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ALL Typhoons in
the Philippines
passed this way,EXCEPT Sendong.
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No one here
recalls ever havinga typhoon pass by
here in his/her
ENTIRE life.
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No typhoon ever.Until December
16-17, 2011
VISAYAS
MINDANAO
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Cagayan de Oro City
Iligan City
BUT Authorities were alertedabout Sendongs path days
before it came.
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Do we blame Sendong
for the deaths and
devastation?
Hardly. Let me illustrate.
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There was no pre-emptive evacuation
despite thewarnings nor the
memory of theflooding in 2009
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Clearly, Typhoon
Sendong was
expected to just pass
by and life would
return to normalcy
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Cagayan de Oro City
Mandulog
Lanao del SurBukidnon
Iligan City
They forgot one thing: water flows down
rapidly from denuded forests.
Denuded
Catch
Basin
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And while it [catch basin of Cagayan River]
encompasses 1,521 square kilometers of
mountainous terrain, it occupies only 86 sq km oflevel area.
We had been warned of Cagayan Rivers fury by Antonio Montalvan II, Philippine
Daily Inquirer (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/116425/we-had-been-warned-of-cagayan-rivers-fury)
That is why it is also the
citys main tourism resource:
Because it moves downslope at a fast velocity, its
water creates white-foam
rapids so suitable for white-
water raftinga natural traitnot all rivers exhibit.
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Unknown to us, the rainfall
over at the Bukidnon side
was greater. That rainfall hadto naturally settle in its catch
basin, and what a mammoth
basin it turned out to be.
That early dawn of Dec. 17,Macajalar Bay was on high
tide. In all low-lying areas and
elsewhere in the city, people
were asleep in the dark. The
combination was lethal. Therest is now history.
We had been warned of Cagayan Rivers fury by Antonio Montalvan II, Philippine
Daily Inquirer (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/116425/we-had-been-warned-of-cagayan-rivers-fury)
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Picture from the Facebook Photo Album of Larry Macatol
In the grander scheme of things,
these people were relatively lucky.
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ILIGAN CITY These are some of the logs and cut down trees that were
carried by the flood to the city of Iligan. Along the way, it caused damage tohouses and killed hundreds of people. Until now there could still be dead people
below the piles of logs. (From the Facebook Photo Album posted by FrancisMacatol, 23 Dec 2011
Logs washeddownstream
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Images from Philippines: Mayor to defy President Aquino order to relocate residents out of flood
zone (http://www.mikeinmanila.com/2011/12/22/philippines-mayor-to-defy-president-aquino-order-to-
relocate-residents-out-of-flood-zone/)
Area declared as flood zone
in Cagayan de Oro City, 2010
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The same zone as pictured
from the air on Dec 20, 2011
Images from Philippines: Mayor to defy President Aquino order to relocate residents out of flood zone (http://
www.mikeinmanila.com/2011/12/22/philippines-mayor-to-defy-president-aquino-order-to-relocate-residents-
out-of-flood-zone/)
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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY WIPEOUT Rampaging waters from the Cagayan de Oro River
swept away this entire community of some 400 households in Sitio Kala-Kala, Barangay
Macasandig, in Cagayan de Oro City. BOBBY LAGSA/INQUIRER MINDANAO
(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/113597/deadly-mix-for-disaster)
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The tragedy that struck the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan was an event waiting to
happen. It was foretold three years ago, but was dismissed by lawmakers as too alarmist. ~
Sendong disaster foretold 3 years ago by Kristine L. Alave, Philippine Daily Inquirer
(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/114171/sendong-disaster-foretold-3-years-ago)
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Photo from the Facebook
Photo Album posted by
Francis Macatol
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Photo from the Facebook
Photo Album posted by
Francis Macatol
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Photo from the Facebook
Photo Album posted by
Francis Macatol
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Did this
have to
happen?
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http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/12/23/11/search-missing-sendong-victims-goes-online
Did this have to happen?
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Logs washeddownstream
Did this have to
happen?
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Images from Philippines: Mayor to defy President Aquino order to relocate residents out of flood
zone (http://www.mikeinmanila.com/2011/12/22/philippines-mayor-to-defy-president-aquino-order-to-
relocate-residents-out-of-flood-zone/)
Did this have to
happen?
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Keeping people out
of hazardous areasis one thing.
DO NOT DEFY IT!
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Cagayan de Oro City
Mandulog
Lanao del SurBukidnon
Iligan City
Denuded
Catch
Basin
Doing something about
this is another
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Cagayan de Oro City
Mandulog
Lanao del SurBukidnon
Iligan City
What did we do in the last 30 years?
Denuded
Catch
Basin
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But jarring this otherwise pleasant tableau
were red-brown grids of degraded hillsidesand heavy silt that turn riverbeds into eerie
mud flats. Further upstream one is witness
to the continuing rape of
primary-growth forests, in stiffdefiance of a logging ban in the country.
~ Lessons from Sendong by Neric Acosta, Philippine Star(http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=761253&publicationSubCategoryId=63)
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Trees are
like HANDS
that wouldcatch therain and
deliver them
back to ouracquifers
and rivers &prevent
FLOODS.~ Text & Illustration
from Kenneth
Carmelita Macatol-
Enriquez, City
Engineer, Cebu City
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Trees are
like HANDS
that wouldcatch therain and
deliver them
back to ouracquifers
and rivers &prevent
FLOODS.~ Text & Illustration
from Kenneth
Carmelita Macatol-
Enriquez, City
Engineer, Cebu City
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PROTECT
THE
FORESTS!
The forests we protect
will protect us in turn
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Somehow I recall that
they taught us that inPlantation Elementary
School.
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Not hard to
understand,
isnt it?
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Unless your
livelihooddepends on not
understanding it.
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TREESby: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)
THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
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THANKS FOR WATCHING
THE SLIDES.
Lets make a difference.
Pass these slides to
everyone you know.
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That enlightened leaders
may one day make the
enlightened decisions
that the Filipino society
sorely needs today.
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I grew up in Bukidnon and spent 3 years in Cagayan de Oro City
before finishing BS Agricultural Engineering major in Land and Water
Resources at the University of the Philippines Los Banos.
Marvin Macatol
www.familyforkids.wordpress.com
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