WHY do I think that with Filipinos, it’s either feast or famine? That they love going to extremes.
Take for example some local government units’ (LGUs) reaction to tropical depression Samuel that struck Cebu in the early morning of Wednesday, Nov. 21. According to the weather bureau Pagasa’s forecast, Samuel would not be packing any strong winds, but it was expected to dump lots and lots of rain wherever it made landfall. Hence, the preemptive evacuation of residents in areas that had been identified as prone to flooding and landslides.
Better safe than sorry, right? Right. But there is such a thing as overkill.
I know, the landslide that happened in Sitio Sindulan, Barangay Tina-an in the City of Naga last September, where more than 70 people lost their lives, is still fresh in people’s minds. Back then, everyone ignored the warning signs. Residents had been told a decade earlier that they needed to leave the place, but what did they do? They sought the help of then mayor Val Chiong to intercede on their behalf so their houses would not be demolished.
The City Government, too, had known all along that the area was not safe. After all, it had been informed of the results of the geohazard mapping that the Mines and Geosciences Bureau conducted also in 2008.
I know, I know. It’s all water under the bridge. And I’m not playing the blame game here. Obviously, the City Government had other concerns to attend to, and it could not well focus on constituents who refused to see the obvious.
Anyway, that’s not what this column is all about. It’s actually about all those passengers who were stranded because the Coast Guard prohibited all sea travel in anticipation of Samuel’s torrential rains. Or because their flights were canceled.
I had a feeling Pagasa was trying to downplay the storm’s strength probably because it didn’t’ want to get the flak for the LGUs’ reaction if Samuel didn’t meet public expectation. Which, in this case, it didn’t. At least in my part of Cebu City, that is.
But the preparation beforehand,... seriously, I thought it was post-Yolanda all over again. All the disaster risk reduction and management offices were on their toes.
Again, better safe than sorry, right? Right.
So I understand why the Cebu City Government evacuated residents of Sitio Sandayong in Barangay Buhisan. They do live at the foot of a mountain that has a crack on its side that was reportedly caused by the earthquake in 2013.
What I am trying to say is sometimes all it takes is common sense. And I didn’t see any sense in stranding all those passengers for what we, in this part of the world, would describe as a typical storm.