Lessons from ‘Sandy’

Howling like a monster, it came hurtling across the ocean in a way Americans had never seen before. Indeed, the “superstorm” named “Sandy” was a freak of nature, a weather condition formed from the gathering of different, individual sources. It came packing hurricane-force winds and was so massive it covered the US East Coast like a menacing shroud. It had already ripped its way across the Caribbean, killing more than 60 people, and now it swooped to wreak more havoc elsewhere.

But the Americans responded admirably. Boasting the most accurate data from the US National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders and declared states of emergency in the states most affected by the superstorm.

In what seemed like an apocalyptic movie, the great city of New York shuddered to a halt. Buses and subway trains stopped running, air traffic ceased. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered almost 400,000 people evacuated—a move that was echoed in other cities as Sandy barreled ashore. “This is a serious and dangerous storm,” Bloomberg announced.

The superstorm was so dangerous that the fever-pitch presidential campaign was halted days short of election day. Both President Barack Obama and Republican contender Mitt Romney suspended their campaign activities, and Obama returned to Washington to direct operations. Obama later flew to the New Jersey coast, assuming the role of Responder in Chief. But first he firmly told those of his constituents who were in harm’s way: “If you don’t evacuate when you are asked to evacuate, you are putting first responders in danger,” he warned, adding that such defiance could have “potentially fatal consequences.”

Not only did the authorities display strong political will in preemptively shutting down their cities and evacuating those in high-risk areas, but the public also showed resolve and faith when they left their homes and headed to their appointed shelters. By this cooperation between the people of the United States and their government, a bigger number of casualties was prevented and, despite the loss of lives and damage to property, a sterling example of disaster preparedness was made from which other countries could find lessons.

And there are many important lessons to be learned by the Philippines, a country so wracked by disaster that it experiences the fury of over 20 typhoons annually, including supposed once-in-a-lifetime tropical storms as “Ondoy” and “Sendong.” One would think the Philippines would be an expert by now in dealing with the yearly onslaught, and would have specific funds allocated for disaster response, but the ever increasing number of deaths in storms and typhoons constantly belies that notion.

“That’s political will,” Toni Loyzaga of the Manila Observatory said in connection with the US authorities’ mandatory evacuation and transportation shutdown orders. “We should have the political will to do what Mayor Bloomberg did. In our case, political will can still be strengthened to undertake appropriate measures and evacuate everyone.”

To be sure, the US government was equipped with the most accurate and up-to-date information to back its orders. This is an enviable situation absent in these parts for lack of sophisticated weather instruments. And then, of course, the usual nightmares brought about by clogged waterways and huge numbers of the population living in perilous areas—citing an example, Loyzaga said the coastal city of Manila needed “to come up with a viable land use policy and land management policy”—are a constant strain on rescue resources and personnel.

And what of Philippine evacuation centers, which, since as far back as anyone can remember, are invariably public schools, gyms, basketball courts and the like? CNN cameras panned across an evacuation center in New York, showing a shelter with rows of folding cots and blankets, and, quite important, an area set aside for the evacuees’ beloved pets.

With the Philippines identified as the third country most vulnerable to climate change in the entire world, our authorities would be wise to heed the lessons brought by Sandy in the course of preparing for the storms and typhoons that are sure to come again. We need political will to match the vaunted Filipino resilience. We need a drastic change in our way of thinking. Philippine Red Cross chair Richard Gordon has an appropriate reminder: “While the Americans already get distressed by rising flood waters, Filipinos usually dismiss it, saying we’re used to that. But that doesn’t make it right.”