Approach of Typhoon Kalmaegi tests the Philippines’ disaster readiness

Manila has been able to avoid major devastation from the 20 or so major storms that cross the Philippines each year, but is it prepared for future disasters? The National's Aya Lowe finds out.

Filipino fishermen maneuver their fishing boats in Navotas City, east of Manila, Philippines, on September 14, 2014. State weather bureau raised the storm warning signal to 3 as Typhoon Kalmaegi, packing maximum winds of 120 kph and gusts of up to 150 kph, barrelled toward the northern Philippines from the country's east coast. Ritchie B Tongo/EPAShow less

MANILA // Philippine communities on Sunday prepared for flashfloods, landslides and possible storm surges as Typhoon Kalmaegi rushed towards the country, bearing powerful winds and heavy rains.

The storm, with maximum winds of 160 kilometres per hour, hit the north-eastern side of the main island of Luzon around sundown.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said at least three towns in the direct path of the storm had been evacuated.

Residents of Manila, which lies south of Kalmaegi’s path, and other vulnerable areas, were told to brace for flash floods and landslides.

The capital has so far been able to avoid major devatsation from the 20 or so major storms that cross the Philippines each year, but the flaws in its disaster management system were exposed when tropical storm Ketsana hit in 2009.

Nearly 300 people were killed as floods swamped Metro Manila, and the government drew heavy criticism for its slow and inadequate response.

The poor response was blamed on inadequate funding, with the defence secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr saying he had “no budget for operations”.

The next year the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act was introduced, which led to the creation of the national disaster management council and provided local governments a budget to prepare for disasters.

Since then, local governments have been boosting their disaster monitoring facilities and prepping their constituents in swift evacuation and disaster preparedness.

“This year we are much more prepared ... we have more instruments that we can use to anticipate and assess the problem,” said Ritchie Van Angeles, head of disaster risk reduction and management in Pasig City, one of the 16 cities and one municipality that make up Metro Manila.

While the capital region now is better prepared on the whole, there are still discrepancies between the different cities within Metro Manila.

According to the Global Disaster Preparedness Centre, there are inconsistencies in funding and the approach throughout all levels of government.

While the efforts of some provinces and cities stand out, not all the provincial and local governments have shown the same commitment.

Such inconsistency is seen in the capital area, where, because of the big differences in budgets, the capabilities for preparation differ greatly from district to district.

In Pasig City, a highly urbanised area of Metro Manila, instead of small centres equipped with just phones and radio, “now we have CCTV camera, monitoring systems and high-tech communications systems”, Mr Angeles said.

In Navotas City, comprising mostly shanty towns, “the CCTV cameras we have cover only 60 to 70 per cent of the critical areas”, said Ernani Calayang, head of Navotas Action and Command Centre.

“And that’s just the critical areas such as high traffic areas or high crime areas. It hardly covers the rest of the city.”

The city also needs high-end communication equipment, Mr Calayang said. “During the typhoons, network providers stop services. We have two-way radios but it’s limited.”

In July, during the last major storm, Typhoon Rammasun, the biggest damage came from power cuts. More than 1.8 million people in Manila and nearby provinces were without electricity for up to two weeks.

However, the Pasig command centre was immediately up again using an in-house generator.

Navotas, on the other hand, had just two hours of back-up power supply that they had to use sparingly.

The Pasig command centre is staffed by 40 to 50 people when the alert level is red, while Navotas has just 16 people, and only six working the monitors at any given time.

Pasig City has relocated residents from many of the flood-prone areas, mostly squatters, and provided training to others. The city built a dyke system along Pasig river in 2010 and now has 23 pumping stations to prevent flooding, Mr Angeles said.

Navotas has installed 39 pumping stations and a dyke along its riverfront. But it also has coastline, where pumps and dykes are yet to be installed.

“We need more budget to build pumps. The cost of spare parts and maintenance per year is expensive. We have allotted 4 million pesos [Dh338,000] on spare parts alone per year. The pumps bought are second-hand,” said Rufino Sereno, the Navotas City planning and development officer.

“We need more CCTV cameras, more pumps and more manpower,” Mr Cagayal said, summing up the city’s shortcomings.

While Manila is yet to experience the eye of the typhoon, typhoon Ketsana showed the importance of preparing the capital for the worst. However with budget allocations varying greatly from one city to the next, regardless of need, it appears some sites will have a distinct disadvantage if disaster does strike.