Typhoon early action shows worth

BANGKOK, 15 December 2015 – More than 700,000 people in the central Philippines have been evacuated to safety ahead of a powerful typhoon in the latest example of the country’s ‘early warning early action’ approach to protect lives, livelihoods and assets.

Ahead of Typhoon Melor making landfall, the authorities warned of strong wind, heavy rain and high waves which could trigger floods and landslides and put traditional thatched homes and crops at risk.

In Albay province in southeast Luzon, almost 600,000 people were evacuated because of fears of mudslides on the slopes of nearby Mayon Volcano. The Governor of Albay, Joey Salceda, a UNISDR Champion, has adopted a ‘Zero Tolerance’ approach to casualties that puts early warning and evacuation at the heart of the province’s DRR.

“The whole province is now a ghost town. We shut all establishments. No school, no work,” Governor Salceda said on ABS-CBN television in the Philippines. “We have zero floods, zero deaths, zero casualties.” But the Governor said the entire province of 1.2 million people was without power. “What we are asking for is the early restoration of electricity.”

Local news reports said that four people had been killed and millions of people were without power. AFP reported that residents carried bags of clothes and water jugs while clambering on to army trucks in Albay's Legazpi City as authorities sounded the evacuation alarm.

Typhoon Melor crossed Burias Island in the central part of the country before brushing the north of Samar, an island of 1.5 million people. Gusts of up to 185 kilometres per hour were recorded.
The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, recently praised the Philippines for its efforts to reduce mortality and the numbers of people affected by typhoons that regularly sweep the country causing tidal surges, heavy rains, floods and landslides.

“The Philippines is the most storm-exposed country in the world and its expertise in disaster risk management can be usefully adopted by other countries trying to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction,” Ms Wahlström said after Typhoon Koppu in October 2015.

She pointed to better communication of early warnings in the Philippines since Typhoon Haiyan claimed over 6,000 lives in November 2013 highlighting the effective evacuations ahead of Typhoon Hagupit In December 2014 and Typhoon Koppu.

Ms Wahlström said that President Benigno Aquino’s broadcast to the nation ahead of Typhoon Koppu alerted the population to the threat and regular updates and situation reports from government agencies guided local actions.

Two years ago, ahead of Typhoon Haiyan – the most powerful recorded storm to make landfall – a prompt evacuation of the entire population from the small island of Tulang Diyot in the Philippines saved the lives of 1,000 people. Under the direction of UNISDR DRR Champion Alfredo Arquillano, the islanders moved to the relative safety of a much bigger island nearby.

At the time, Mr Arquillano said that years of work to strengthen community preparedness and reduce disaster risk was the main reason a local catastrophe was prevented. San Francisco is a role model city for UNISDR’s Making Cities Resilient campaign.

The importance of early warning systems is a key part of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: 2015-2030. One of the Sendai Framework’s seven targets calls for the substantial increase of the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information.

It is not just in the Philippines that effective early warning and action has protected lives, livelihoods and assets. In Odisha, India, in 2013, almost 1 million people were evacuated ahead of Cyclone Phailin leading to a dramatic reduction in losses.

In Yunan Province, China, in August 2014, an earthquake early warning system was credited with providing precious seconds of warning which resulted in reduced losses. The system transmits warnings via radio waves – which travel several times faster than tremors – during an earthquake of 6.0 magnitude or higher.