Life would be a lot better if we can just shoo away typhoons, plug the craters of volcanoes to prevent them from erupting, or hold the plates underneath us to keep them from shaking the ground and toppling buildings and ripping highways apart.

These terrifying and unwanted events and their terrible impact – thousands of lives lost, families displaced, and livelihood disrupted – are parts of the normal life in the Philippines, a country situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire and in the path of typhoons.

Climate change has only worsened our situation, with experts predicting more extreme weather disturbances as the new normal. A recent example of our vulnerability to weather’s whims was the visit of Pope Francis to Leyte last Saturday. He was scheduled to spend almost half a day in Tacloban and Palo to celebrate a Mass, meet with the victims of super-typhoon Yolanda, and lead other activities, but rain and strong winds from Mekkhala/Amang, the first tropical storm of 2015, forced him to fly back to Manila after less than an hour in Leyte.

The Pope, who told the Yolanda victims he knew what happened in November, 2013, even though he was in Rome, got a firsthand taste of what Filipinos, particularly those in Eastern Visayas, have to go through throughout their lives. Each year, 18 to 20 typhoons strike the country.

The Philippines is also located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where most of the world’s volcanoes are located. Countries on the “ring” – Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Russia, and the Philippines – account for most of the earthquakes that happen in the world. The memories of the 2011 earthquake that triggered a tsunami, caused a nuclear meltdown and killed nearly 16,000 people are still fresh in the minds of the Japanese. The areas affected by the nuclear disaster remain ghost towns.

The magnitude-7.2 earthquake that hit Bohol on October 15, 2013, was weaker than the magnitude-9.0 that hit Japan, but it was one of the strongest recorded in the Philippines, leaving more than 200 people dead and destroying many historical churches.

The Philippines has more than 30 volcanoes, of which more than 20 are considered active, and a few, like Mayon and Taal, are permanently monitored. Mount Pinatubo, which for many centuries was just a part of the mountainous part of Zambales, erupted in 1991, and its effects were felt worldwide: The massive amount of gas and ash caused a temporary half-degree centigrade drop in global temperatures. The millions of tons of lahar spewed out of the volcano permanently changed the river system in parts of Central Luzon.

The US Embassy in Manila, recognizing the risks from natural calamities faced by Americans visiting or living in the Philippines, has published on its website information to help US citizens “prepare for any disaster that may occur.

The key word is “preparation.” In my view, successful preparation means a system backed up by the most accurate disaster information like weather forecasts, which in turn, can happen if we have the most advanced technology and equipment.

We have a pool of competent and well-trained weather forecasters, volcanologists, and other scientists (that is why some of them are pirated by foreign entities), but they need the best equipment and the latest technology to do their task well.

As a country prone to disasters, we should be the leader in weather or disaster forecasting and monitoring. The price for a nation ill-prepared for disasters is too stiff to pay: Thousands of lives lost, families displaced, vital facilities destroyed and economic growth disrupted.

We saw the terrible destruction wrought by super typhoon Yolanda in 2013. In 2014, timely preparations reduced the disastrous impact of typhoon Ruby, which was initially expected to become another super-typhoon.

Yet, we still count casualties and measure damage: Ruby left P5.09 billion worth of damage and 18 dead. Typhoon Seniang, a weak typhoon that hit the country in the last days of December, brought heavy rains and triggered floods, leaving 66 people dead and more than 100,000 families displaced.

These are continuing wake-up calls and reminders for the government to modernize our weather and disaster forecasting equipment and technology. Because of our situation, our objective and attitude should be that the Philippines should be the leader in this field.

In closing, I share the gladness of my countrymen and their deep appreciation for the visit of Pope Francis in the Philippines.

KOBE – January 17, 1995, 05:46. This was the moment 20 years ago that the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake struck and resulted in 6,434 lost lives, 200,000 destroyed buildings, 300,000 people made homeless, and a staggering economic cost then calculated at 2.5 percent of Japan’s GDP (approximately $100 billion).

As for all disasters, the human toll, including the psycho-social impact on survivors, is the greatest tragedy. It reminded us of the constant need for communities, cities, and nations to enhance prevention and preparedness, to ensure that response systems are efficient, and that communities build their resilience to withstand and cope with any future disaster.

The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake ushered in a new era of volunteerism in Japan, and highlighted many lessons on how to prepare for disasters arising from hazards of all kinds, improve care and support for the survivors, as well as to rebuild cities and their health systems. The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and so many other natural disasters in the past two decades across the world, illustrated the need to continuously apply past lessons.

The number of people affected by emergencies and disasters continues to increase year after year, with climate change further exacerbating the frequency and magnitude of climate-related hazards. Underlying all efforts is the need to reinforce the role of communities, for which lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake are being transmitted through the concept of “kizuna” (human bonds).

The Ebola emergency in West Africa has once more demonstrated the need to ensure that preparedness is in place and response plans are up-to-date, disease surveillance, health facilities and health systems are operational in any circumstances, health education is implemented, and social mobilization and risk communication plans are available in case of an emergency.

