UN tells Asia: Make flood prevention top priority

Flood in Phnom Penh caused by the downpour .

2nd October, 2011
PATERNO ESMAQUEL II,
GMA News

The United Nations (UN) wants Asian governments to ramp up their investments in disaster risk reduction to curb and prevent the floods ravaging a number of Asian countries, the international organization said over the weekend.

Like the Philippines, countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Thailand are all suffering from floods, noted the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) in a statement issued Saturday.

“People shouldn’t die because of floods. We have the technology to alert communities before floods arrive. People can be evacuated in time, lives saved and livelihoods protected," said Margareta Wahlström, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for disaster risk reduction.

“Once again, early warning systems are the smart choice and the most efficient of all disaster prevention measures," she added.

A model for disaster preparedness comes from the Philippines itself, with the UN having awarded Camotes Island in Cebu for using the Filipino purok system in preparing for disasters.

Human, economic impact

Wahlström also expressed concern over the floods’ long-term economic impact on the affected countries. Noting the infrastructure damage and service interruptions caused by heavy rain in these places, the UN official said she will focus on this, along with other main issues, in her upcoming visit to the region.

In the same statement, the UNISDR added that floods result in a significant amount of damage to public assets, such as health and education facilities as well as livelihoods, homes, and private assets.

But the UN agency said most of these losses remain unrecorded by governments, making it difficult for them to invest in disaster risk reduction measures.

“The invisible nature of this large volume of disaster loss is one reason why so many countries are finding it difficult to make both political and economic decisions to prioritize investment in disaster risk management," Wahlström said.

In the Philippines, the recent Typhoon Pedring's damage has already hit P6.69 billion so far – P1.04 billion in infrastructure and P5.65 billion in agriculture.

The damage to agriculture is already around 10.44 percent of the proposed P54.1-billion budget of the Department Agriculture for 2012 that has passed second reading at the House of Representatives.

Floods in other Asian countries

Other Asian countries are also suffering “serious" damage due to floods, said the UNISDR.

In Cambodia, floods have inundated tens of thousands of hectares of rice paddies, and about 300 schools remain closed after the rains late last week.

In Thailand, over two million acres of farmland are underwater, and thousands of children have been left out of school after over 635 schools sustained damages.

Pakistan is also enduring severe floods, now for the second year in a row. The World Food Programme reports that the floods in this country have affected 5.4 million people, destroyed 73 percent of the harvest, and killed 36 percent of the livestock in flooded areas.