Image via WikipediaI finished my elementary education in Sorsogon, Sorsogon, a province made famous, aside from its pili sweets, by the number of typhoons that hit it annually. For a while, I thought storms and typhoons were normal (This was only belied when I came to live in Metro Manila). The howling wind lulled me to sleep and I knew that classes will be cancelled the following day. With classes called off for the day, I spent my time counting how many ginuyod banana trees fell this time. For weeks, we will be having ginuyod for dessert.
Lately, Sorsogon is again on the map. For the past few weeks, floods have submerged parts of Sorsogon, Albay, Leyte, and Eastern Samar that put a damper on what could have been a joyous celebration of the coming of another year. The floods were caused by heavy rainfall that amounts to 30% of the annual rainfall of the country. When in my youth, storms were really storms, this time storms are followed with heavy inundation. There are reports of people dying, crops and farms are destroyed. Life suddenly is in a standstill.
It is not only the Philippines that is on the news lately. South Australia and the southern part of Brazil are also experiencing flooding. What is happening to our planet?
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| People clung to dear life by staying on rooftops. |
The wrath of Ondoy (Ketsana) in September 2009 was a wake up call to all of us that global warming is here to stay if we don't made amends with nature. Expect our summers to be hotter and our rainy seasons to be wetter.
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| Water everywhere. |
