Warnings Was Ignored, Cdo Flood/storm Damage

[Call me bubba]

Bureau of Mines sought relocation of people living near Cagayan, Iligan rivers months agoTHE death toll from the raging muddy floods that washed away entire communities in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in southern Mindanao would not have been so high if officials of local government units (LGUs) heeded a recommendation of the Bureau of Mines and Geosciences to relocate people living in sandy bars and at the mouths of the Cagayan and Iligan rivers.Close to 700 people were reported dead and hundreds more were missing.The hardest-hit neighborhoods were shanty villages made from light materials and built haphazardly atop loose deposits of river sediment, Mines and Geosciences Bureau official Sevillo David said on Monday.“When the water rises or there is a flash flood, these [villages] can be easily swept away,” he added.David, who is in charge of a five-year-old government program to map hazardous areas, said that the bureau had recommended relocating residents out of the sandy island bars hit by the floods overthe weekend.But the recommendations, which also included banning buildings within a kilometer of the mouths of the Cagayan and Iligan rivers as well as dikes, were not followed.“In a way, it takes political will to implement some of the recommendations. If you move people, you need to find a relocation site for them,” David said.Officials are blaming the disaster on a freak storm, poor warning systems, flimsy buildings and human folly as they struggle to explain one of the deadliest flash floods to have hit the country.Entire villages were washed away when tropical storm Sendong whipped Mindanao island overnight Friday to Saturday, killing more than 650 people, with hundreds still listed as missing in a trail of flattened homes, broken bridges and upended vehicles.Isla de Oro, a community near the Mandulog river in Iligan City, the capital of Lanao del Norte province, was wiped out when the river overflowed.Sandwiched between the sea and a wall of mountains, the ports of Cagayan de Oro, the capital of Misamis Oriental province, and nearby Iligan, both built on the mouths of major rivers, are natural flood magnets, David said.“We are a country composed of hills and mountains as well as basins, and we are also frequently visited by rains and typhoons. Combining these, you can expect flooding and landslides,” he added.President Benigno Aquino 3rd has ordered a review of the government’s defenses against natural disasters.Mindanao, the southern third of the Philippine archipelago, is rarely hit by typhoons that regularly pound the northern island of Luzon every year, and residents were caught unprepared.Cagayan de Oro’s mayor, Vicente Emano, insisted that city officials had only learned about the looming storm from the media.“Mindanao is usually not a typhoon-prone area, that is why most residents were caught unprepared,” Gwendolyn Pang, the secretary-general of the Philippine Red Cross, said in a statement.“Climate is changing. We must also change the way we address climate issues,” she added.Benito Ramos, head of the government’s national disaster management council, suggested that local officials and residents had ignored warnings of the approaching storm.“They were forewarned that these were risky areas. They were aware that they were in flood-prone areas and most of them are informal settlers,” Ramos said.“They did not move because they had not experienced typhoons like this,” he added.A month’s worth of rainfall, about 180.9 millimeters (7.1 inches), fell over the region in the 24 hours before the deluge, according to preliminary weather service estimates.According to Anthony Lucero, a senior forecaster, most of the heavy rain fell on mountains inland, generating the raging torrents that flowed down the rivers.“Those rainfall levels rarely happen,” he said, adding that Mindanao as a whole had been receiving heavier than usual rainfall this year because of La Nina, a cyclical warming and cooling of Pacific Ocean surface waters.Agencies mobilizedVarious government agencies were mobilized to assist in the search, rescue, retrieval and relief operations in the two cities.Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel Roxas 2nd directed the Philippine Coast Guard, Maritime Industry Authority and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to assist in delivery of relief goods, medical supplies and other critical cargo in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Philippine Red Cross.President Aquino also on Monday ordered all concerned government agencies to submit their reports on how they prepared for Sendong.“The President wants to see how our agencies had prepared for the typhoon,” Malacañang spokesman Edwin Lacierda said during a press briefing.Mr. Aquino was scheduled to fly today to Mindanao to see the devastation there.He will visit evacuation centers in Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City and Dumaguete City (Negros Oriental).Lacierda said that the President wanted to know if mining and illegal logging were contributory to the killer flash floods.Reports said that the state weather bureau had failed to issue warnings, which could have mobilized local agencies to relocate people living in low-lying areas and those near the river banks to safer and higher groundshttp://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/top-stories/13572-lgus-ignored-warnings

[Call me bubba]

I wanted to take apart a few of the sentences or quotes to try to understand what exactly happen.Cagayan de Oro’s mayor, Vicente Emano, insisted that city officials had only learned about the looming storm from the media. :mocking:he heard about the storm from the MEDIA not another government agency? perhaps if he(the ones in charge) had a better way to disseminate information or warnings, Could some of the "damage" been less severe Reports said that the state weather bureau had failed to issue warnings, which could have mobilized local agencies to relocate people living in low-lying areas and those near the river banks to safer and higher grounds :boohoo: Humm, thats ODD, Althou I didnt live in that area, I received notice that a BIG STORM was approaching. Even the PAGASA/Typhoon 2000 weather site had given warning at least 3-4 days in advance.Seems to me either a break down in communication or MORE of the BLAME game.“We are a country composed of hills and mountains as well as basins, and we are also frequently visited by rains and typhoons. Combining these, you can expect flooding and landslides,” he added :chickendance:Lacierda said that the President wanted to know if mining and illegal logging were contributory to the killer flash floods. :woohoo:YES thats quite true but they failed to mention,the hillsides have been Stripped (deforested)of most of the native vegetation. Perhaps if this was not the case, Would the damage been less? had the hillsides had Trees,other vegetation. & no illegal mining.

[Jake]

Mother Earth has been going through many billions of years of extreme make-over. What's so tragicis migration of people to well known location of repeated calamities. What's even more tragic is thecity and national government (New Orleans, Manila and CDO) continue to look the other way and allowsquatters and others to meet their doom of natural occurring earthquakes, floods and wild fires.I'm sorry to say, sometimes a massive toilet flush is needed.......Jake

Edited December 28, 2011 by JAKE
spell check

[Call me bubba]

another update from yahoo news. not yahoo the person :hystery:Asked if the warnings were sent and received with adequate time for the residents to react, Valte said,"There are mixed accounts... that say there was a warning (but) residents didn't evacuate because traditionally they don't suffer from floods.""We have to sift through this to figure out what the warning systems were," Valte said. :hystery:The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said it issued several warnings to the public and local officials that a storm was on its way to Mindanao, a region that typhoons rarely visit, as early as Tuesday, December 13."There were warnings, flood bulletins. As early as Tuesday, we sent notifications," said Flaviana Hilario, Pagasa acting deputy administrator for research and development.They sent warnings(notifications)but no one paid attention to them, HUMM whos to blame??On December 13, Pagasa notified its media partners that a tropical cyclone had formed near Guam, which was still too far to affect the Philippines.On the morning of December 14, Pagasa issued a weather advisory stating that the cyclone was classified as a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds of 55 kph near the eye.In its 11 a.m. advisory that day, Pagasa issued a severe weather advisory that showed the path of the cyclone and the affected areas. But no public storm warning signal was sent yet. :)NO public warning was given??humm now whos to blame?storm was coming, notice was available but not "passed"along to those who needed the information/warning.is this what i am reading??On December 16, Sendong dumped one month's worth of rain over a 24-hour period in an area of Northern Mindanao that is rarely buffeted by typhoons.http://ph.news.yahoo...-041008121.html

[Jake]

Well, another tragedy in the making: http://newsinfo.inqu...in-danger-zones

[Old55]

Thanks for posting that Jake very correct IMO.