Tsunami Alert Drills for Tago Community

[grabehirs]

A TSUNAMI alert raised in the Philippines after an 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck near Japan sent thousands of residents fleeing to higher ground because of rumors and miscommunication, officials said Thursday.

"At about 1 a.m., they all fled to the hills. We heard that a 40-foot (12-meter) wall of water was going to hit us," Lina Lopez, from Abulug town in northern Cagayan province, told Manila dzRH radio.

Shortly after the quake struck off Japan late Wednesday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) issued a tsunami warning for the country's eastern and northern coasts.

(source: inq7.net)

Let me share to you my apprehension. As we all know, Tago is facing the eastern part of Pacific Ocean. The experts branded the area as "The Pacific Ring of Fire" and have the potential to generate a tsunami. Due to this imminent threat, I suggest that LGU of Tago should organize and conduct a Tsunami Alert drill and awareness.

To my fellow tagon-on bloggers, feel free to post your notion about this matter. I hope this site would also be an avenue to rally round for our beloved town. God Bless Us!

[kampanaryo_spy]

grabehirs,

hope this allays your fears.


TAGO GETS CALAMITY FORECASTING GADGET

A piece of equipment that could help authorities forecast typhoons, floods and possibly earthquakes, has arrived in the province.

Surigao del Sur is one of the country's provinces regularly battered by typhoons. Recently, hundreds of people were displaced because of floods triggered by intermittent rains. Three people were also killed during the floods.

The forecasting equipment has yet to be installed in Tago town however, but officials said they were expecting it to be up soon. Glenn Rabonza, chief of the National Disaster and Coordinating Council, said the province is one of the 27 provinces where forecasting equipment would be installed.

"Only 27 of the 80 provinces of the country were included in the program because these had been determined as severely calamity prone areas," Rabonza said.

He added that equipment was purchased under the $4.3 M assistance provided by the UNDP and the AusAID.

(Lifted from the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Across the Nation, page A19; 17 November 2006)

[grabehirs]

That's a remarkable development K-Spy. However, early warning indicators by employing forecasting equipment is not adequate in absence of community awareness and preparation.

[kampanaryo_spy]

grabs (wow grabe ka grabs haha);

that's correct. uno kaha haw kitay magpasi-ugda nan ini na mga lakang? like, we'll form a core group para maka lobby kita sa LGU to undertake your suggestions and then maybe LGU can partner with us in doing the task.

let me know grabs, ok?

[BONSAL]

Wowowee! this is a quality thread. I like it. Count me in k-spy! maybe I could provide you guyz information pertaining to Tsunami Responsiveness Measures. I'm sure grabs being a safety engineering expert could also endow us his proficiency & supply us materials about the matter. Then, let's organize a core group.

[kampanaryo_spy]

bonsal,

now you got me confused. thought grabehirs is someone who's on leave from the college of medicine in cebu to manage a newly opened restaurant somewhere in victoria?

you can start sending us the materials you mentioned even as we wait for others to get aboard this advocacy.

thanks.

[grabehirs]

KSpy, i will send some materials such as tsunami smart manual ( in adobe reader format) to bonsal within this week. thank you for your quick response!

[BONSAL]

Let's get it on..................

"TAGOSDS.ORG HOLDS TSUNAMI AWARENESS PROJECT"

[cordapya]

GOOD!! DO IT GUYZ. I don't know anything concerning this matter BUT you let me know what I can do at my end. You have my full support Good Luck!!

[Insomada]

Wow!!! This topic has aroused my attention. I'm glad there is now a device to be installed that can detect forthcoming calamaties of these sort. And yeeessss.... part of the funding came from AUSAid. I suppose this is derived from the tax money collected from working people of Aust including myself and my husband who pay gargantuan tax, ha, ha, ha. That's Australia's generosity. I really feel I'm part of it.

[Alibangbang]

Tsunami Survival Awareness...

This is great news and serious business. Balitaw importante gayod na ma edukar an mga tao kon unoy himo-on kon simbako ini na calamidad mahitabo labi na na apikihi kita sa kadagatan. It’s a matter of life and death simply put.

The question is not --- will it happen? But rather --- WHEN will it happen? Natural disasters of mega proportions are bound to happen somehow, somewhere, any where, New York City included. La Palma, Canary Island is home to Cumbre Vieja Volcano. Geological evidence suggest that during "a" future eruption, Cumbre Vieja may experience a catastrophic flank collapse that could trigger a monster tsunami that could wipe out the US eastern seaboard.

I’m praying and hoping that this won’t happen during our lifetime, or in a thousand years. But still, being prepared is the key. As the cliche, better safe than sorry.

K-Spy, you can also educate people on how to look for "old fashion" telltale signs as these will be there. Water for example all of a sudden receding from the shoreline is a sure sign for incoming tsunami triggered by undersea earthquake. Unless hunas sus lisod
Animal instincts too are accurate indicators of natural disasters and calamities hour(s) before the actual disaster arrive.

Remember the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that resulted a tsunami in Indonesia? There was a native tribe, who live right on the path of the tsunami. Indonesian government thought they were wiped out, but all have survived. The natives knew the signs. Their ancestors had told them so when the birds and their domesticated animals started acting strange and extraordinary, they heed and all head for the hills.

I’m happy to hear about this. Guys, keep up the good work. . . .

INSOMS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO YOU AND CLASSMATE. . . WE ARE BENEFITING FROM YOUR TAX DOLLARS.

