Super-typhoon Haiyan (Philippine code-named “Yolanda”) continues to barrel towards the Philippines threatening to wreak havoc across southern Luzon, the Visayas, and northern Mindanao as it plows through the Philippines…
Haiyan is expected to reach central Philippines as a super typhoon by Friday noon local time, packing winds of 233-249 kilometres per hour, according to Michael Ziobrol.
“If people are in the Philippines, they should start preparing too, especially the central Philippines,” he said.
Dr Jeff Masters, a contributor to the weather blog Wunderground, says Haiyan will likely be the most dangerous tropical cyclone to affect the Philippines this year.
The Philippines holds a poor record of preparing for and responding to natural disasters such as typhoons and heavy monsoon rains. Hundreds of thousands of residents in its biggest megalopolis, Metro Manila, illegally reside in ramshackle shacks along the city’s garbage-clogged storm water canals (esteros). Vast tracts of flood plains along Metro Manila’s main river systems have been developed into residential areas. The vast scale of negligence in the regulation of land development and enforcement of building codes are hopelessly compounded by the renowned kids-gloves treatment of squatters (known as “informal settlers” in polite conversation). Much of the country is rendered helpless against natural calamities as a result of this institutionalised ineptness…
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An Asian Development Bank (ADB) study has revealed that “Metro Manila is now probably the only Mega City in Asia that uses uncontrolled open dumping and a series of uncontrolled dumpsites to dispose solid waste”. No wonder much of the 1,500 tons of garbage produced by Manila everyday just goes directly into rivers and creeks. Even dumpsites managed by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) are located near the sea.
Indeed, Metro Manila even in relatively good weather is flooded by water as it is by humans. When you increase throughput without increasing channel capacity, you get latency. Just as Filipino commuters are bogged down in traffic on their roadways everyday, Manila’s rain water is suffering from the same condition — heavy traffic along Manila’s waterways. Just as Manila’s roads have been clogged by street vendors and buses and jeepneys driven by idiotic drivers, rivers and canals crisscrossing the city are blocked by silt, garbage, and human refuse. Unreliable and impassable roads routinely make access to emergency and relief services a monumental challenge in the Philippines when disaster strikes a monumental challenge.
The result is a system of man-made factors that pretty much doom Filipinos to repeated tragic outcomes year-in and year-out…
[Forecast Haiyan movement diagram courtesy USAF Joint Typhoon Warning Center.]
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Metro manila will be flooded again because some Bald IDIOT cancelled the previous administration’s flood control project without even bothering to correct or implement an effective countermeasure against flooding.
where is the flood in manila?
I’m sure that because there was no large scale flooding in the metro during yolanda, the palace spin doctors would again end up saying this is because of the administration’s efforts, daang matuwid, yada yada….
And the sad thing would be, people believing, praising and thanking him.
You forgot to mention President “BS” Aquino in this post.
Seriously, until you change the mindset of several generations of Filipinos regarding the damage they cause by throwing garbage everywhere, it is only going to get worse. The real question is how to effect change in the people.
Some good news regarding people and preparation… I went out last night to get some supplies for the impending typhoon and stores were packed like New Year’s Eve. One store had a line to get in as it was so crowded that the guards were managing the flow of customers in and out.
It seems people here in Dumaguete City are starting to “get it”. Locally, there were many deaths during Sendong. when Pablo came along, only one or two as I recall. I am hoping the trend is continuing and we ride out Yolanda without loss of life at all. A certain amount of credit does need to go to the LGU. They are taking proactive steps to lower the death toll by physically blocking the approaches to spillways that in the past would claim many lives, thus saving people from their own lack of judgement.
@Bobo kaya kinancell yung flood control projects at iba pang infrastructures dahil nilagay nila yung pera sa HolDAP para pangsuhol sa mga Tongressmen at Senatongs para mapatalsik si CJ Corona. They will not bother to implement any projects to spend the Taxpayer’s money pero nanakawin nila yung Buwis para sa pansarili nilang Political agendas. Yung mga Biiks este Yellow Zombies dapat lang sana sila ang magtamasa ng mga Kalamidad para mahimasmasan.
Do not despair. The important thing is that the international storm system has been given a filipino name when it enters our area of responsibility. PROUD TO BE PINOY!!!!
all typhoons that enter the philippines are given a local name by pagasa. its not an “important thing” and the local name wasnt given by any “international storm system”. please study first before spewing nonsense
I am sure Sea Bee knew that. It is a play on the local herd mentality which I coin “basta pinoy da best”. The pinoys willingness to chest beat over anything “pinoy” regardless of the insignificance, triviality or dilution. That is the way they are.
Got tired of that ” Pinoy the best” nonsense even here in America. Everytime Pacquiao wins I keep hearing that Same rhetorical BS. Its getting too old The Philippines has a long way to go before we can claim to that title. Weare not even considered World Class yet.
By “international storm system”, it means the whole entity, which is the….oh yeah, the storm itself. It is not an organization as you understand it. Jeez!
…that was meant for concernd
my bad. hehehehehehehe
While Aquino is diverting the attention of the people on the Napoles investigation. A Super Typhoon is on the way now to the Philippines. Another disaster is again on the way.
They will go to visit the disaster areas. Promise some help, that will never arrive. Then, continue with the Circus show of investigation. Why don’t we investigate Aquino?
Hijo de puta, things are going to get worse in Cebu and Bohol, won’t they? First, that quake, now this.
filipinos ate proud
suddenly something “world class’
typhoon yolanda
pork barrel queen napoles
hypocrite pnoy aquino.
the best at being the worst.
if filipinos are the worst, which race/nationality would you consider as the best?
it is the White Man. although intelligence scores measured Internationally suggest that Asians are 3-5% smarter, on average, than Whites. it is another 10-15% down to the Hispanics and taking the prize as world’s LEAST intelligent, some 30% lower than #1, race of people (dare I say DUMBEST?) is the Black/African Man.
as for The Best? hopefully it is the one your daughter/son marries.
how did you measure intelligence?
Atlantean race, from the Continent: Atlantis.
The Atlanteans better be prepared for their new unwanted neighbors, the Failipinos, because they’ll soon overrun them OFW-style.
the english, obviously.
ATTENTION Firripino’s! Learn how to swim. Coz these hurricanes are just gonna keep getting worse!
What BS Aquino could do is to first and foremost stop being impossibly idealistic:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/11/06/13/pnoy-wants-zero-casualty-yolanda-onslaught