Better prepared

It should not have taken the  devastating supertyphoon Yolanda to jolt us into greater caution in times of disaster. But the specter of the deadly howler must have made the  evacuation of hazardous areas in Cebu an easier process when typhoon Basyang came along. The storm did not fail to take its toll. A member of the crew drowned after the M/B Ave Maria capsized off the Camotes Islands. A man got electrocuted as he tried to vacate his flooded home in Balamban town. We mourn their passing as we hope that the Korean tourist and three local boatmen who got lost at sea would be found soon. Their losses are unwanted cautionary tales against keeping power on and sailing when it storms. On a positive note, the relocation of nearly 700 families from places prone to storm surges and landslides serves as a benchmark for disaster preparedness. At the prodding of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, families on Cebu’s east coast were taken to gymnasiums in the plains or farther inland by local government. Thanks to the early advisories of the office headed by Neil Sanchez, local leaders acted speedily. We cannot discount the value of cooperation from concerned residents from Dalaguete in the southeast to Compostela in the northeast. Constituents should cultivate cooperation with authorities in disaster preparedness even when the passage of time blurs the memory of Yolanda’s wrath. Anything less than cooperation in the face of Basyang would have been costly in terms of lives considering that the storm arrived like the proverbial thief in the night. The disaster office showed that they were fully prepared as they even sent the families home with food packs when the storm passed. We need more of this kind of preparedness as we await the rest of the storms bound to hit us this year.

TAGS: Cebu Daily News, Editorial, Yolanda, YolandaPH