Disasters can happen anytime but accurate warning information can prevent major disaster damage to lives and properties.
“People can prepare themselves better and faster,” Science Secretary Mario Montejo said on having correct disaster-related information in a post-landslide inspection Saturday at St. Bernard town of Southern Leyte. In the same inspection, Sec. Montejo announced that the science department is preparing hazard warning devices that
deliver real-time information every hour.
The inspection came at the heels of rain-filled weeks that induced a series of landslides in St. Bernard. Reports have it that three children died and a number of houses were buried in mud. The local government relocated seven of its barangays (villages) declared as permanent danger zones by the multi-agency Hazard Mapping and Assessment for Effective Community-Based Disaster Risk Management or READY project.
“We are willing to partner with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST),” said St. Bernard Mayor Rico Rentuza. DOST’s hazard warning devices will not only benefit St. Bernard but the whole of Leyte and other places prone to landslides, he said.
Warning devices
The hazard warning devices, all locally made, comprise automatic rain gauges, water level gauges, weather monitoring stations, and landside monitoring sensors. DOST with UP’s Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute are expected to roll out the landslide warning system technology within the year.
“We came here to bring S&T-based solution to the pressing problem of generating important and accurate disaster warning,” Montejo told Leyteños in Waray dialect in a television interview. “We are accelerating the deployment of the landslide monitoring sensors in ten sites all over the country that are constantly affected by landslides.”
The devices will enable DOST to generate hourly data on disaster areas. Because the gadgets are locally developed, they cost much less than their imported counterparts.
He also said that the landslide warning devices are cords with sensors in several segments buried 20 meters below the ground, even as he sketched for Mayor Rentuza how the devices would detect earth movement at that depth.
Landslide after the rains
“After three weeks of rain, there is no question that landslides will follow,” said DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development (R&D) Graciano Yumul Jr, also concurrent Officer-in-Charge of Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
He explained that prolonged rains loosen the soil which gives way with all the weight it carries. He also observed many fallen coconut trees in almost all landslide-stricken areas.
“Trees help the soil to hold on, but in the case of coconut, it may not be of help when the soil loosens due to rain,” he explained. “Coconut trees have shallow roots that make the soil vulnerable to landslides.” Moreover, coconut trees also fall on houses and even people, aggravating the already troubled condition. (Framelia V. Anonas,)