[kampanaryo_spy]

guys,

am glad this has caught your attention---thanks to grabehirs who made his thoughts/apprehensions known.

i can imagine myself doing a powerpoint presentation in the course of our information dissemination. kinaham ko raba ini. hahahaha

bon and grabehirs,

do send me the materials so i can start strategizing here and we'll see if the LGU will buy the idea.

abb,

that's correct. we should go back to basics. science actually evolves from old practices. i remember the story of Don San Victores, the owner of Aras-asan Timber Company in Aras-asan.

Don San Victores, the story went, ordered the natives of Aras-asan to get him bamboo poles that he would use to build his rest house.

"it's not the best time to gather bamboos, sir," one of the natives said.

"Why?" San Victores said.

"Because the moon is full," the native said.

"And so?"

"The buk-bok knows its way to the poles and 'infect' them."

San Victores wanted to laugh but he decided to play along.

"And so when is the best time to gather bamboos?"

"When it's 'tugidluman'," the native said.

"I understand," San Victores said, "that it's because the bukbok can't see and therefore can't get to the bamboos?"

The native nodded.

When Don San Victores returned to Manila he went directly to UP-Los Banos and told the people there the story. Then the UP-LB people went to Aras-asan and did a research.

The findings? the natives were correct though not for the right reason. It's not advisable to gather bamboos when the moon is full because their sap is sweet that they attract the buk-bok. The same sap turns bitter when it's tugidluman, making the bukbok avoid the bamboo.

the findings became seminal for other studies to be conducted, thereby helping the bamboo furniture exporters even up to now.

[grabehirs]

Kspy, materials about tsunami awareness were already sent to bonsal. It's my pleasure to share wth you this relevant concern. sin-o pa say magtinabangay kundi kita da mga tagon-on.

Tidbit Info About Tsunami Awareness

What are the warning signs of a tsunami?

SHAKE
Evidence of a large undersea earthquake may be felt
prior to a tsunami by an on-going shaking of the
ground in coastal regions.

DROP
As a tsunami approaches shorelines, the sea level
may, but not always, recede/drop dramatically before
returning as a fast-moving wall of water.

ROAR
A roaring sound may precede the arrival of the
tsunami.


What do I do if there is a tsunami?

If you feel earth tremors, or see the warning signs of
a tsunami, or if you receive an official warning, then
RUN and WAIT.

RUN
Evacuate immediately to higher ground or well away
from the water’s edge. Do not go towards the water
to watch a tsunami. Tsunami reach the shore four or
five times faster than normal wind driven waves.

WAIT
Wait at the safe place for several hours or until an
appropriate official issues the ‘all clear’. The tsunami
may arrive within 30 minutes of the earthquake or
other warning sign.
The backwash of a tsunami is also dangerous. As
the large volume of water pushed onto land recedes
back towards the ocean it may carry debris and
people back to sea with it.
Stay out of the water. Even a very small tsunami
causes strong turbulence and dangerous currents.

[grabehirs]

Speaking about "old fashion & telltale signs" as per ABB, below is the related article about the survivor of 2004 tsunami:

Sixth sense? Primitive tribes fled beaches long before tsunami struck
By Neelesh Misra
Associated Press
Posted January 5 2005, 9:05 AM EST

PORT BLAIR, India -- Two days after a tsunami thrashed the island where his ancestors have lived for tens of thousands of years, a lone tribesman stood naked on the beach and looked up at a hovering coast guard helicopter.

He then took out his bow and shot an arrow toward the rescue chopper.
It was a signal the Sentinelese have sent out to the world for millennia: They want to be left alone. Isolated from the rest of the world, the tribesmen have learned nature's sights, sounds and smells in order to survive.

Government officials and anthropologists believe that ancient knowledge of the movement of wind, sea and birds may have saved the five indigenous tribes on the Indian archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar Islands from the tsunami that hit the Asian coastline Dec. 26.
"They can smell the wind. They can gauge the depth of the sea with the sound of their oars. They have a sixth sense which we don't possess," said Ashish Roy, a local environmentalist and lawyer who has called on the courts to protect the tribes by preventing their contact with the outside world.

The tribes live the most ancient, nomadic lifestyle known to man, frozen in their Paleolithic past. Many produce fire by rubbing stones, fish and hunt with bow and arrow and live in leaf and straw huts. And they don't take kindly to intrusions.

Anil Thapliyal, a commander in the Indian coast guard, said he spotted the lone tribesman on North Sentinel Island, a 23-square-mile key, on Dec. 28.
"There was a naked Sentinelese man," Thapliyal said. "He came out and shot an arrow at the helicopter."

According to varying estimates, there are only about 400 to 1,000 members alive today from the Great Andamanese, Onges, Jarawas, Sentinelese and Shompens. Some anthropological DNA studies indicate the generations may go back 70,000 years. They originated in Africa and migrated to India through Indonesia, anthropologists say.

It appears that many tribesman fled the shores well before the waves hit the coast, where they would typically be fishing this time of year.

After the tsunami, local officials spotted 41 Great Andamanese--out of 43 in a 2001 Indian census--who had fled the submerged portion of their Strait Island. They also reported seeing 73 Onges--out of 98 in the census--who fled to highland forests in Dugong Creek on the Little Andaman Island, or Hut Bay, a government anthropologist said.

[cordapya]

Madayaw isab garo kon ma-istojuhan kon hain an safe na lugar na daganan nan mga tao in case may warning. Para an mga tao may direction kon hain sila mani-ngod. Tapus preparahan na gayod nato kuman para kon simbako may tsunami ready na an tanan kon unoy ila himo-on, hain sila mandagan. uno kaha? kay kon mag-panic na an tanan hamok na na magka-adag-adag.