Everytime news anchor persons on Philippine television,
would cue in the weather girl or guy, by saying something like,
” A lot of people right now worry a lot, every time they hear rain falling so hard on their roofs….” ,
I couldn’t agree more.
I have just recently included the rain on my list of,
” Things That Terrify Me The Most.”
According to DOST-PAGASA, on an average, around twenty typhoons hit the Philippines per year.
I had never given that serious thought, before.
In fact in college, I do remember coming home for Christmas break, aboard Superferry 8, on a stormy December month.
However, as you grow older,
you just cannot ” throw caution to the wind.”
( especially those top winds, travelling at a speed
greater than 240 kph )
And most importantly, what is frightful about the rain in Philippine setting , is the flood that comes after.
SENDONG
December, more than a year ago, ” Sendong ” happened.
I was there in Cagayan de Oro City, the day after it did.
I arrived there, for a supposedly class reunion, on the morning of December 17, exactly the morning after the catastrophic storm passed by.
So imagine the grieving people I rode with on the plane,
the somber mood and the devastated place that greeted me.
And yes, the number of broken homes, broken hearts and broken people.
HABAGAT
OR as our dear meteorologists placed it,
” Southwest Monsoon enhanced by TS Haikui on its way to Taiwan. ”
And that was one Tuesday morning when I woke up to a submerged Metro Manila.
It was just so surreal, as spending the night before, filled with fear and wondering;
(when will the rain stop? And why do these flood waters outside keep on rising like it never did before?
With the waters it brought, one would have though Habagat was a storm too.
or ” Did Habagat follow Gener in alphabetical order, as that of being a storm too?” )
” WALANG BAGYO, PERO MALAKAS NA HANGING HABAGAT. ”
(” NO STORM BUT ENHANCED MONSOON .” )
Habagat paralyzed Metro Manila.
PABLO
Eleven days of monsoon rains, Doppler radars, satellite imaging, PAGAASA-DOST and Project Noah, most especially .
Mang Tani, Kuya Kim and Dr. Mahar Lagmay had now occupied a generous space in my heart, after those rainy days. Seriously.
( I had a brilliant dorm mate in college by the way, who had Dr. Lagmay as teacher.)
But the likes of me, who was overly dependent on sample exams
on Nat. Sci. 2 in college therefore, followed him as Nababaha on tweeter.
And plus, I have little or less understanding on our rainfall warning system
with green (then changed to orange), yellow and red color codes.
WHERE ARE ALL THESE FLOOD WATERS COMING FROM?
TIME AND AGAIN THESE ARE WHAT WE ARE TOLD:
1. Large scale rainfall values
2. Overpopulated metropolis
3. Informal settlers
4. Professional squatters
5. Encroachment of the river banks
6. Insufficient drainage systems
7. Inadequate garbage disposal system
8. Silted rivers
9. Blocked tributaries
10. Illegal loggers/miners
11. People residing on flood plains
12. And lastly, the most hackneyed yet truthful, would be the lack of political will.
HAVE WE NOT MEMORIZED ALL OF THOSE ABOVE MENTIONED?
Unless the problems that needed to be addressed are prioritized,
a forever flooded Metro Manila will now be commonplace.
( as if it isn’t already.)
DAMS READY OR NOT.
Angat,
San Roque,
Ipo,
Ambuklao,
Binga,
THE RAINY SEASON IS HERE.
AND HERE COMES MY SCARIEST TIME OF THE YEAR.
