IN THE afternoon of Saturday, September 8, 2018, we were taken by surprise when an intensity five earthquake struck Davao City.
The strong earthquake definitely got many of us running towards the exit to ensure our safety. We can see on social media how people crowded open spaces after they got out of the buildings. We also saw photos of some damaged buildings and how the earthquake created a mess inside the supermarkets.
Then in the evening of the same day, the city experienced heavy rains causing flooding in various parts of the city.
While we are no stranger to these kinds of incidents, we should not be complacent about it. Rather, we should take the initiative of being prepared when stuff like these happens.
This means that we should never take the fire and earthquake drills done at offices or schools lightly.
We must also listen more carefully to those who are giving lectures on disaster preparedness.
It is good that the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) regularly holds the National Disaster Resilience Month. Various activities held in schools and by various government agencies allow the public to be aware of the importance of being prepared for calamities.
It would also not hurt to read about disaster preparedness every now and then.
Though some of us think that it will be a long time before we apply any of the things we learned on disaster preparedness, our knowledge on certain disasters may save our lives.