Loren airs disaster preparation reminders to LGUs, public
DEPUTY Speaker and Antique Rep. Loren Legarda is urging local government units to always be prepared for typhoons and tropical cyclones that are now changing paths due to climate change.
Legarda stressed that citizens, especially those in Visayas, Mindanao, and part of Southern Luzon, should regularly monitor weather updates and cooperate with disaster management and response agencies that conduct evacuation, rescue, relief, and recovery operations in the affected areas.
Previously, there are some areas in the Visayas and Mindanao that are not affected by the typhoons but due to climate change they are now becoming targets of this natural phenomenon.
Typhoon Odette battered Dinagat Islands, Siargao-Bucas Grande Islands or the northern portion of Surigao del Sur in Mindanao then traversed Cebu, Bohol and Negros Occidental. It also hit Iloilo.
“Nakakalungkot na madalas nang natataon ang mga bagyon ito sa pagdiriwang natin ng Pasko. Kailangan natin maging alerto at makipagtulungan sa otoridad upang mas maging ligtas ang sarili at pamilya sa kabila ng magiging hagupit at epekto nitong bagyo sa ating pamayanan. Nanawagan ako sa ating mga lokal na pamahalaan at sa bawat Pilipino na maghanda sa paparating na bagyo at umantabay sa mahahalagang anunsiyo mula sa otoridad,” said Legarda, a UN Global Champion for Resilience and advocate for disaster and climate resilience for over two decades.
The lady solon urged the national government and our LGUs down to the barangay level to ensure that their disaster management and response mechanisms are already in place.
“Quick communication and real-time updates are vital in ensuring effective disaster coordination. They should be ready to activate all forms of early warning systems, ensure drainage systems had been cleaned up and cleared, temporary shelters are ready, families living in landslide and flood-prone areas are now prepared for possible evacuation to preempt any casualties, and adequate relief is provided in temporary shelters,” Legarda suggested.
Typhoon Odette brought heavy rainfall resulting in scattered to widespread flooding and rain-induced landslides; severe winds that may result in light to moderate damages to structures and vegetation; and coastal inundation with risk of storm surge reaching up to 3.0 m in height and may cause flooding in the low-lying coastal localities.
Legarda also reminded the public to take the following measures in order to know what to do during storms and typhoons, based on the Disaster Preparedness and First Aid Handbook launched by the Senate Committee on Climate Change in 2011, which she chaired during her stint in the Senate.
“Disaster prevention starts long before a typhoon makes landfall. National and local action must promote disaster prevention with “zero casualty” as the gold standard. As a country often visited by typhoons, we should have already learned by now that the cost of disasters in lives lost and livelihoods and properties damaged is unacceptable. We need to remain steadfast and effective in adapting to these disasters in order to avoid further loss and damage and ensure a more resilient Philippines,” Legarda also said.
