EDITORIAL - Early warning

Filipinos are not familiar with storm surges, but the weather bureau says the natural phenomenon was recorded to have hit coastal communities in Leyte as far back as 1984. Perhaps the surge was not strong or destructive enough and residents thought it was just high tide combined with storm winds. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said storm surges ranging from 1.5 to 3.5 meters high had been recorded in the province in 1984 and 1990.

Perhaps the surge was not strong or destructive enough, and perhaps the residents didn’t know what hit them. When PAGASA warned in 2011 that coastal communities in Leyte including Tacloban City were vulnerable to storm surges that could reach up to 12 meters or nearly 40 feet high, hardly anyone paid attention.

The warning was based on inundation maps prepared under a project funded by the Australian Agency for International Development through the United Nations Development Program. The three-year hazard mapping assessment project, meant to improve disaster preparedness, was a joint collaboration of PAGASA, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, National Mapping and Resource Information Authority and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

With all those agencies involved and the extent of the study, authorities could have heeded recommendations listed by those involved in the project. Among the proposals was the construction of sturdy seawalls and breakers as protection against storm surges. Also proposed was the planting of mangroves along the Leyte shoreline to dissipate strong waves.

Perhaps after Super Typhoon Yolanda left nearly 5,000 confirmed deaths, with more bodies being found in the rubble each day, someone will finally read these studies and take the warnings seriously.