Courtney McGrailTacloban city is getting back on its feet after the devastation of last year’s super storm, writes Caoimhe de Barra
The weather has become a source of anxiety in the Philippines since Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm in history, ravaged the country in November last year.
Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, wreaked havoc on large swathes of the Filipino archipelago, with winds of almost 300km per hour and tsunami-like tidal waves drowning coastal neighbourhoods.
Within hours, many islands in the central Visayas were a wasteland of destruction and debris. 6,000 people died, four million were forced from their homes and 14 million were affected.
People were in immense shock. Accustomed to living with typhoons, they never expected the power of Haiyan. The government was overwhelmed and unprepared for a disaster of this scale. The massive clean-up seemed impossible.
One year on, many of the worst hit areas, once buried under meters of debris, are on their way to being restored.
Trócaire received tremendous support from the Irish public and the Government for our emergency response. We immediately worked as part of the global Caritas network to provide emergency food, water and sanitation, followed by cash for work schemes to clear debris, repair heavily-damaged schools, instal water points and sanitation facilities, provide psychological care and build stronger houses.
In Tacloban city on Leyte island and its surrounds, a storm surge (a series of tidal waves) destroyed around 90% all buildings. Anne and Argie Barigon from Palo town recollect hearing a loud noise before the waves crashed. In just two hours, their home was gone.
They joined thousands of others clambering through the ruins and eventually taking a navy ship to Cebu island, exhausted, and with children sick from drinking contaminated water. They still remember the smell of dead bodies and pollution.
They now live in a home provided by Trócaire and our partner agency, Catholic Relief Services, and are trying to look to the future.
While the Philippines has emergency measures for coping with typhoons, more lives could have been saved had more robust systems existed to protect the poorest people, who suffer disproportionately during disasters.
For the poor in Tacloban, the difference between life and death was as simple as knowing what the term ‘storm surge’ meant. Had the words ‘tidal wave’ or ‘tsunami’ been used on weather forecasts, they might have abandoned their homes earlier.
It’s likely that emergency plans will become an important lifeline in the Philippines in coming decades, as the potential for more disasters is an urgent concern.
The Philippines ranks globally as the ninth most at risk in the climate change vulnerability index. Climate change was cited as a major cause of Typhoon Haiyan.
Trócaire last week released research showing that storms are likely to increase in both intensity and frequency in the Philippines over the coming years as a result of climate change. Not only will this result in repeats of last November’s devastation, it will also profoundly affect migration, health and the country’s economy.
Emissions
How shameful, therefore, that Europe has marked this grim anniversary by utterly failing to recognise seriousness of what awaits this carbon-addicted world. The recent announcement that Europe will reduce carbon emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2030 fell drastically short of what is required.
Yet again, EU leaders have failed to match their level of ambition to what climate science is telling us. The science is now unequivocal in saying that globally emissions need to be cut to near zero by the end of the century if we are to keep global temperature increases to below 2 degrees. For the EU to do its fair share and to get on track for a low carbon economy, our emissions reduction target for 2030 should be increased to at least 55%.
The lack of ambition in the EU’s approach will be felt far beyond Europe’s borders. It is people in the developing world who are experiencing the consequences. Their lives continue to be put at risk by European inaction.
In an emotional plea to the UN climate summit in Warsaw last November, Nadarev Sano, the Philippines’ lead negotiator, said that his nation refused to “accept that running away from storms, evacuating our families, suffering the devastation and misery, having to count our dead, become a way of life”.
Tacloban resident Alain Bereau is worried that this will become their future. He has lived in a tent since his home was destroyed in the typhoon.
By Christmas, he and his neighbours will be relocated to new homes. But when he sees bad weather coming, he suffers headaches and his children cry.
Tacloban city is getting back on its feet. Scaffolding and workmen drilling are common sights. People are looking forward to Pope Francis’ visit next year, an event that’s lifting morale in this predominantly Catholic country.
But if you scratch below the surface, the grief is barely concealed.
Survivors supported by Trócaire have expressed their need to feel in control again. Globally, we have a responsibility to ensure that poor people living in countries where huge disasters can take place overnight, like the Philippines, are prepared and equipped should the worst happen.
Only then will Typhoon Haiyan’s shadow begin to recede.
Caoimhe de Barra is director of the international division of Trócaire. A nationwide shared church collection in November last year raised €5.3m for Trócaire’s work with victims of the conflict in Syria and Haiyan in the Philippines.