Preparing for disasters

We must repeatedly thank God that our region was spared from the devastation and grief. In the same vein, we must also learn the lessons of the Friday night tremor and inculcate them in our children’s minds to give them better chances of survival when calamity strikes.

Our local government units such as Guiuan in Eastern Samar should be lauded that there was an orderly evacuation residents.  People were led to safer grounds and later instructed to proceed home.

Government was quick to react in sending rescue personnel to ensure the people’s safety.

One lesson that can be drawn here is that there is no such thing as being over-prepared for disasters.

Some sectors may consider earthquake drills as silly exercises but, when the real McCoy comes, whatever you remember of your safety drills will spell the difference between surviving and perishing.

So let’s keep those earthquake drills rolling to the extent that we and our children should be able to instinctively know what to do when disaster strikes.

And while we are at it, we must also ensure that disaster preparedness training should not be limited to schools and work places. They should also be institutionalized in the barangay levels.