Official: More drills needed to prepare Davao City

DAVAO City needs more disaster preparedness drills, especially for tsunami, a local official said.

Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) chief Alfredo Baloran said that while he observed improvement in the performance of the public and private sector during the Citywide Shake-Out Drill last Friday, July 26, he said the city needs more drills especially in tsunami preparedness.

"We need more drills, especially in coastal barangays. Nakita nato lisod i-evacuate mga (nakapuyo sa) balay didtoa. Lisod ang dalan going out from the coastal areas (We've seen how hard it is for us to evacuate these people living nearby coastlines due to its narrow paths)," Baloran said Monday, July 29, after the flag raising ceremony at the Davao City Hall.

He said CDRRMO is continuously upgrading its monitoring system by putting up coastal cameras.

Baloran said the camera could detect the movement of the waters and assess possible moves.

"We have to base it from reports of Pagasa (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration). If ever naa tsunami, ma-advance nato pahibalo ang mga tao based sa atong cameras (If ever there's a tsunami, we could inform the public in advance through our cameras)," he said.

He also said the cameras have higher lens range, which could detect even passengers on ferry boats not wearing their life vests while the tour is ongoing.

Meanwhile, Baloran rated the recent drill between seven to eight because he said there are things that need improvement.

Although he admitted there are still stubborn individuals who do not take the drill seriously, he said there are still some individuals who wanted to learn where they would evacuate in times of emergency.

He also said communications need to improve.

"There are times na mag-bar down ang communication. Maapektuhan niini ang mobility sa tawo na magrespond (These could affect the mobility of the responders)," Baloran said.

He said the CDDRMO is looking into upgrading some equipment for an efficient disaster response in the future.