People can say that preparedness is something that can be a hedge against a bad situation or incident. There are many things that we can be prepared for but there's no way to tell what the forces of nature can do. The Philippines has experienced heavy rainfall from monsoon rains brought about by weak typhoons. Many were caught unaware of the floods that happened.
The case of super typhoon Yolanda is something that nobody can prepare for except probably evacuate to a place where it will not pass through. Weathermen say it was not proper to call the storm surge a tsunami. They failed though to stress that the storm surge will be equal to a tsunami for a super typhoon like this.
The people living in the places where the typhoon passed through were probably prepared for strong winds and rain. No one told them of what happened around a hundred years ago when their location was hit by a typhoon as strong as Yolanda. No one had any idea how nature will take its toll.
Would a government call for donations a week or a few days before the storm hit land? Who would donate something when no one is in need, yet. Will planes and boats be put on stand-by for rescue and delivery of relief goods? If ever such a preparation was made and the typhoon suddenly veered or even dissipated, critics now will be laughing at the government for a stupid move, right?
So there is no point in saying there was no preparation. Even the staunchest critics of government are not even prepared for anything that can happen to their person. What happened in the areas that the typhoon ravaged is what is referred to as fortuitous event. Can anyone say what those people should have done? Can relief operations be conducted at the snap of the fingers?
Read this: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/history-storms-1900s-newspaper-reveals-devastating-leyte-typhoon-134230084.html
Preparedness is mostly like insurance that we buy in the hope we never have to use it. Yet when we do we usually feel let down that it doesn't do nearly enough. As horrible as this situation is there is simply nothing that can take away the pain, heartache and loss. It has the potential to hit any of us at anytime. As long as we are alive we are at risk. This has always been so but recent decades have created the high level of delusion and disbelief that we can be harmed. Life is precious. Make the most of every day and treat it like it might be your last.
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