If you may have noticed, it’s getting a little cooler these days because of the shift in the wind direction. From the hot habagat or South Wind, we are now feeling the amihan or the North Wind.
You see signs of amihan around us when you spot the white migratory birds who feast on the fish and crawling animals in the swamplands in Amlan. These birds fly in from colder countries, and fly south to the warmer areas, where more food may be found.
But another sign of amihan has not yet come to us. This is the coming of the dreaded storms.
Storms from the Pacific Ocean usually head north as they approach the Philippines, but they are being pushed south by the winds. That’s how they end up hitting the Visayas and Mindanao.
While we are still enjoying the dry days, we can spend these days preparing for the coming of the storms.
It is some comfort to know that the de-clogging of the City’s drainage canals has been going on as a year-round activity.
But we can also do our part in ensuring that these drainage canals are not used as trash receptacles.
It would also have been ideal if we were able to find an alternate dumpsite for Dumaguete City, so that our trash would not have to end up in the sea when the expected floods come.
Ditto for the Valencia dumpsite, which previously got washed away by the swollen Banica River, all the way down to Dumaguete’s streets.
We can also spend this time reviewing our personal disaster risk- reduction plans in our own homes. Repair leaking roofs. Stock up on canned food, water, and other essentials like matches, flashlights or candles to last you at least a week.
We all went through some rough times last year, and even early this year as a result of this North Wind.
It would be tragic if we haven’t yet learned our lessons because it isn’t a question of IF, but WHEN.
