Legarda Alarmed over Loss of Lives, Damage Caused by Typhoon Pablo

SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA TODAY RENEWED HER CALL FOR HEIGHTENED DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND RISK MANAGEMENT IN ALL COMMUNITIES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AS SHE EXPRESSED ALARM OVER THE LOSS OF LIVES AND DAMAGE TO LIVELIHOODS CAUSED BY TYPHOON PABLO.
“LGUs affected by Typhoon Pablo should immediately assess the causes and effects of the landslides and flooding that occurred and make recommendations to improve mitigation and management before another typhoon hits their area,” she explained.
Based on reports from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), Typhoon Pablo has already claimed at least 77 lives, injured more than 100 individuals, and affected over 21,000 families.
“Typhoon Pablo, like Sendong, Ondoy, and many other natural hazards, test our resilience as a people and compel us, especially those of us in government, to implement our laws better in order to alleviate the suffering of our people. It is the responsibility of LGUs to set up early warning systems, create a team of flood volunteers to be mobilized during emergency situations, and improve their land use plans,” she said.
“We have to take note that the number of casualties and damaged properties caused by Typhoon Pablo could be due to lack of awareness of the risks in their communities. With the recent trend, it is likely that we will be experiencing storms as strong as this, or even stronger, in the coming years. Thus, information dissemination and community disaster preparedness are important because an educated populace would be prepared and know what to do in times of disaster,” Legarda concluded.