Typhoon “Quinta” with its adverse effects on properties and human lives should serve as another lesson on the importance of disaster preparedness.   

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator Usec. Benito Ramos told media practitioners here that the typhoon should teach us to be always prepared and it is a lesson for all of us that whenever there is a weather disturbance anywhere in the Philippines, there is no place that will not be affected. 

For a long time, he said, areas in Mindanao had not been visited by a typhoon but with climate change the people there are now experiencing it. 

The NDRRMC and OCD official also said that with the increasing frequency of typhoons visiting the country every year, disaster management should now be a way of life for Filipinos and that they should always be prepared for any contingency brought about by a natural calamity. 

This is a responsibility not only of the national and local governments but also of all people as well, said Ramos.

Ramos was here to turn over relief goods consisting mainly of family food packs to the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for families and individuals affected by the last typhoon to enter the country’s area of responsibility in 2012. 

He also made an aerial inspection, Dec. 30 of typhoon-hit areas in the island of Panay with RDRRMC chairperson and OCD Regional Director Rosario Cabrera and other OCD and RDRRMC members.

As of the latest report from the RDRRMC and OCD, a total of 52,157 families with 251,152 persons were affected by Quinta from 544 barangays in 40 towns and 4 component cities in Western Visayas. A total of 1,610 houses were totally damaged with 3,543 partially destroyed. Also, 15 persons lost their lives due to drowning and electrocution, with 3 still missing.

 As of December 31, 2012, 5:00 PM, a total of 52,157 families / 251,152 persons in 544 barangays of the 40 municipalities and 4 component cities of the Provinces of Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Capiz and Aklan were affected by the Tropical Storm “Quinta” wherein 10,689 families / 55,550 persons were still in their respective evacuation centers. A total of 1,610 and 3,543 houses were totally and partially damage respectively. Fifteen (15) persons were reportedly died of either drowning or electrocuted; 3 still missing due to drowning and 1 injured in the different areas of the region. 

The typhoon, which triggered flooding and landslides, also damaged millions of pesos worth of agricultural crops and infrastructures.*PIA