Glenda's Aftermath

  

Today is the 14^th day after Typhoon Glenda made landfall in Bicol on 15 July.  From midnight of 15 July to about 7:00 morning the following day, the typhoon pummeled the UPLB campus (I have witnessed such gustiness in the past).  Many old trees were unceremoniously uprooted (more than 10 pili trees on Pili Drive got uprooted, many others in various places on campus, as well), overhead electric, cableTV, and telecommunications cables were blown down due to large branches falling on them as well as electric posts falling down.  The result at UPLB is, there’s still no electricity in most geographical sectors, no Internet connection, no cable TV, and no water in many areas of the campus. 

I was concerned, of course, that the nearby huge mahogany tree would fall on our apartment (we live in one unit of SEARCA’s Apartment Buildings on Duhat Street corner DMLantican Avenue in the UPLB Upper Campus), but not necessarily scared.  I’m used to typhoons, even strong ones as I come from the traditional province of typhoons (Batanes).  Of course, today, the typhoons have not had enough travel stamina (hehe) to reach as far north as the Batanes Group of Islands and, instead, have selected to make landfall in the Bicol Region, or the Visayas, or Mindanao (sorry, folks, down there).  Many say this is largely due to climate change.  Others still don’t believe in this phenomenon, though (I think these non-believers this late need to be caught right in the middle of these powerful howlers). 

The huge mahogany tree (referred to earlier) beside one of the SEARCA Apartment buildings need to be pruned.  If it gets uprooted due to strong winds (even just a single gust), it can fall on one of the buildings (that’s where we live) and could easily smash the building to small pieces of slab.  It hasn’t happened, but it can, anytime.  I hope those concerned are not waiting for such eventuality.  I do understand that some foresters have recommended pruning those trees near the buildings.  The decision makers must still be waiting for a second opinion.

But I’m getting carried away.  Let me backtrack a bit and focus on the main problem at the moment – electricity can’t flow on lines that have not been fixed and those lines have been lying on the ground or tangled up on tree branches 14 days after the typhoon.  And I’ve been seeing those in the same place everyday.  And I haven't seen many working to fix those lines.  They must be working elsewhere.  The damage has been too widespread. I was warned, however, that, through experience, it had usually taken a month before electricity would be restored after typhoons on the UPLB Campus.  I sort of know this because I have experienced those times before.  What boggles my mind is that one doesn’t seem to see if UPLB has been able to develop a plan of action in response to such calamities, in spite of the so many years of experience.  To me, this is amazingly incredible.  In any case, let me try to present my case again (I've mentioned this in a past post).

I’m certain UPLB administrators have established their priority list of things to do in the aftermath of typhoons on the UPLB Campus.  What I wish to highlight, however, is that one that should be close to the top of the priority list should be the restoration of power on the campus.  There are important things why immediate power restoration must be undertaken.  With power, a number of very important activities could be undertaken such as cleaning buildings, laboratories, classrooms, and office rooms, using power tools to clean up debris along roads and cutting fallen trees to size that could hasten road clean-up and traffic flow, restoration of water supply (also needed in the clean-up of facilities, pieces of equipment, and others), and most of all restoration of Internet connection, which is the lifeblood of a scientific community like UPLB.  Without power, all these cannot be done with ease and efficiency.

Now, what to do with the debris?  Most of these are branches of old trees.  If Dr. Menandro Acda of the Dept. of Forest Products and Paper Science is reading this post, I'm suggesting that he takes advantage of this and try to arrange with the university to collect those branches which he could use as raw materials for his wood pelleting project.  Dr. Armand Palijon also has a suggestion (I understand he has written the Chancellor about his idea), namely: collect samples of all those species damaged by the typhoon and make stools or chairs or simple wooden planks that show wood grains which could serve as learning objects for forestry students, as well as visitors of the UPLB museum (this, I admit, is excellent idea). I'm sure there are a lot of great ideas floating around campus regarding what to do with the debris strewn all over the place.

Some scenes on the UPLB campus 14 days after Glenda.

