Constant pummeling by an event can leave one numb from it. For a country that gets hit by up to 32 typhoons in a year, we’d go “What, another one coming? Wonderful, no class, I will go to the mall – the better to avoid flying debris on the streets”.
But in the wake of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) which left 80% of the capital underwater, something has changed. We stopped chuckling over typhoons. We became fearful of yet another one coming. It did not matter where we were in the country, we got antsy.
For many of us, the devastations wreaked by super typhoons in the past were something of a 9-day wonder – we watched avidly the gory details on the news, maybe cried a little or perhaps might send some relief goods if someone really asked or if devastated area was near enough. And then life goes on, we forget about them. Usually these typhoons hit the typhoon-prone provinces, places we may or may not know or only read about in typhoon news.
The capital gets its share of regular flooding – knee high, waist high. But that is part of our life in the typhoon season. Not a big deal because we are a sturdy, resilient people who have the wonderful ability to find laughter in the midst of any disaster – earthquake, deaths, you name it.
Our sense of humor is infallible.
But after Typhoons Ondoy & Pepeng (Parma) we can barely summon a smile. Instead, what is in our minds is how to prepare for the next one. Even those of us not living in the normal paths of storms, wonder what we should do if our houses get flooded to the roof. It seems no one can escape these disasters anymore.
Suddenly, we know, we can feel it in our bones, that Climate Change is here - now. It is no longer an abstract thing that learned people talk about and celebrities espouse. And, it is not just the future, distant, generations that will be affected. It’s our generation too.
It is real. And its effect can be devastating. We could lose our entire families in one fell swoop of a landslide or flashflood (although a bizarre part of me acknowledges it may not be such a bad idea - it’s better than watching one of your kids get carried away by raging waters while you hang on to another one for life).
Yet Climate Change is like a hurtling runaway train, unstoppable in its trajectory. We may try to slow it down but we can’t really stop it. We might as well lay ourselves down and die, we think.
But wait, there is HOPE. While it is true that climate change is beyond dispute, man’s activities have exacerbated it. There are things we can do to fight global warming and prepare for disasters. Here are simple, easy ways to be proactive and prepared:
Preparing for disasters
- Know your route to safety. Plan it, memorize it and practice going to your safe place. Assign safe areas (e.g. higher ground in case of floods) in your neighborhood or city and plan to assemble there in case of disaster. Make sure each family member knows the plan well.
- Keep mobile phones with spare batteries handy. Communication is very important. Best to ask someone out of town (even out of country) to check on you in an event because local lines tend to get clogged.
- Bring basic survival kit if you can. Food, water, first aid, multi-tools, flashlights, money, identification cards, some clothing and survival devices. Make your list, gather the items and store in easy-to-carry bags.
- Invest in a heavy-duty safe and store it on ground floor. Keep electronic copies of everything or put them in electronic storages. Seal your disks and computers in waterproof cases. Store these in the safe. You can also save your electronic files in reputable internet sources.
- Walk or bike whenever you get the chance. It is good for your health and healthy for the environment. Take the bus or car-pool.
- Turn off your TVs and DVD players when not in use. I mean switch off at the socket not just from the remote. Residual power (usually for clocks) wastes energy.
- Switch to energy-saving devices (e.g., light bulbs, appliances, cars). They are not just marketing spin, people. They help use less fossil fuel - the burning of which is the primary cause of global warming.
- Know more about global warming and what you can do to fight it. You can even advocate for policy reforms about it. It is your right as a citizen of this world. There are a thousand internet sources out there easily within your fingertips’ reach. Here are a couple of easy-to-read ones:
I think we should stop trying to convince people to live in a more eco-friendly manner. I think we should start demanding it of our friends and neighbors.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I sometimes feel very little empathy for people who are affected by climate change. Especially if I see that these people do not take care of their environment. Like people in evacuation centers that still do not take the trouble to dispose of wastes properly.