CONVERSATION: How can LGUs attain #ZeroCasualty?

MANILA, Philippines – Located  along the typhoon belt and Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire, the Philippines experiences almost all kinds of disasters –  flooding, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes.

Achieving zero casualty is a pressing challenge for communities vulnerable to these hazards, but many LGUs have shown the way to building community resilience.

When one of the strongest typhoons in the world, Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), hit the country, San Francisco, a small town in Camotes Island survived the disaster without any casualty. (READ: San Francisco: The island where all survived)

Albay, one of the provinces prone to typhoons and other hazards, is recognized for its outstanding disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) plan. The province is known for having zero casualty during Typhoon Glenda, Typhoon Ruby, among others.

Recently, on December 2014, Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) struck Samar, causing floods and storm surges in the island province. But towns such as Daram and Villareal had no casualty even if they were hit by storm surges as high as 4 meters. (READ AND WATCH: #AfterHagupit: New year, no homes in Samar’s Daram island.)

On Saturday, January 31 at 9:30 am, Rappler will be holding a Facebook conversation on how LGUs like Daram can use relevant disaster preparedness information to save lives and property.

It will also tackle gaps in disaster preparedness and response during Tropical Storm Seniang which left at least 65 dead, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

The online conversation, to be facilitated by MovePH’s Voltaire Tupaz, includes Dr Alfredo Mahar Lagmay, executive director of the NOAH project, and Rey Fuentes, Daram town disaster management chief.

Representatives from the Climate Change Commission, Risk Assessment Project of the Office of Civil Defense, and PHIVOLCS will also join the conversation.

How about you, your community, and LGUs? How are you preparing for disasters? Do you have a good disaster preparedness experience to share?

Join us by sharing your thoughts and suggestions during the discussion which will happen on the MovePH Facebook page. – Rappler.com

This conversation initiates #ZeroCasualty hour, a series of social media conversations on disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation that Rappler will be holding with key Project Agos partners and stakeholders.

Project Agos is a collaborative platform that combines top-down government action with bottom-up civic engagement to help communities learn about climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. The project harnesses technology and social media to ensure critical information flows to those who need it before, during, and after a disaster. It is a partnership between Rappler and key government, private and civil society groups. It is also supported by the Australian Government.