No safe ground

When heavy downpour starts in Metro Cebu, I get so uneasy or even anxious. A few minutes of rain could lead to swelling rivers and floods reaching the streets. It isn't the usual Cebu where we get to enjoy the rainy day. I remember when I was a kid, I loved this season. It wasn't hot and humid, just enough breeze to feel comfortable in my already-warm uniform. Today, we are all worried when it rains.

Last week, we saw how the cities immediately turned into a horrendous water park. The main highways were inundated, cars and even buses tried to pass through neck-deep flood, and passengers were stranded. Others called for rescue. It becomes a tiresome cycle when the downpour sets in again. However, a deeper problem to this is the solid ground that we stand on.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau, which has already done tests in the different areas in Cebu with reported soil ruptures, has ruled out that landslides occur due to the kind of soil below. Its regional director said everything below is already too saturated and drenched in water that lasted for days. Because there is no sun, there is no opportunity for the ground beneath to dry up. It keeps on absorbing water until it can no longer take it. Like a sponge with too much liquid, it has to overflow somewhere.

That's the most logical way to explain why there are a lot of landslides happening. What's worse is that there are structures on these unstable lands. Of course, immediate response is always given to the situation but let's face it --the ground below isn't as stable as it was before. We attribute this not only to the continuous rains but due to the fact that there are fewer trees up in the mountains. The more we destroy nature to make way for development projects, the more we are risking our safety.

Anybody with the slightest background on environmental science would understand that there is simply too much change in the present. While the entire world is reeling from the effects of hotter temperature, the rising levels of seawater, and the hole in the ozone layer, man's activities are also adding to the injury. More construction, more devastation. There is simply no other way to put it.

Although the government has vouched for drainage projects to curb this perennial problem in the long run, the process of building it is also taking time. We cannot race against daily downpours that drench the cities anew every time. It seems like we are taking on Mother Nature herself.

I personally feel there is no safe ground today. Everything underneath has been disrupted by vicious activities that have harmed the environment. Either we adapt to the circumstance like the animals do or we address the situation head on. We need to lobby for more sustainable and green projects today. The supporting government leaders would be surprised to know they are right.