EDITORIAL - Resilience after Yolanda

Eight years ago after Super Typhoon Yolanda flattened large swathes of Eastern Visayas including much of Tacloban City, leaving over 6,300 people dead and 1,800 others missing, there was a lot of talk about building back better.

That objective of building for climate resilience remains relevant as survivors and those left behind by the dead and missing commemorate the disaster. Yolanda, the most powerful storm recorded in the world in 2013, made the first of six landfalls before dawn on Nov. 8 in the coastal town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar.

The Category 5 storm, packing winds of up to 314 kilometers per hour, spawned powerful storm surges up to 15 feet high that ripped out about 1.1 million houses and even concrete structures and laid waste to approximately 33 million coconut trees – a major source of livelihood in the affected areas. The disaster disrupted the livelihoods of an estimated 5.9 million people. A serious humanitarian crisis was averted only because of an avalanche of support from the international community.

Even with outside help, rising from the ashes took time, especially for those who lost their loved ones. This week survivors lit candles and laid wreathes to remember the dead, even as they continue the challenging task of rebuilding with climate resilience in mind.

Yolanda’s fury is remembered amid the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP26, which is being held until this Friday in Glasgow, Scotland. The death and destruction caused by Yolanda showed the damage that extreme weather can unleash. Commemorating that tragedy should firm up commitments to boost climate resilience.