Investing in health systems is critical to ensure that all countries can prevent, detect and respond to known and emerging health threats, as well as to ensure increased resilience and response and recovery capacity. A key part of this is emphasizing that hospitals and other health facilities are safe and operational in times of disasters to deliver life-saving care, for which the World Health Organization and its partners are supporting through a global Safe Hospitals Initiative.

All of these experiences further increase the urgency to focus on vulnerable populations, such as the aged, disabled, women and children, and the poor, across the continuum of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery from disasters.

For example, understanding the risk context of various communities, subpopulations and the nature of inequities can help local actors form social mobilization strategies for more effective preparedness and response. Knowing where people live, coupled with effective early warning systems, can help ensure that first responders can locate populations and save lives. An increasing aged population and people with life-threatening chronic diseases also introduces new challenges to ensuring the continuity of care for survivors.

The spirit and determination of the people of Kobe and other municipalities in Hyogo Prefecture inspired the world on how to “build back better” that ensures that post-disaster recovery, including social and health rehabilitation and reconstruction, provides the opportunity to reduce future risk and make communities safer and better places to live and work.

This spirit, and the vision of former Gov. Toshitami Kaihara (who recently passed away), and of the former director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, inspired the creation of the WHO’s Kobe Center in the aftermath of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, a commitment continued by Gov. Toshizo Ido and Mayor Kizo Hisamoto to this day.

Among the key legacies of the Hyogo and Kobe experience had been the incorporation of their experience into the ground-breaking Hyogo Framework for Action, 2005-2015, Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, which defined global action for disaster risk reduction.

Ten years later, this framework will be discussed with all nations and updated at the upcoming World Conference on Disaster Reduction on March 14-18 in Sendai.

For the good of all citizens worldwide, there is an urgent need to expand international, national and local efforts to reduce disaster and health emergency risks, to put a greater focus on prevention and community-centered action, to increase preparedness capacity, and response and recovery when needed.

 – January 17, 1995, 05:46. This was the moment 20 years ago that the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake struck and resulted in 6,434 lost lives, 200,000 destroyed buildings, 300,000 people made homeless, and a staggering economic cost then calculated at 2.5 percent of Japan’s GDP (approximately $100 billion).

As for all disasters, the human toll, including the psycho-social impact on survivors, is the greatest tragedy. It reminded us of the constant need for communities, cities, and nations to enhance prevention and preparedness, to ensure that response systems are efficient, and that communities build their resilience to withstand and cope with any future disaster.

The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake ushered in a new era of volunteerism in Japan, and highlighted many lessons on how to prepare for disasters arising from hazards of all kinds, improve care and support for the survivors, as well as to rebuild cities and their health systems. The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and so many other natural disasters in the past two decades across the world, illustrated the need to continuously apply past lessons.

The number of people affected by emergencies and disasters continues to increase year after year, with climate change further exacerbating the frequency and magnitude of climate-related hazards. Underlying all efforts is the need to reinforce the role of communities, for which lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake are being transmitted through the concept of “kizuna” (human bonds).

The Ebola emergency in West Africa has once more demonstrated the need to ensure that preparedness is in place and response plans are up-to-date, disease surveillance, health facilities and health systems are operational in any circumstances, health education is implemented, and social mobilization and risk communication plans are available in case of an emergency.

Investing in health systems is critical to ensure that all countries can prevent, detect and respond to known and emerging health threats, as well as to ensure increased resilience and response and recovery capacity. A key part of this is emphasizing that hospitals and other health facilities are safe and operational in times of disasters to deliver life-saving care, for which the World Health Organization and its partners are supporting through a global Safe Hospitals Initiative.

All of these experiences further increase the urgency to focus on vulnerable populations, such as the aged, disabled, women and children, and the poor, across the continuum of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery from disasters.

For example, understanding the risk context of various communities, subpopulations and the nature of inequities can help local actors form social mobilization strategies for more effective preparedness and response. Knowing where people live, coupled with effective early warning systems, can help ensure that first responders can locate populations and save lives. An increasing aged population and people with life-threatening chronic diseases also introduces new challenges to ensuring the continuity of care for survivors.

The spirit and determination of the people of Kobe and other municipalities in Hyogo Prefecture inspired the world on how to “build back better” that ensures that post-disaster recovery, including social and health rehabilitation and reconstruction, provides the opportunity to reduce future risk and make communities safer and better places to live and work.

This spirit, and the vision of former Gov. Toshitami Kaihara (who recently passed away), and of the former director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, inspired the creation of the WHO’s Kobe Center in the aftermath of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, a commitment continued by Gov. Toshizo Ido and Mayor Kizo Hisamoto to this day.

Among the key legacies of the Hyogo and Kobe experience had been the incorporation of their experience into the ground-breaking Hyogo Framework for Action, 2005-2015, Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, which defined global action for disaster risk reduction.

Ten years later, this framework will be discussed with all nations and updated at the upcoming World Conference on Disaster Reduction on March 14-18 in Sendai.

For the good of all citizens worldwide, there is an urgent need to expand international, national and local efforts to reduce disaster and health emergency risks, to put a greater focus on prevention and community-centered action, to increase preparedness capacity, and response and recovery when needed.

source: japantimes.co.jp