Looking at the destruction in Philippines, it is fair warning that the the local authorities here take into account development plans that aggravate nature.
COMMENT
KOTA KINABALU: One of the strongest typhoons in history that ravaged a part of the Philippines has spared Sabah.
The heavy rains and winds that were expected in Sabah did not materialise in the Land Below the Wind even while super typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, slammed into the neighbouring country.
If the typhoon death toll of over 10,000 is confirmed, it would be the deadliest natural catastrophe on record in the Philippines.
The deadliest typhoon before Haiyan was Tropical Storm Thelma in November 1991, which killed around 5,100 people in the central Philippines.
Looking at the destruction caused there over the weekend, it is fair warning that the government and local authorities here take into account factors that aggravate the destructive force of nature in their development plans.
So far, apart from the green groups and environmental activists, most here seem oblivious to the causal connection between climate change, the environment and the increasingly forceful displays of nature.
The destruction of natural barriers such as forests including in hyper-sensitive, flood mitigation areas such as the coast may seem incredibly foolish in the years to come as Typhoon Haiyan has shown in the Philippines.
According to reports, the government there estimates that 20,000 houses were damaged and some 9.5 million people were affected by the storm.
The Philippines National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council said more than 477,000 people were displaced by Haiyan and 400,000 of them have taken refuge in evacuation centres.
The destruction in Tacloban is being compared to the devastation wreaked by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people in 14 countries.
“This is destruction on a massive scale. There are cars thrown like tumbleweeds, and the streets are strewn with debris,” Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, head of United Nations Disaster Assessment has been quoted as saying.
The world is coming together to give assistance to the victims of the typhoon.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has conveyed his condolences to the victims and has said “Malaysia stands ready to provide assistance and support.”
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the Indonesian National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to provide humanitarian and disaster assistance to the Philippines government.
Our neighbours are on the frontline now. What does nature have in store for us in the Land Below the Wind?
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