Do you remember a poem you recited way back when you were in elementary school? “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small; All things wise and wonderful: the Lord God made them all!”
God gave us the precious and valuable gift of nature but sad to say, such beautiful gifts from God are declining day by day due to technological advancements, the high level of ignorance, and abuse by the human beings.
There is always a price to pay when humanity disturbs the delicate balance of Mother Nature.
It’s not nice to mess with Mother Nature too much. If you start kicking her too hard, she will kick back like an old mule. Mother Nature (also called Mother Earth or the Earth Mother) is a common personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it, in the form of a mother-like being.
Geraldo Rivera may have put it best when he said: “Mother Nature may be forgiving this year, or next year, but eventually, she’s going to come around and whack you. You’ve got to be prepared.”
Such warnings are not new, having been repeated often, especially now that more typhoons are expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility. In addition, Mt. Kanlaon has registered several earthquakes these past days, so expect anytime some kind of a catastrophic event.
There are reported flooding incidences in several areas in the Province, causing damage to life and property. Considering the intent and purpose of ‘flood forecasting and warning’, it is important to understand the causes of flooding: heavy rainfall resulting from tropical weather disturbances, deforestation, improper agricultural practices, inadequate design of drainage channels and structures, inadequate maintenance of drainage facilities, blockage by debris brought by flood waters, construction of settlements in flood plains, disturbing the flow of water by indiscriminate mining/quarrying.
If the causes of flooding are common knowledge, what is government proactively doing about it? What measures have been taken to address the clear and imminent problem?
Let’s be prepared for possible flooding in areas that were never flooded previously. Let’s be reminded that with the restiveness of Mt. Kanlaon, the media have not been remiss in issuing warnings against its possible dangers; like ghosts and monsters, volcanoes can be scary when they suddenly erupt. They rumble, shake and spit out fire, steam, ashes, and rocks.
According to scientists, the “Ring of Fire” hosts some 452 volcanoes, and is home to over 75 percent of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes, including the Philippines’ 21 active volcanoes.
These natural disasters are bound to happen again and again – and may become worse each year due to global climate change.
The Philippines has been identified as the world’s third most vulnerable country to extreme weather events and sea level rise.
Whether the next big one will hit us is not a matter of if, but when. And for one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations, the urgency could not be more pronounced. What now?
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