A Quick Look at the Aftermath of Carina, Southwest Monsoon in PH

Flood in Natividad Lopez Street, City of Manila

As super typhoon Carina left the Philippines on 25 July 2024, Metro Manila strives to bounce back from the aftermath of the typhoon and its accompanying southwest monsoon, seeking to restore everything and make business throbbing anew.

Metro Manila, the center of Philippine commerce, currently recovers from the wrath of super typhoon Carina and southwest monsoon, which brought about torrential downpour, heavy flood, and whipping wind, and led to damaged and lost properties, halted business and government operations, casualties, displaced families, missing individuals, and death.

Initially a low pressure area on 18 July 2024, Carina entered the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR), particularly the eastern waters of Luzon. It developed into a tropical depression the following day, 19 July 2024, then into tropical storm the day after. It gained the strength of a severe tropical storm on 21 July 2024 and that of a typhoon the next day. On 24 July 2024, Carina reached its peak as a super typhoon which, for hours, carried wind that dashed to a maximum speed of 185 kilometers per hour. On 25 July 2024, it went out the PAR but still had its tail lashes in Batanes.

Though it did not make a landfall in the Philippines, Carina’s strength, amplified by the southwest monsoon, caused extensive damage to the country, especially in Metro Manila. On Wednesday, the Metro Manila Council raised the disaster alarm in the National Capital Region (NCR) to state of calamity due to severe flood in different cities throughout the region.

Local government units released advisories on the status of roads in their jurisdiction, primarily to forewarn vehicles of what roads to avoid in trips. To name a few, these roads were in Barangay Maybunga and Barangay San Miguel, Pasig City; Barangay Katipunan and Barangay Sto. Domingo in Quezon City; Barangay Plainview and Barangay Daang Bakal in Mandaluyong City; and Barangay Baclaran, Barangay Dionisio, and Barangay San Isidro in Parañaque City. Flood conditions in these paths range from knee level up to chest level.

Owing to the submerging rainfall, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority deployed at least seven boats in City of Manila to rescue trapped residents.

As of this writing, death toll in Luzon climbed to 34 from 21 the day before, as reported by the Philippine National Police. These deaths were due to drowning, followed by electrocution, landslide, and one instance of a tumbled tree.

Also at least six individuals in Luzon are currently the subject of search and rescue.

Hundreds of barangays and thousands of families were adversely affected by the joint blow of Carina and southwest monsoon, leaving them displaced and with properties lost or seriously impaired.

Commerce in the metro suffered crippled operations, where several banks were forced to shut some branches because of the immersing flood. The Philippine Stock Exchange likewise declared suspension of its trade due to catastrophic weather.

The government also gave up two and a half days of its work in the metro consequent to unceasing downpour. On Tuesday, 23 July 2024, the Office of the President suspended government operations from 2:00 P.M. onwards Then, in the early morning of Wednesday, the chief executive’s office called off government work for the entire day owing to the same reason. Later in the afternoon, it released a similar notice for the suspension of work on Thursday. Government agencies whose nature of engagement concerns delivery of basic and health services, disaster response, and other necessary services, however, were excluded from the cancellation.

With the schedule of school opening approaching fastly, that is, 29 July 2024 as mandated by the Department of Education (DepEd) through its Department Order 009 series of 2024, the education department presently grapples to prepare schools for the scheduled opening, especially that Philippine president Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered the DepEd to ensure that classes will kick off accordingly.

There are two major factors presumed to have exacerbated the ill effects of the typhoon and monsoon—insufficient infrastructure to avert such terrible flood and people’s reluctance to proper garbage disposal leading to blocked drainage across cities in Metro Manila.

Certainly, super typhoon Carina and southwest monsoon’s joint blow has caused considerable damage to, and desperate cries in, Metro Manila, not to mention the pain from the lives lost from the unfortunate incident. There must be a decisive action to abate such tragedies towards preserving properties, ensuring undisturbed business, and preventing death. This massive adversity must resemble a telltale of the urgent need for a resolute, collective action among Filipinos to deal and live with raging weather.