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Eastern Visayas remembers Super Typhoon Yolanda

November 8, 2013 was the date when super Typhoon Yolanda (International name: Haiyan), hit the Philippines. The Eastern Visayas provinces were badly devastated.
Southern Leyte experienced a month-long haul of no electricity. Gasoline-powered generators were sold out and people lined up for kerosene. Food items were vanishing quickly. The supermarket and grocery stores had many empty shelves and basic goods ran out, as people from as far as Abuyog town bought food and other goods in bulk from Maasin City.
During this year’s commemoration, the Climate Change Commission (CCC) issued a statement saying,
“Eight years on, Yolanda remains a powerful reminder to strengthen our anticipatory adaptation measures to protect Filipinos amid worsening climate risks, and make sure they and future generations will not have to suffer like our people did in 2013,”
“The latest climate science shows that the coming climate change impacts can be even more frequent and more severe for vulnerable countries like the Philippines, ranked as 4th in the 2021 Global Climate Risk Index of countries most affected by climate-related disasters in the last decade. To be proactive in protecting the lives and livelihoods of Filipinos at the local level, we must build up scientific knowledge on local hazards in our communities to develop risk-adaptive measures. For every coastal community, we must know the risk of storm surge that may go inland and submerge homes, farmland, and other properties. Early warning systems will only be effective if they are actionable, and this means they must consist of understandable information down to the last mile,” the CCC said.
In 2017, a bill was filed by Senator Sonny Angara and eventually approved, declaring November 8 a Special non-working public holiday in Eastern Visayas, known as “Yolanda Commemoration Day.”

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