As an archipelagic country, the Philippines is surrounded by warm ocean water which makes our country prone and very exposed to typhoons. The country faces the western Pacific Ocean, with little else to absorb energy of storms before they hit land. Storms are fueled by the warm and tropical waters. According to Future Learn website, the Philippines has the world's hottest ocean temperatures - frequently above 28 degrees Celsius, the minimum temperature for typhoon formation.
With the onslaught of different typhoons which hit the country, its damages are now insurmountable, deaths have been countless, and lives have been ruined. With the increasing occurrence of typhoons in the country, how prepared are the Filipino people and its government on this kind of disaster?
Wrath of Bagyong Sendong
Four (4) Electronics and Computer Technology Majors (Joseph Dale Llanes, Jan Paul Nicart, Carl Francis Apresto, & Aljay Barola) from the Mindanao State University (MSU-IIT) experienced firsthand the wrath of a strong and killer typhoon - Bagyong Sendong on 16 December 2012. Bagyong Sendong brought long hours of rapid falling rains that triggered flash floods all over Mindanao particularly, the Northeast Mindanao (Cagayan de Oro City & Iligan City). The heavy floods were the reason Bagyong Sendong was called a killer typhoon which affected 132,000 families, killed 1,472 individuals, and more than 1,049 are still missing to this day. These heavy numbers horribly left the four (4) students and the rest of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan a devastating experience.
Inspired to Develop the Local Warning System
The tragic event which happened at dawn of December 16 inspired the students to propose their undergraduate thesis. On his Facebook post, Mr. Llanes mentioned on how the lack of basic dissemination of information affected the countless damage of the Typhoon especially in flood-prone areas. Llanes, Nicart, Apresto, and Barola proposed designing and developing a Microcontroller-based Flood Warning System with Short Message Service Notifier (MB-FWSSN). They proposed this study before the MSU-IIT Department of Electronics Engineering Technology on April 2015 and later proposed it before the Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Council (DRRMC) of Iligan City.
The system was focused on providing a forecasting system to the Locality through warning devices (light indicators and sound) and issuance of text message everytime the sensors (low, average, and high) are triggered by the water. A computer application (GUI) was also added in the system to monitor the water level with the use of a desktop/laptop. The lone purpose of the MB-FWSSN is to provide early warning, the system will help the local residents and even the local authorities to make doable and necessary actions before the flood gets destructive.
On their thesis, the insufficient information from the local weather station, the City DRRMC, and even from the national government was the main factor of the heavy damages of the typhoon not just to the properties, but most importantly, to people's lives. Lack of information means lack of preparation. Without the warning, people were never aware of how high the water rose and eventually caused the heavy floods. The heavy rainfall resulted in the river tributaries in the upland towns of Bukidnon swelling and dumping floodwaters to the main Cagayan River.
During a virtual interview, Mr. Llanes mentioned that their study and the prototype that they developed was only presented to the Iligan City DRRMC and not to the National DRRMC. Their sole purpose is to aid and help their kababayan in the possible disasters their locality (Iligan & Cagayan de Oro City in particular) will be facing in the future.
Not a Deja Vu, Typhoon Odette
What happened 10 years ago, must not happen today.
Ten years after Bagyong Sendong, another typhoon made its landfall in Mindanao, including Cagayan de Oro City on 16 December 2021. This time, people learned the lesson and are now prepared.
At 8:30AM of 16 December 2021 people in Cagayan de Oro were warned on the extreme level that could possibly be brought by the Orange Rainfall Warning.
Mr. Llanes brought to Facebook his experience as he remembers the horrible effect of Bagyong Sendong and as he reminisces the efforts and hard work they exerted to help their locality in this time of calamity.
The SMS based warning system is indeed a lifesaving science idea. Yes, Bagyong Sendong ruined properties and killed many lives, but it also gave the people in the affected areas the valuable and important lessons of resiliency and of being prepared in times of calamities. Thanks to the warning systems that were developed.
Disaster Preparation
No one can ever be calm in the center of chaos or disaster; however, science and technology make this possible.
As for the Philippines, being in the Pacific Ring of Fire, disaster preparedness must not just focus on the national level but also to the entire country. Just like the students who developed a system to help their community from any disaster they may face, we also hope that the country will improve its preparedness initiatives and all the developed planning and strategic tools to be utilized and save many people from suffering during disasters, may it be a typhoon, flood, earthquake, and even volcanic eruptions.
Cliche as this may seem, but let us all embody the old saying which goes, prevention is better than cure. (Vaneza Kimilat, MSDC-II)
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