WE are used to typhoons and other storms all year round in the Philippines but typhoon Ursula was specially sad and painful to us as it came on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
As of Sunday night, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported at least 47 deaths caused by typhoon Ursula – 26 in Western Visayas (16 of them in Iloilo), 13 in Eastern Visayas, seven in the Mimaropa island group, and one in Cebu, Central Visayas. In all these regions, 140 people were injured. Nine were still missing as of Sunday.
Six years ago, in 2013, typhoon Yolanda killed over 10,000, as it crossed the Visayas, mostly from a storm surge that struck Leyte. But the biggest death toll for a typhoon in the Philippines was caused by typhoon Haiphong which killed up to 20,000 in 1881.
Every year, some 20 typhoons and other tropical cyclones arise from the Pacific and come our way. Some veer to the north, causing little wind damage but dumping considerable amounts of rain that causes floods and landslides. The Philippines has been called “the most exposed country in the world to tropical storms.“
The Philippines is also hit regularly by earthquakes. Earlier this year, Mindanao was hit by more than the usual number of earthquakes, four of them hitting Davao and the surrounding area in Southeast Mindanao within a three-month period. The country has several active volcanoes but fortunately none of them has had a destructive eruption this year.
The country has also been known to be hit by fires around this time of the year. We had one last Sunday at the Parola Compound in Tondo, Manila, in which some 100 families lost their homes. The fire was caused by faulty electrical wiring. Many other fires in the past were caused by overused appliances and unattended candles during brownouts.
We are fortunate that during this year’s holiday season, there have been only seven recorded fires, according to the Bureau of Fire Protection – compared to 34 fires in the same period last year. This figure may well rise in the coming days as January has always been known as prone to fires.
The coming of typhoon Ursula was specially painful because it was Christmas but we must now be ready for the other disasters that are bound to come. Only nature knows where and when the next earthquake or volcanic eruption will strike, but historically, many fires hit the country at this time of the year because of the preparations for holiday celebrations. We must do all we can to avert them.
