WELL DONE PHILIPPINES!

Hi there! Sorry for my disappearance, the end of the term was quite stressful! I'm finally back and I will catch up with the latest things that have been going on during the last two weeks.
I will start with very good news (which is kind of unusual in my blog): Filipinos are a great example of how tragedy can deliver great lessons for the future if we are ready to learn from it.

Satellite view of typhoon Hagupit. Image: NOAA

Typhoon Hagupit (known as Ruby in the Philippines), made landfall last December 6th with winds up to 200km/h. 

The balance of this storm was 19 deaths in Philippines. One year after the powerful typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,000 dead in November last year, Filipinos have learned many lessons.

It is true that Hagupit was a slightly less intense storm, and, unlike Haiyan, it did not produce the storm surge of 5.2 meters high which devastated the city of Tacloban, but I think thatit is fair to say that this time the government was much better prepared. Early warning systems and preventive evacuations served to greatly minimize human losses.

At least 1.7 million people managed to evacuate their homes and find refuge in over 5000 evacuation centers. Shelter, food, water, sanitation and hygiene, health and logistics were among the main priorities.

According to the United Nations, the typhoon was estimated to affect 2.9 million people in nine different regions of the Philippines. The official death toll rose up to 19 (including at least seven children) and 916 injured.

As floods recede, more than half of the evacuees returned home in the last days. To date, 788,000 people remain in 3,0000 evacuation centers. Packages of food, water and hygiene kits were distributed to more than 95,000 victims. Meanwhile, government officers are planning to meet with NGOs to coordinate reconstruction efforts and humanitarian aid.

One of the evacuation centers. Image: Reuters

Philippine authorities, with the support of NGOs, continue to assess the damage and needs while focusing efforts in the provinces of Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, and Samar. They have also announced their goal to provide shelter assistance to affected communities until January 2015.

All national roads are already operational, but six bridges remain closed in the affected regions. Power outages continue in 12 provinces, while telecommunications coverage was restored to more than 74%.

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) congratulated the Philippines and said that this reaction demonstrates the leadership role that Asia plays in reducing mortality and economic losses from natural disasters.

The head of UNISDR Margaretha Wahlström said that the Philippine government has made an excellent job putting into practice the lessons learned from Typhoon Haiyan. 

She added: “We have been telling this story since the Indian Ocean tsunami ten years ago that nations and communities have the power to reduce their losses if they are well-organized, understand the nature of risk and develop the capacity to deliver early warnings and evacuate groups at risk ahead of the disaster event.” Now it is a demonstrated fact.

WELL DONE PHILIPPINES!

Btw, here you can listen to Mary Ann Lucille Sering (commissioner of the Philippines’ Climate Change Commission and lead climate official for the Philippines at the Lima conference) talk about adaptation and mitigation in Philippines