DESPITE the inevitable casualties and destruction, the Philippines appears to be much better prepared for Typhoon Hagupit as opposed to last year when Super Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the country. Residents are better prepared this year after learning the lessons of Haiyan. They are taking the storm warnings seriously as millions of people have been scrambling to get out of the typhoon's way. Although Hagupit was downgraded from a super typhoon to a typhoon, it is still a monster, packing potentially devastating sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour with gusts that could reach up to 250 kilometers per hour. Authorities are not only worried about the typhoon itself, but the effects of the fierce winds, possible flooding and storm surge that could reach up to five meters high. There are also warnings of intense rainfall and rough seas. But what is hoped by all is that the toll will be much less than the more than 7,300 people who died and went missing by the devastation wrought by Haiyan in November last year when Haiyan became the most powerful typhoon ever recorded over land as it tore through the central Philippines. The storm left more than four million people homeless or with damaged houses, obliterated homes, and smashed entire neighborhoods into tangled heaps of debris. Hopefully, the devastation will not happen with the same severity this time around. President Benigno Aquino has ordered food supplies to be sent to affected areas, as well as deploying military troops and police officers. Multiple domestic flights have been cancelled. Ports shut across the archipelago after the coastguard suspended sea travel. Many Filipinos took to social media to spread warnings, urging each other to prepare. Haiyan's massive storm surge caught many people off guard. Later, there were anti-government protests at what some saw as the slow pace of rebuilding, at what they regarded as a lack of progress in reconstruction. Aquino denied moving too slowly but that was not the view shared by millions of Filipinos who believed the government abandoned them. Aquino's plans to find safe land away from the coast and build new homes have fallen behind schedule. Though Aquino admits the plans will take time, and that the scope of work cannot be done overnight, it has not been overnight, but 13 months since Haiyan. There was certainly enough time to build more shelters and evacuation centers, and certainly enough painful memories to last generations. Filipinos did not need to protest against government mishandling following such obliteration. The waste that Haiyan laid was incentive enough to push any government into action. In fact, no government should have needed to be pushed in the wake of such devastation. Any respectable, responsible government should have swung into action immediately in the aftermath, without being demanded to do so. The lives of villagers in outlying coastal areas are just as precious as residents living in the heart of Manila. Typhoon Hagupit is triggering one of the largest evacuations ever seen in peacetime. Almost 32 million people — a third of the country's population — are likely to be affected in some way by cyclone-force winds. At least 47 of the country's 81 provinces are considered potentially at high risk from Hagupit, whose name aptly means "smash." Hagupit's slow movement is also expected to cause significant problems, for it could be as late as Wednesday before the storm clears the islands, leading to rainfall totals extraordinarily high, causing landslides, debris flows and life-threatening flash floods. Filipinos are this time preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
