Susan’s Notes
By Susan Palmes-Dennis
ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina—It’s been weeks since it occured, but the flooding in the Nepal-Tibet area has now officially claimed 1,400 lives as of Sept. 9, an online Google check of various news sites showed.
What grabbed my attention and the eyeballs of a lot of Netizens was the video that circulated in social media which showed the lahar like flow of water and mud flooding the streets of Nepal shortly after residents fled their homes screaming in horror at the disaster that was about to befall them. It took a few seconds for one to fully grasp the terror that was the floodwaters rushing to sweep everything in its path.
For anyone who lived in Cagayan de Oro City in 2011, the flooding in the Nepal-China border—or any flooding that occurs anywhere in the Philippines for that matter which is closer to home—the scenes of devastation evoked grim dark memories of Tropical Storm Sendong (international name Washi) which had claimed nearly 1,300 lives and injured hundreds. It was a disaster that took Cagayan de Oro City years to learn and recover from.
Until now, I hope that the Kagay-anons especially the incumbent leadership at City Hall continue to learn whatever lessons can be derived from the Sendong tragedy beyond what is classified as ‘disaster mitigation.’ Having been away from the City of Golden Friendship for so long—except for the occasional visits—I cannot assess the capacity of both City Hall and their constituents in facing another Sendong like threat.
Sure there had been flood control structures that were funded and built by the national government, but Cagayan de Oro City’s unique geographical feature as the catch basin of both Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon provinces makes it vulnernable to flooding. I can only speculate, generously at that, City Hall is improving its capacity for rescue and relief/assistance operations which it can fund locally with some assistance from government agencies.
As everyone who monitored the disaster at Nepal knows by now, the flooding was caused by the partial melting of the glacier in the mountains. The ice-cold waters that came rushing out of the glacier caused a landslide that somehow closed off the path that could have allowed the waters to slip through the ocean and instead the waters coursed through the border and into the streets, killing people and destroying homes.
Both Sendong and the flooding in Nepal were symptoms of the much larger problem that is climate change and the Nepalese government is demanding First World nations which it blames for the pollution that caused the melting of the glacier to pay at least US $20 million plus in reparations. Good luck doing that but if they want they can charge part of the bill to China which is among the biggest polluters in the planet despite their much advertised ‘clean energy’ efforts.
The flooding and the resulting loss of life and property cannot be fully appreciated enough but the hard lessons it brings should endeavor the Nepalese government to build back better and to improve its capacity, however meager, for rescue and relief operations. Once the recovery efforts end, the equally difficult task of rebuilding follows and I hope that at least in this area, First World nations extend their assistance to Nepal.
I remembered the late mayor Vicente Emano being asked by media what Cagayan de Oro City needed from both the national government and the foreign donors in the Sendong aftermath and he replied ‘everything.’ I can imagine the Nepalese leaders pretty much asking for the same and the immediate response from the Chinese government which can afford to foot the entire bill given its resources and economy.
Slowing down or stopping climate change is another matter altogether and despite the best efforts of the global community it seems it’s never enough. Hence why we experience unusual temperature changes and more frequent disasters. Seeking viable energy alternatives and supporting such initiatives is a priority not being shared by the US which gave the go-signal to drill more oil fields.
Even with the arrest of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, public attention on the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio had largely been unchanged with the latest surveys indicating a general lack of public interest which alarmed the House prosecution panel. Whether the lack of interest resulted from the incessant social media campaign of Duterte’s paid trolls or not is anyone’s guess.
Hence the decision to drop the bribery charge and their agreement to cut down the list of witnesses to expedite the trial which they target to end on or before December this year. And we’re not even talking about the thorny issue of the number of votes needed to impeach or acquit VP Sara which was raised by Sen. Erwin Tulfo this past week. I’m expecting the Supreme Court will have to rule
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