A toppled utility post is seen in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu in this photo taken days after super typhoon Odette hit the city. | CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Philippines—Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan said that the onslaught of Super Typhoon Odette last year was an eye-opener.
It also taught Oponganons a lesson.
The city was among the areas that were badly hit by the category 5 storm last December 16, 2021, exactly a year ago today.
READ: Typhoon Odette victims from mainland Lapu-Lapu City to receive financial assistance starting Friday
Chan said TS Odette taught Oponganons to always be ready in times of calamities.
“The lesson is to be always ready. We have to educate people that if there is a coming calamity, such as Odette, we should always prepare,” Chan said.
The mayor said that the city didn’t fail to perform its obligation during the storm.
He said that they were able to evacuate those who were in areas where the storm would likely hit the hardest.
“If we didn’t do that, there would have been a lot of fatalities in Lapu-Lapu City,” he said.
The Odette experience also taught establishments, especially those that provide basic necessities, to always have standby generator sets that they can use during brownouts or total blackouts.
“Mao nay wala nato mabantayi,” he said. (That’s what we didn’t anticipate.)
In the aftermath of Super Typhoon Odette, people experienced a shortage in the supply of water and gasoline as establishments could not operate due to the loss of power.
/bmjo
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