Roxas to LGUs: Plan, prepare now for storms

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas: Prepare now. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–This early, every local government unit should have laid out plans to mitigate the effects of oncoming typhoons.

“Local executives and their disaster response officers are expected to come up with an effective alert mechanism that would provide their constituents in danger areas with enough lead time to evacuate to safer grounds,” Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Our aim in disaster preparedness is zero casualty. Every life is important. Our plans should be geared toward saving lives,” he said.

Roxas, also the vice chair of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, noted that the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) had declared the start of the rainy season this month.

Heavy rains may be experienced in the western part of the country in the next few days and that at least two storms may enter the Philippine area of responsibility this June, he said.

Roxas urged mayors and governors to make use of the latest technology in mapping out disaster risk reduction and management plans for disaster-prone areas.

“Local government units and disaster response officers must inculcate the value of disaster imagination, which involves envisioning various scenarios that might happen when disaster strikes,” Roxas said.

Every town and province should have finalized disaster-preparedness measures at least five days before a typhoon arrives to “assess its impact on the communities,” he said.

“Local government units [must] be able to consider factors such as the strength of the wind caused by the typhoon, the level of its rainfall and the scale of destruction that it will cause on houses and buildings,” Roxas said.

“Every moment is important. Our paramount concern is to warn to  people about the oncoming calamity,” he stressed.