First, the news was that Dumaguete streets were underwater for about an hour after a strong rain. Then we were jolted by earthquakes because of the Negros Fault off Negros Occidental. And just last Thursday, we had two water spouts hitting barangay Mag-aso in Amlan town, damaging some homes.
If we are to learn a lesson from these stories, it is to be always prepared for calamities. Calamities can happen without warning, whether we are prepared to handle them or not.
Are our local government units prepared to handle these calamities if they strike hard enough to cause damage?
The government has a calamity fund which can mostly be used only after a calamity has struck. This provision would put government agencies in a reactive mode rather than a pro-active mode. Steps should be undertaken to prevent damage in the event of a calamity and the best time to do this would be before a calamity strikes.
In the province of Albay, for instance, fishers are prohibited from sailing out to sea if the Pag-asa places the Province under storm signal number 1. As a consequence, the people would not have any food for that day. The Province of Albay spends its calamity fund in buying rice to be given to these fishers so they will remain within the safe boundaries of dry land.
But disaster-preparedness is not just the responsibility of government alone. All of us should know what to do in any emergency. Part of the answer is in having an emergency pack, consisting of medicines, clothing, and food that could last us three days. Three days should be the longest time for rescuers to reach you in an emergency.
We must also be ready to render first aid or basic life support. You cannot always rely on emergency or trauma teams because when a big disaster really strikes, they will all have heir hands full.
Knowing that we live in a disaster-prone area, we must take the initiative of preparing ourselves to respond to these emergency conditions. As the oft-repeated line goes, “The life you save may be your own.”
