TLast week, a typhoon ripped off a quarter of the tiled roof of Diana Moraleda's house in Tuguegaro City in the northern Philippines. Even after Typhoon Toraji brought rain over the weekend and Typhoon Usagi made landfall late Thursday, the gaping holes were still there.
“It's tough because a lot of houses were destroyed.” [Yinxing]. Carpenters are still working on their homes. It's difficult to find workers,” Moreda said.
Usagi is the fifth major storm to hit the Philippines in the past three weeks, with a sixth expected this weekend. At least 160 people have been killed and 9 million displaced, while people already suffering from the aftermath of previous heavy rains and flooding with unusual frequency have little time to prepare for the next attack.
Moraleda said she was lucky that the hole was above a storage room and not in her bedroom. However, water dripped from the ceiling, causing damage to the pharmacy on the first floor.
The damage to other houses was said to be even more serious. The university's tin roof was blown off and fell onto a nearby church.
People in Cagayan province, of which Tuguegaro is the capital, are used to typhoons, but Moraleda said they did not expect Insin's onslaught. The rabbit was on the same course and was also Category 4, which made them nervous.
“This is the fifth storm in the last three weeks. There is no time to repair between storms,” Moraleda said. Last month, Typhoon Conrei and Typhoon Trami occurred. – The deadliest of all storms also hit this state.
“I feel a little helpless here.”
The Philippines can be hit by up to 20 typhoons a year. Human-induced climate change is increasing the occurrence of the most powerful and destructive tropical cyclones (although the overall annual number remains unchanged globally). This is because warming oceans provide more energy, creating more powerful storms.
Each time, hundreds of thousands of residents are affected, many of whom may need to be evacuated. Casualties have been reported from drownings, electrocutions, floods, landslides, and maritime accidents.
Government infrastructure such as houses, roads, airports and ports, as well as crops and livestock have been damaged. Power, water, and communication lines are cut off. Relief efforts are costly and school classes have been suspended.
While Usagi made landfall in Cagayan, Tropical Storm Mani was also approaching the Philippines late Thursday. It was expected to hit the Bicol region, several hundred kilometers south of Luzon, which was hit by Trami last month.
Trami brought heavy rains in late October, leaving parts of the region underwater.
Rafi Magno and his family lost almost everything they owned when floodwaters reached the second floor of their home in Naga City, Bicol. Miraculously, the refrigerator was revived once it was dry, but everything else was destroyed, including appliances, furniture, clothing, and important documents.
“It was the biggest shock of our lives. We are used to typhoons and floods, but we never expected it to cause this much damage,” Magno said.
The typhoon killed 17 people in Bicol, but there are fears Trami's death toll could still rise. Just this week, the body of a student who went missing in the typhoon was found.
“When we realized that [Manyi] I told my family that the refrigerator was coming and now we needed to bring the refrigerator upstairs,” Magno said.
Even Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos has admitted that he feels overwhelmed by the challenges of extreme weather. A video of the president saying, “I feel a little helpless here,'' after learning that government rescue teams were unable to cross a flooded highway, went viral.
“We hope [Manyi] It wouldn't be that bad. That’s what we’re praying for,” Magno said.
“The climate crisis is coming.”
In Metro Manila, Alvin Sevilla is also worried about Manny. He lives in the flood-prone city of Malabon and knows from past experience that typhoons that make landfall in Bicol usually hit the capital.
Filipino climate justice activist Mitzi Jonel Tan says climate change is undeniable.
“If you still don't believe climate change exists, look at your neighbors. Look at your country. It's happening all over the world,” she said.
Although the Philippines is not a major source of greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, the archipelago is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world.
Tan said the Philippine typhoon highlights the important work being done at the Cop29 global climate summit, which began this week in Azerbaijan.
“The Philippines is there. They need to champion the call for funding for losses and damages from northern countries, in the form of grants rather than loans,” Tan said.
Typhoons have drained government finances with a cycle of destruction and reconstruction, leaving many provinces in the path of regular typhoons, such as Bicol, among the poorest.
In many cases, the central government intervenes. Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the government shipped about 1.5 million family food packs to Bicol in the 14 days following the Trami-only outbreak, and that the department sent rabbits to Bicol while preparing for Manii. We are responding as if we are in the right place.”
“Cash is not the issue. The challenge is to maintain that because obviously there's human fatigue. I've talked to warehouse personnel and they're saying they're getting tired too,” Gatchalian said. said.
Mr Tan said that beyond relief efforts, governments need to enact policies to mitigate the effects of climate change and protect vulnerable people.
He urges the Philippine government to halt environmentally destructive projects such as large-scale mining and quarrying, fund research on indigenous adaptations, and ensure that people employed in the fossil fuel industry are given alternatives. He also called for a transition to renewable energy. living.
These policies are long overdue, she said. “With the climate crisis on the horizon, typhoons will continue to occur at short intervals. But their effects don't have to be as devastating every time.”
