High Death Toll In Tropical Storm

[Mr Lee]

My wife got through to where she used to work in Cagayan de Oro and spoke to some friends last night, it seems that the rains in the city were not heavy that night and they did not know the rains in the mountains were, so while many slept, the water came rushing down from the mountain in an instant and washed away many homes and people before they even knew what hit them. So far no one we know lost their lives in this terrible disaster but the death toll keeps climbing and many are still unaccounted for. 3 days, 1,000 rotting bodies after, Noy visits crisis area12/21/2011It took three days and more than 1,000 lost lives discovered before President Aquino was able to make it to the areas ravaged by tropical storm “Sendong” and it looks like he is also taking his sweet time before actually signing a proclamation declaring a state of national calamity to ensure the swift delivery of government aid and reconstruction effort.

[Call me bubba]

An after-the-fact question. OK, lets say we fast forward 6+ weeks or so, all dead are acounted for or assumed dead because missing. Entire areas wiped clean.... What now about the land? New group of squatters comes in? What happens if extended family comes in and sees squatters on land or in a house that the occupants were swept away?

YES BRUCE,it will be very interesting to see what will happen? what will be done to prevent this from occurring again? So far in past events/situations, it was "YES will not permit NO MORE BULIDING,we not allow more to live there"."this area will be made into a park,flood control zone."BUT WHEN YOU LOOK WHAT DOES THE EYES SEE?............................................................. the listed below is points to "ponder" or think about.I not make a "FULL" comment just BRIEF.1.Benito Ramos, chief of the government's Civil Defence Office, attributed the high casualties in Mindanao "partly to the complacency of people because they are not in the usual path of storms" despite four days of warnings by officials that one was approaching.THEY KNEW A STORM WAS APPROACHING BUT NOT HEED THE WARNINGS, MAY i ask who is to blame now? DID many people even get the warnings? WHY did they NOT HEED or take precautions? without Pixxing FM/or ranting(which i rarely do) , In other countries WOULD YOU/or fellow countrymen take NOTE/heed of the warnings? is this a "CULTURAL" DIFFERENCE?2.it seems that the rains in the city were not heavy that night and they did not know the rains in the mountains were, so while many slept, the water came rushing down from the mountain in an instant and washed away many homes and people before they even knew what hit them.WATER RUSHING DOWN THE mountains? hummmm,, Nothing to stop or hold back the water..HummmmI had thought that there was LAWS ON the books that PREVENT ILLEGAL LOGGING? COULD THIS be a good time to have a JOBS CREATION(put these unemployed ) to restore the DENUDED slopes.mountain sides?LAST ITEM, THESE EVENTS HAVE HAPPEN BEFORE & THEY WILL HAPPEN AGAIN,let us look at past events.My "WHAT IF" is this ,,,Will those who control the PURSE STRINGS/FUNDING actually do something OR just more PHOTO OPS.SMILES,Broken promises (oh i mean half made/half completed promises),dont blame me,blame someone else (as they((those who blocked the program)) didnt get their fare share of the cut)"IF" they could least reduce the "causes/roots" of these events, Would the lives of those be more productive? I have tried to word this post in a way to express my "discomfort" without "crossing the line"

[Jollygoodfellow]

I think Ed you have to put it in perspective.The water filled the mountain streams and quickly proceeded down the mountain as a raging torrent. How much infrastructure is up that way or people to phone down the line to warn anyone, probably none.You have to realize it happened quick just like it did in Australia this year, no warning at all and this is a first world country. People died here too.Most people wont listen to warnings if they have lived there for many years and never had anything like this happen before,remember that area is normally bypassed from typhoons and the water hit them by surprise as the danger was forming else where and not around them. Then comes the fact most who died or lost houses were squatters on the river banks,normally safe to live there and where else is there to live when you have nothing?People will build there again for sure unless a miracle amount of money comes from some where to build a new area to live but the money would need to include houses but then what happens,you get a new house,20 relatives from another province need a better home so they move in and bits of tin are erected between the houses for more shelter. Then there is no one employed so no maintenance is ever done,then a fire breaks out and all are burned to the ground and lives lost.So while we can wonder why this and that and think its not like that at home we have to look at the big picture of problems.

[Bruce]

I think Ed you have to put it in perspective.The water filled the mountain streams and quickly proceeded down the mountain as a raging torrent. How much infrastructure is up that way or people to phone down the line to warn anyone, probably none.You have to realize it happened quick just like it did in Australia this year, no warning at all and this is a first world country. People died here too.Most people wont listen to warnings if they have lived there for many years and never had anything like this happen before,remember that area is normally bypassed from typhoons and the water hit them by surprise as the danger was forming else where and not around them.Then comes the fact most who died or lost houses were squatters on the river banks,normally safe to live there and where else is there to live when you have nothing?People will build there again for sure unless a miracle amount of money comes from some where to build a new area to live but the money would need to include houses but then what happens,you get a new house,20 relatives from another province need a better home so they move in and bits of tin are erected between the houses for more shelter. Then there is no one employed so no maintenance is ever done,then a fire breaks out and all are burned to the ground and lives lost.So while we can wonder why this and that and think its not like that at home we have to look at the big picture of problems.

Australia? I thought that was a HUGE area flooded by rivers over flowing their banks rather than a down the mountain side style of flood. From what I remember, the flooding in Australia was a ever widening area and most people thought it would stop at 4'...5'..well it cant go any higher....6' ... and then it is treading water time before people realized that it was getting higher and higher.

[Jollygoodfellow]

I think Ed you have to put it in perspective.The water filled the mountain streams and quickly proceeded down the mountain as a raging torrent. How much infrastructure is up that way or people to phone down the line to warn anyone, probably none.You have to realize it happened quick just like it did in Australia this year, no warning at all and this is a first world country. People died here too.Most people wont listen to warnings if they have lived there for many years and never had anything like this happen before,remember that area is normally bypassed from typhoons and the water hit them by surprise as the danger was forming else where and not around them.Then comes the fact most who died or lost houses were squatters on the river banks,normally safe to live there and where else is there to live when you have nothing?People will build there again for sure unless a miracle amount of money comes from some where to build a new area to live but the money would need to include houses but then what happens,you get a new house,20 relatives from another province need a better home so they move in and bits of tin are erected between the houses for more shelter. Then there is no one employed so no maintenance is ever done,then a fire breaks out and all are burned to the ground and lives lost.So while we can wonder why this and that and think its not like that at home we have to look at the big picture of problems.

Australia? I thought that was a HUGE area flooded by rivers over flowing their banks rather than a down the mountain side style of flood. From what I remember, the flooding in Australia was a ever widening area and most people thought it would stop at 4'...5'..well it cant go any higher....6' ... and then it is treading water time before people realized that it was getting higher and higher.

There were many floods,you are confusing the floods from extreme rain over most of Queensland and the flash floods of Toowoomba and surrounds that washed away the towns of Granthon and many other houses and people.After that Brisbane flooded but that came down the river.Here are some pics of flash flooding caused by rain on the Toowoomba range,