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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