maps will be available by next year and these will be location specific.
But this also make it urgent to pass THE LONG-STALLED LAND USE LAW.
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President Benigno Aquino did warn in a televised address to the nation on the eve of Typhoon Yolanda that storm surges would affect certain coastal areas. The water from the sea could surge up to six meters high, he said.
I must confess that the “six meters high” he mentioned did not register in my brain at all. I guess because Filipinos are used to thinking in feet and inches. Perhaps next time, the President’s speech writers could simplify such warnings in images that we can all understand.
For instance, six meters is 19.6 feet. The minimum clearance from floor to ceiling for each floor of a building structure is 2.4 meters or eight feet, architect Franklyn Santos told me.
Using such data, that meant waters from the sea could totally engulf a two-storey building and if you’re on the third floor, the waters could still be chest-deep where you are. Horrors.
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percy1007 says
It is turning out to be a crisis in disaster management than crisis management in a disaster.
Earlier I suggested at #2 that PNoy appoint someone to lead and suggested Gordon.
A crisis and rehabilitation manager requires a different skill set and experience. No one in PNoy’s cabinet has it. Not Ochoa, Almendras or Roxas.
If PNoy doesn’t want Gordon and is not qualified since he ran in the last election(one year ban applies), Salceda is next best choice. But then in a crisis as huge as this, throw the rule book out and all stops must be pulled out.
Amanpour is right that Yolanda will make or break Pnoy. And it started to break when he told a businessman – ” you did not die right?”.
baycas says
Yolanda devastation in focus…
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/11/super-typhoon-haiyan-devastates-the-philippines/100625/
Lorena says
THERE IS A FORUM YOU AND I CAN JOIN/PARTCIPATE IN —
ON ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS–SPEARHEADED BY DR NINA GALANG
ON FRIDAY,NOV 15, 10:30am to 2pm. They provide lunch at the KAMAYAN RESTAURANT
along EDSA near cor. Ortigas.
TOPIC: 102, yes 102 reclamation projects all over the Philippines.
Payag ka ba diyan? Magsalita ka. Anong impact niyan sa kapwa Pilipino?
kalahari says
PNoy walked out of NDRRMC meeting in Tacloban City irked by the unpreparedness of local officials and unconfirmed casualty data of 10,000, as reported by CNN online.
Palace immediately denies the walkout, says PNoy just took a bathroom break.
Post-Yolanda analyses point to our Pagasa’s new Doppler Radar System which has a low readings as compared to more sophisticated US system.
The US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning System in Hawaii said Yolanda’s maximum sustained winds before landfall were 314 kilometers per hour (195 mph), with gusts up to 379 kms per hour (235 mph). At 195 mph, there aren’t too many buildings constructed that can withstand that kind of wind.
Our Pagasa had a lower reading at 234 kms (145 mph), with gusts of 275 kph (philstar 11/8/13).
The big difference in readings can now be attributed to some sort of complacency on the part of local officials on areas which are used to strong typhoons.
In Tacloban City, corpses hung from trees, scattered on sidewalks or buried in flattened buildings. The storm surges reached as high as a coconut tree. The evacuation centers perched on the city’s high grounds were swallowed by seawater or “nilamon ng karagatan”, according to Ted Failon.
It’s high time we reassess our weather warning system or just request for assistance from the U.S. in times like these.