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Home , Typhoon Ketsana, Typhoon Melor

The Philippine of 2009 by Regi Cruz ©

Regi Cruz is a Director with the Asia-based Emergency Research Center Inc. or e. e is a non-stock, not-for-profit non-governmental organization dedicated to grassroots emergency preparedness, emergency management and emergency education directed at the grassroots level of third world environments. e operates on the premise that if a procedure works in a third world setting - it will work anywhere else. www.ready.ph

Typhoon Ketsana a.k.a Ondoy International designation: 0916, U.S. Military Joint Warning Center (JTWC) designation: 17W, Philippine Athmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration(PAGASA) designation : Ondoy

The weather system formed early on September 26, 2009. The typhoon produced only moderate winds but was loaded with enough moisture to cause extremely heavy precipitation. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) - the Philippine version of the U.S. NOAA - documented a record amount of rainfall in 24 hours at 455 millimetres (17.9 in). Weather experts later computed the rainfall to be the equivalent of a full month of rain which all fell in the span of a day.

The Philippine government subsequently declared a "state of calamity" on the island of after 86 people were reported dead in floods, landslides and other incidents. water levels reached a record high of 20 feet in several areas. As of October 24, 2009, at least 464 deaths were officially reported. The damage to property was estimated to be P6 billion, including P4.1 billion in damage to infrastructure, P1.9 billion in damage to schools and P882.525 million in damage to . (USD$1 = PHP46.50).

Please click on the following Youtube link to give you an idea of the destruction and suffering wrought by this typhoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcbTckGR-1o

Typhoon Parma a.k.a Pepeng International designation: 0917, U.S. Military Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) Designation: 19W, Philippine Athmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) designation: Pepeng

Typhoon Parma was the second typhoon to affect the within the span of a week in the wake of /Ondoy in September 2009. Pepeng added to the havoc caused by the earlier Typhoon Ketsana/Ondoy, affecting thousands of families in northern Luzon. In the first week of October, Typhoon Parma interacted with on the Pacific via a Fujiwhara interaction, forcing it to make a U-turn as it made landfall on Southern .

A Fujiwhara Interaction occurs when two cyclones approach each other, their centers will begin orbiting cyclonically about a point between the two systems. The two vortices will be attracted to each other, and eventually spiral into the center point and merge. When the two vortices are of unequal size, the larger vortex will tend to dominate the i nteraction, and the smaller vortex will orbit around it.

The effect is named after Sakuhei Fujiwhara, the Japanese meteorologist who initially described it in a 1921 paper about the motion of vertices in water.

Days later, Typhoon Parma returned to Luzon making landfalls in the Philippine provinces Ilocos Norte and Cagayan. Thousands were forced to flee their homes as high winds battered the land and flood waters rose.

A Fact of Life Earthquakes, and floods are a fact of life in the Philippines. This tropical country is visited by an annual average of 20 typhoons of varying degrees of destructive power. Monsoon rains (and typhoons) bring about frequent floods. Much of the national capital – Metro is situated in low lying areas relative to the average mean sea level. Some areas suffer from tidal floods every day. This environment is so commonplace that the average Filipino keeps large pails or 55 gallon drums of water in the home for emergency water supply. Most families keep canned goods, instant noodles and bottled water in reserve.

Powerful storms usually bring on power outages so some homes have emergency power generators, the rest usually have rechargeable fluorescent lanterns, flashlights or at least keep a couple of candles and matches on hand.

Tyhoon Ketsana/Ondoy was different. It came with practically no warning, it was a benign storm which was downgraded from a tropical depression to a low pressure area by the Meteorological Agency. Upon entering the Philippine Area of Responsibility, PAGASA and the US JTWC issued a Formation Alert on the depression. Typhoon Ketsena then intensified quickly under favorable conditions reaching peak windspeeds later that day of 165 km/h, (105 mph),(1-min winds) and 140 km/h (85 mph) (10-min winds) which only made it the equivalent of a Category 2 Cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. But herein lies the problem...

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) releases tropical cyclone warnings in the form of Public Storm Signals.  PSS #1 - Tropical cyclone winds of 30-60 km/h are expected within the next 36 hours.  PSS #2 - Tropical cyclone winds of 60-100 km/h are expected within the next 24 hours.  PSS #3 - Tropical cyclone winds of 100-185 km/h are expected within the next 18 hours.  PSS #4 - Tropical cyclone winds of greater than 185 km/h are expected within 12 hours.

The four-stage Philippine Storm Signal system, just like the Saffir-Simpson scale is based on wind force – not the amount of precipitation likely to be dumped by the weather system. Although Public Storm Warning Signal #3 was later raised, most people assumed that the storm would not be as destructive as it turned out to be due to the lack of strong winds. Most of the rains dumped up river from eventually made it to the rivers and esteros (creeks and large natural canals) of the city which then overflowed their banks and made it to the streets and into the homes – in some cases up to the roofs of two storey houses.

Food and water supplies are useless when contaminated by flood waters. Some of the survivors endured hours of waiting in neck deep floods or on top of their rooftops awaiting rescue. Most of their emergency supplies had long been swept away or contaminated by the dirty floodwaters. The lesson learned here is to keep the emergency supplies in water tight containers which float.

These should then be kept in secure areas of the house for later use. The other lesson learned was to keep flotation devices readily available. The hands down favorite were the air mattresses. Sales of these items soared right after the floods.

Be Prepared

In addition to potential flood levels, check to see the earthquake damage history in your area. Are you situated in a flood plain? Use an online service such as http://flood.firetree.net/ to determine probable flood patterns in your area both from rain and from sea level rise.

Prepare and gather your emergency supplies. While backpacks make good containers, small pails with tight fitting lids were the perfect “survival kits” during the Philippine floods of 2009 – these pails could contain food, water, a change of clothes, flashlights, batteries, garbage bags, small toys, etc. In an emergency, these pails make perfect personal flotation devices , float on their own, make for decent water resistant containers and in a pinch also work – the garbage liners – as emergency field toilets!

“Chance favors the prepared mind” – Louis Pasteur

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