                                                                                

                                                                                  

Isang hirit pa.  Bakit mas maaga ng maraming araw na nagkaroon ng ilaw sa labas ng Campus kaya?  Dyan sa Ruby Street sa Umali Subdivision, may dalawang transformer doon na ang sinasabi ng mga tao ay ninakawan ng laman.  Well, hanggang ngayon, wala pang ilaw sa lugar na yan.  'Ala nang kahihiyan talaga ang mga magnanakaw na yan.  Sa bagay, sino nga ba ang nagsasabing ang mga magnanakaw ay may kahihiyan?

We'll just have to wait.  There are people working, Dr. Palijon says, but we probably don't see them all the time.

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Thinking Small and Aloud

  

As everyone knows, we all have our pet ideas and we let others know about these in no uncertain terms, especially after calamities like Typhoon Glenda.  We at UPLB do have such musings, although I can bet  that these may not even be serious compared to those experienced by others. 

As I write this, I’m wondering why, after four days, there already is electricity outside of the UPLB Campus while inside it’s as dark in the night as it can be.,  Not quite different from a secluded barangay that has not be electrified through the years.  For those who live on the UPLB Campus, absence of electricity means absence of water, and absence of water is serious business.  No water!  That spells a whole lot of problems not the least of which are health-related (ibang mahalagang estorya naman ito).  Water rationing is probably not part of the service that could be provided residents on campus. Slowly, of course, street clearing goes on but mind you it has been a week and all the streets are still full of debris and we’re living like we did in a secluded barangay in the late 40s. By the way, did you realize that even UPLB doesn’t seem to own a chainsaw to cut large branches scattered (always on roads)?  The chainsaws used that I saw were mostly privately owned (also used in illegal logging on Mt. Makiling?, but that’s another story).  Nakakaawa naman talaga ang UPLB.  Walang chainsaw!  By the way, well known ang College of Forestry at Natural Resources ng UPLB.

I came to Los Banos in the early 60s, and every time there were calamities (mostly weak typhoons) that disrupted services like electric and water, these remained unattended for days.  It has been like that all the time.  I do understand that even before the 60s, these happened with the then UPCA all the time.  The difference is that during the time of UPCA, faculty and students worked abreast to clear the roads, fix water piping systems, and even provided support services to laborers working on restoring electric service.  Well, may be things were smaller and simpler then.

Still, I can’t imagine why at UPLB, after all these events in all these years, they haven’t been able to develop a system of restoring services after calamities.  Yes, I understand that the administrators would have important priorities, and I’m not questioning such priorities, but my own gut feel tells me that amenities such as electricity, telephones, and water systems should be near the top of the list of priorities.  Restoration of electricity immediately would help clearing of roads, cleaning of offices and libraries, laboratories, classrooms, etc.  And UPLB workers and students would be back on their feet almost right away.

Times have changed, and I’m not saying that the faculty must work side by side with the students in physically clearing the campus of debris (although this is not a bad idea at all), but I do believe that there must be a system of campus restoration in the aftermath of calamities like typhoons, earthquakes, and, God forbids, chemical disasters. 

Just thinking small, and aloud, my friends. Batu-bato sa langit …

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When UPLB Went Dark and Silent

When UPLB Went Dark and Silent

Typhoon Glenda brought to Los Banos frustration the magnitude of which I have not experienced before.  When Glenda made landfall early evening of Tuesday (July 16), Kuya Flor was scheduled to check out from the Calamba Medical Center and go home to Panyesanan in Lipa City to rest.  Batangas and Laguna were hit hard by Glenda in the evening until morning.  From about 12mn to 7am, Glenda kept on hammering at LB.  Huge mahogany, acacia, and pili trees were falling down like dominoes.  Half past 7am, all the roads were buried in big branches of trees, completely unpassable.  In fact, they looked like it was huge kaingin all over the place where only large tree trunks were standing.  All the roads on the UPLB campus were filled with large branches of trees strewn all over the roads, many huge branches hanging precariously on high tension lines.  All the streets were not passable to humans, much less to motor vehicles.  On Duhat Street corner DM Lantican Avenue going to the College of Forestry and Natural Resources at the UPLB upper campus, I tried navigating the roads underneath huge branches to take some pictures only to suffer from chest pains (don’t you feel a bit frustrated, too, when the heart condition gets in the way?)  The streets were simply non-navigable.

