Sunday, June 30, 2008 Editorial: Scaling down disasters
SEEK opportunity in adversity.
The aftermath of Typhoon Frank can mire everyone in finger-pointing.
Or it can encourage people and institutions to study which measures worked and how one could prepare better to avoid, remedy and reconstruct after disasters.
Disaster preparedness consists of strategies for preventing the crisis, issuing early warnings to preempt disaster, reducing the impact of the crisis, and assisting the community to recover from the disaster.
Not only is the country vulnerable to natural disasters, catastrophes caused by human error, lack of foresight, dereliction of duty and neglect, and the absence of systematic responses to emergencies endanger lives, specially the mental well-being of disaster victims, and scarce resources, like the ecosystem.
While many disasters are acts of God, people can take steps to be less vulnerable.
Hazard mapping
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the country’s potential for “disaster reduction” hinges
first on the readiness of three key agencies to conduct “hazard mapping”: the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
However, an effective and sustainable community-based approach at crisis reduction should involve local government units, the private sector, communities and civil society. Stakeholder participation is needed in “road mapping” activities to reform policies and implement innovations in ecological governance (i.e. pollution prevention, safer/cleaner production, solid waste management, protected area management, water resource and ecosystems management, and sustainable energy development), which contribute to some natural disasters like flashfloods and landslides.
A UNDP “best practice” in communal alliance involves residents and scientists compiling and validating data to map a locality’s history of natural disasters as an input to a community-based warning system. The news media is also crucial for disseminating updates so citizens can anticipate and prepare for disasters.
The sinking of the mv Princess of the Stars is mired in a controversy, with parties shirking responsibility for the failure to implement the Philippine Coast Guard’s guidelines on the safety of life at sea.
Lifeline
Like acts of terrorism, natural disasters take their toll on people’s emotions and nerves. Fear, anxiety, anger and panic seize people when a vacuum, not information, follows a disaster, as shown when the Sulpicio Lines Inc.’s failure to release timely updates and assistance to families searching for their missing relatives.
Fortunately, a lifeline was offered by the Information Action Center (IAC) set up by the Cebu City Government, first outside the Pier 5 office of Sulpicio and later at the Cebu City Sports Center gymnasium.
Manned by employees and volunteers of various government and non-government agencies, the IAC channeled information on the rescue and recovery operations to affected families, as well as food, accommodations, counseling and psychological interventions, child minding, legal assistance for filing financial and insurance claims, and other services.
While the focus has been to reunite families with survivors or facilitate the identification and recovery of the mortal remains of their kin, there is the long-term challenge of educating the public on personal emergency preparedness.
This was among the lessons of 9/11: beyond bringing disaster relief and treating trauma, government and non-government assistance is needed to help people cope with the challenge of resuming disrupted lives.
