AsianScientist (Oct. 7, 2011) – As the Philippines braces itself for a possible third storm hitting later this week, Philippine Senator Loren Legarda has called for an integrated flood warning and response system to approach the flood risk problem.
Large swathes of the country remain submerged from the combined impact of heavy monsoon rains, Typhoon Nesat, which hit early Tuesday, September 27, and Typhoon Nalgae, which hit on October 1.
The back-to-back typhoons have triggered widespread floods across the country, affecting 3.2 million people.
“The country cannot afford suffering from so many floods that continually erode our development gains. It is high-time for the country to have an integrated flood forecasting, warning and response system and a holistic approach to the flood risk problem,” said Sen. Legarda.
More than 80 percent of those affected are in Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon regions and thousands of people opted not to leave their homes but moved to rooftops.
Some 180,000 people – mostly displaced by Nesat – have been sheltering at state-run evacuation centers.
Sea surges in Manila breached a seawall and forced the evacuation of people living in informal settlements in low-lying areas. Strong waves hit coastal communities across Luzon, and falling trees toppled power lines cutting off electricity to many urban areas where there was also widespread flooding.
The latest National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) update indicates there have been 59 reported deaths and 70 injuries with 31 people still missing.
There is no estimate yet of the economic losses incurred by these disasters.
NDRRMC Director Benito Ramos said thousands of rescue workers were deployed across Luzon ahead of Nalgae’s landfall and the island’s sparsely populated north-east coast was evacuated from last Friday.
Luzon and nearby islands are hit by an average of 20 storms per year. The population exposed to cyclones is 16.2 million with estimated exposed GDP of US$19.24 billion according to the 2011 Global Assessment Report for Disaster Risk Reduction.
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Source: UNISDR.
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