It was of no surprise either that the power lines, water system, telecommunications, including the cellsites at LB, were all down.  Los Banos was in deep silence and completely in the dark.  I didn’t have any way of finding what condition Kuya and Ate were in if they checked out of CMC.  It has been extremely frustrating.  I still don’t know what happened to them.  Very early this morning, a cellsite was on briefly, just enough to transmit my message to Ate Aida.  I still haven’t got a response.

Perhaps Luz Villapando or Faye Cabrera might have the chance to send us some messages about what happened to Kuya and Ate.  Are they now at Panyesanan?  How are they?  Any update will be very welcome.

In some ways, Typhoon Glenda was more destructive than Typhoon Milenyo was in 2008.  Milenyo covered UPLB roads with branches of trees, yes, but Glenda’s fury downed most of the old trees on the UPLB Campus, including 50-year old Philippine mahogany and acacia trees.  Close to some 20 Pili trees on Pili Drive were uprooted.  The young trees on the UPOU Campus were all down, much like in 2008 when Milenyo carefully combed similar trees.  All the bignay trees on the UPOU Campus, of course, are down.  It matters not that these bignay berries were almost ready for harvest.  So goes the bignay wine that UPOU usually sends as gift items during Christmas in the last couple of years.  Bye, bignay wine from UPOU this year.

Two hours after Glenda left …

    

 The structural integrity of the garage (congratulations to SEARCA for constructing a study garage for the row of apartments at corner DM Lantican and Duhat Road), but the “structural integrity” of the tree against a devastating Glenda is of lower rating, it seems. 

 

 

Duhat Road, Forestry

 

3:         DM Lantican Avenue, Forestry

 My L300 could have been crushed, but for a sturdy garage roof. 

UPLB Fertility tree (183)

 

Cattle graze on the UPLB grounds

                                                                                   
 

8:         Mango tree uprooted near the DMST bldg (formerly the Infirmary bldg.)

UPLB Alumni Coffee House scheduled to be opened for enjoyment by Alumni on 10 October 2014 

 

UPLB Carillon Tower through branches of a fallen acacia tree by the UPLB Alumni Coffee House

10:     

  Pili tree on Pili Drive, close by the bldg of the Depts. Of Horticulture, Agronomy, and Soils Science.  This is just one of almost 20 large pili trees uprooted on Pili Drive. (192)

And, by the way, the old building of IRRI, which used to house its Training Services, and now largely hosting IRRI’s scientific records and field scientists, was not spared.  Its roof was peeled by Glenda.  Imagine that since 1962, that building never suffered such destruction.

In retrospect, strong typhoons rarely hit Los Banos directly, with the magnitude that Glenda unleashed.  Milenyo was powerful mainly due to the combination of strong winds and heavy rains, which resulted in massive flooding.  Glenda, on the other hand, was more destructive inland because it downed huge trees over roads: large branches and even whole trees were strewn all over roads that even people find difficult to navigate.  Many buildings were damaged as well.  Even the powerful typhoon Rosing (was this the name?) in 1967 couldn’t compare in terms of devastation wrought on campus.

In the traditional flooded areas, there were no floods this time, but the roofs of houses were blown away.  Now, which might be a choice among victims of typhoons?  Flooded houses, or roofless houses?

I have no empirical evidence, but a cursory comparison of observable attitude and behavior of people seem to point out that flood is more scary to them compared to blown off roofs.  I’ve heard of people in the office talking about blown off roofs with some excitement and giggles, but after Milenyo’s floods years ago I still clearly visualize faces reacting to some scare of a life time.  If I were to make a choice, I would choose neither, of course, but these natural catastrophes are now inevitable mainly due to the way we treat our environment and our planet.  It’s no longer a matter of choice.

Has anyone taken climate change seriously as yet, by the way?

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