WHEN MOTHER NATURE THROWS A TANTRUM

In the Philippines, we recently experienced two typhoons that killed hundreds of people and damaged Billions; yes, Billions worth of infrastructure, agriculture and residential properties. The country’s economy will suffer short and long term effects trying to recover what it lost in two weeks but the loss of lives will forever change the landscape this country once enjoyed.

Used to be that children enjoyed the ‘sound’ of rain because it meant taking a bath in the rain, playing around in the rain and a suspension of classes. Now, children go into fits of crying and trauma at the mere sight of dark skies or the sound of a sudden downpour pelting their roofs with huge raindrops.

Many of the Filipinos affected by the flooding caused by Ondoy and Pepeng are still trying to rebuild their lives two weeks after Ondoy thrashed the Metro and Northern Luzon is picking up the pieces after Pepeng.

Reports have been continuously streaming regarding the inefficiency of government rescue, government assistance, first aid, poor shelter, no relief, and no immediate solution to a flood that has beset parts of the city for almost 2 weeks now. Children are getting sick, properties are abandoned, relocation is a nightmare and no matter what is done, the garbage pile up in the city doesn’t seem to be lessening. There are piles, mounds, even mountains of garbage littering major streets and avenues in the Metro and the government has been proven inutile to cope with a disaster of this magnitude.

It has also proven that government agencies did not prepare, plan or even purchase the resources required to allow for immediate rescue and relief to almost half a million people. It cannot be said that the ‘elements’ were working against them since private individuals and groups braved raging waters and heavy downpour just to rescue families with what they could use at the moment. Non-experienced men gave up their lives to save others while those who supposedly trained for such missions were nowhere to be found at zero hour on ground zero.

On the aftermath of Ondoy and Pepeng, news and information slowly stream in. Inefficient government service, poor logistics, ill-prepared teams, no resources, little or no communication seem to be reported over and over again from different municipalities and cities and even provinces. No proper coordination in the release of water from dams causing more damage and deaths when it could have been avoided had proper planning been done prior to any disaster that caught this government with their pants down.

The people blame the government; the government blames the people as well as Climate Change, Global Warming, Mother Nature and even God for the catastrophe that happened on September 27, 2009. But the people know better. The Philippines have had its share of super typhoons, earthquakes, erupting volcanoes and anything Mother Nature can throw us with. And we’ve always survived, but we’ve never been caught in anything of this nature because it came too fast and too soon, help came too late and too few.

Climate Change and Global Warming are not news anymore. VP Al Gore has been globe-trotting about it, bringing his message of “Inconvenient Truth” to almost all corners of the Earth. My kids and their classmates have seen it, its even been shown on HBO. So how come we were not prepared for this?

Political will and Climate Change will never be separated. It will forever be intrinsically entwined with each other and the only constant would be is to adapt. We cannot fight Climate Changes but we can correct it. We cannot go against what Mother Nature throws against us but we can always prepare for it. We cannot stop the earth from shaking the very foundations of our soul but we can build stronger and better structures to prepare for it.

In adapting comes Political Will.

One man cannot change the world. A group of 10 people cannot change the world. But if we begin with one and multiply those changes a hundred fold, we change our lifestyle, our consumption, our amount of waste drastically and we prepare for the worst case scenario ever.

What happened in our country wasn’t just Climate Change or Global Warming giving us a taste of things to come. It was one ingredient in a disaster waiting to happen and it did happen. No preparation, no proper warning equipments, poor communication to coordinate agencies, no logistics or resources to reach people, slow mobilization of air support, clogged water ways, cemented creeks, denuded mountains, shallow riverbeds filled with silt and garbage, a non-existent flood control system, inconsiderate openings of dams and spillways, and the worse kicker of it all – non-stop rain that poured in a month’s worth of rainfall in one day. Had there been enough proper preparation and planning, coordination and implementation of certain rules and regulations – Ondoy could have poured the same amount of rain on the country but would it have flooded so badly if waters found the proper exits it used to have? Would that many people died if they were banned from living too near creeks and water ways? Would flooding in the city be as bad if the creeks and water ways been declogged all the way to the ocean or lake? Would inner streets flood so badly if sewers and canals been free of garbage?

We cannot fully blame Climate Change for what has happened. It is Nature. Nature that man has played a deadly game of Russian roulette with by not cutting down on carbon emissions, and denuding forests, pouring chemicals into her blood line and clogging up her oceans with garbage.

So how will we adapt?

We prepare for the worst and make sure we have the resources to meet it with little or no casualties. We clean up our act and put a stop to logging and replant nude mountain sides. We clean up and get with the program of recycling our waste, lessen our consumption of wasteful materials. We stop covering our flatlands with cement. Stop carbon emissions from factories as well as focus on using eco-friendly appliances and equipment. We ‘zone’ our cities properly and allow residents to reside in appropriate areas instead of creek sides or river banks. We literally clean up the city – on the surface, deep underneath it and unclog all those water ways and canals, widen it if necessary. Build flood dikes and levees and make sure the materials used are sturdy enough to withstand extreme weather conditions and flooding.

We need to take care of our immediate environment and not wait for other people to do it for us. Until we change what was made wrong, typhoons like Ondoy and Pepeng will continue to hit countries and hit it bad. We need to change, let's be the change we want to happen.

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