WITH an average of 20 typhoons every year, there is no reason why the Philippines should not always be prepared for calamities.
On Wednesday, July 16, Typhoon Glenda (international name Rammasun) traversed the same path Typhoon Milenyo took way back in 2006—giving Manila whips of strong wind and heavy downpours of rain.
This was the nation’s first major storm after the ravage of Supertyphoon Yolanda November last year.
Despite efforts from the government, setting up all of the possible preparations for the upcoming storm, including the deployment of inflatable boats and assignment of evacuation centers, the calamity took away 51 lives.
Trees were uprooted from boulevard center islands and also from exclusive residential areas. Even the Malacañang Palace couldn’t escape typhoon Glenda’s wrath when it took away its century-old Acacia tree fallen down.
The strong winds brought by the typhoon damaged electrical lines across Luzon. It left 13 million people affected with power blackouts and shutdowns.
Recovery of roads and power restorations may be underway, but even before the storm entered the country, Luzon has already been dealing with power crisis.
Questions were raised when Luzon, particularly in Metro Manila, started to experience rotational brownouts. The Department of Energy (DoE) said that this was due to power plants undergoing maintenance. Some naysayers refuse to just nod along, with some of them alleged that the maintenance is just an excuse to cover up an actual power crisis.
For some areas, power saving became mandatory when the rotational blackouts began paralyzing businesses and government functions.
Now the people in the economic center of the nation are left without a choice. Even cellsites of mobile communication providers are still need to create contingency plan for their services.
While efforts by various government offices and national agencies to bring things back in order are admirable, problems still linger. Typhoon Glenda already left, but the damages she caused may still haunt Filipinos for some time. (AJPress)
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