In the wake of a typhoon
In the wake of a typhoon
Last weekend I had cause to go to Manila, capital city of the Philippines. As I waited for the plane at Hong Kong Airport on Saturday morning, I read the grim page 3 headline: “Typhoon death toll rises in Philippines - at least 48 dead and dozens missing”. The article talked about floods and landslides, government offices remaining closed, people missing from boats in coastal waters, irrigation dykes collapsing, only 36% of households having electricity, toppled trees, broken branches, fallen sign posts and power pylons, a state of calamity declared - and so the article continued.
And when I arrived in Manila, I found it was all true - except that the Manila newspapers were reporting 76 dead, not 48. The aftermath of Typhoon Milenyo (or Typhoon Xangsane as it was known elsewhere) was evident for all to see, with huge collapsed advertising hoardings blocking roads, century-old trees blown over with their roots protruding starkly up into the air, and dimly lit buildings relying on generators to power a few dull lights.
Although the storm had blown through Manila only two days before my arrival, the criticism and recriminations had already begun. Why did they allow huge advertising towers to be built that were vulnerable in strong winds? Why weren’t there adequate building standards applied to advertising signs? Where were the public safety announcements just before the storm hit? Why were government employees the first to be released from duties as the storm approached? Why was electricity restored first to areas where government officials own factories?
Maybe people feel better if they can blame someone else when disaster strikes. If so, it’s a sad comment on human nature. But even sadder was my visit to a small creek-side settlement on the southern outskirts of Manila. What looked like piles of discarded rubbish between some small flimsy huts were actually the remains of several houses that had been there just two days earlier - before the typhoon struck. The household belongings - remains of furniture, clothes, children’s toys - were strewn through the mud and the bank-side vegetation as a sad, silent memorial to family homes destroyed in just a few minutes. Fortunately, no-one was injured in the destruction of these homes, but the rebuilding of these people’s futures will take a lot longer than the few minutes in which they were torn apart.
At the time of posting this blog, the death toll from Typhoon Milenyo in the Philippines had risen to 110, with an additional 88 injured and 72 missing. A further 68 people had been killed in Vietnam when the same typhoon hit that country during the week. 178 people dead, and a terrible reminder of the fragility of life and our dependence on nature.
FOOTNOTES:
A new gallery of images of Manila, including typhoon devastation, can be seen HERE.
Also, for family members, there is a new password protected gallery of Manila HERE.
Sunday, 8 October 2006