DepEd, DILG gear up for rainy season

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Education-7 says it is preparing for the arrival of La Niña by strengthening school buildings, "slowly" replacing old ones, and giving disaster kits on flashfloods and typhoons.

Engineer Angel Custodio of DepEd's Physical Facilities Section said the newly constructed buildings are calamity-resilient and reinforced to withstand disasters.

Because of its facilities such as kitchen, restrooms, as well as a drainage system, the calamity-resilient buildings can also serve as evacuation centers in an event of a disaster.

"Pati ang atong gipang-repair nga school buildings after sa Yolanda, ang gihimo nato naa tay matawag na 'minimum specs' nga maka-withstand siya ug typhoon and earthquakes," Custodio said.

She said buildings that are at least 30 years old are being replaced slowly. 

DepEd has also identified Camotes, Tudela, and Bantayan as disaster prone.

"Tanan na mga eskwelahan, ready. Ready na ni sila with the help of our school heads," said Nenita Jaralve, division coordinator of the Sports and Culture of DepEd-7.

Jaralve said the disaster kits contain essential tools such as flashlights, raincoats and umbrellas. Instructions are also provided for students who have to go through hard tasks such as crossing rivers.

Not all schools will be provided with the kits but 381,000 will be provided for elementary students, and 128,000 will be given to high school students.

Jaralve advised parents and the students themselves to take the initiative in preparing for the rainy season if they cannot receive the disaster kit.

School heads have also been instructed to conduct earthquake drills.

Forecast

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said La Niña will most likely enter in July and extend until February 2017.

La Niña occurs when the difference of the normal temperature of the sea surface accumulated for the 30-year period and the actual temperature will reach to -.5 for three consecutive months.

From May 9, 2016, PAGASA recorded a significant -.8 difference in the sea surface temperature in the pacific. It was followed by a constant decrease of -.6 and -.2 recorded in May 12 and 23, respectively.

Two foreign weather forecast stations also recorded the same as that of the PAGASA.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that El Niño is on its last stage and that La Niña would occur in July-August. It also issued a second statement that there is a 75 percent chance for La Niña to occur in the later months of the year.

Meanwhile, the Australian weather forecasting station said that with the -.2 degree Celsius temperature in the sea surface, El Niño is over and La Niña will take over from October to February.

Last May 24, PAGASA declared the start of the rainy season after a downpour accumulated a 25mm rainfall, which met PAGASA's criterion.

This is earlier than in the past two years when the rainy season was declared only in June reportedly because of the presence of the Low Pressure Areas in southeast China inviting the Habagat winds to flow upward.

Engineer Al Quiblat of PAGASA Mactan said "the timing and intensity of rains is difficult to tell because it is just starting."

Cyclones

Up to 12 tropical cyclones are expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) from May to October. PAGASA also estimates a sixty percent chance of typhoons entering the country in November and December to hit the Visayas.

In line with this, the Department of Interior and Local Government has activated "Operation Listo" and called on local government units in Region 7 to prepare.

Mayors in the different LGUs in Central Visayas will be given Disaster Preparedness Manuals, which will contain three different checklists that serves as guidelines on what to do before, during, and after the typhoon. The checklist will also identify the status of a certain area to enact proper preparations.

The mayors will also be given set of advisories including how much rain and how strong the winds will be in their area, the areas affected, and the potential impacts that may hit such as tsunamis, flashfloods and landslides.

DILG's "Operation Listo" is an Integral part of the National Disaster Preparedness Plan for 2015-2018 aimed at instilling among Filipinos the importance of preparedness. — (FREEMAN)