‘Typhoon fatigue’ setting in among victims, responders

Metro Manila, Philippines — Filipinos suffering from the impact of a cyclone face the dilemma of battling a possible succeeding calamity.

Four back-to-back powerful storms ravaged large swathes of population in Luzon and the Visayas this month, with a number of people facing “typhoon fatigue.”

Jorge Torre, a college student from Baler, Aurora was among them.

In an interview with NewsWatch Plus, he said he was “depressed” seeing the destruction from Super Typhoon Pepito in their province, Aurora, the second landfall after Catanduanes.

“Ang hirap tanggapin na parang sunod-sunod ‘yung bagyo na nangyari. Minalas ba, parang ganu’n. ‘Di lang ako ‘yung nakadama nung ganu’n na parang nakaka-depress sa paligid kasi I’m sure mas marami pa pong nahihirapan katulad ng mga farmers kasi nasira ‘yung pananim nila,” he said.

[Translation: It is difficult to accept that successive storms happen. It’s like bad luck. I was not the only one who felt depressed when we saw the extent of the damage. I’m sure others have it worse like farmers whose harvests were damaged.]

Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said typhoon fatigue sets in when a person gets exhausted from successive calamities.

He said the condition impacts both the victims and rescuers and responders.

“Ang buhay sa evacuation centers, hindi po normal ‘yun… Madalas, masikip po diyan,” Nepomuceno told NewsWatch Plus.

[Translation: Life in evacuation centers is not normal… Oftentimes, it is crowded.]

“Iba po ‘yung pakiramdam ‘pag nandiyan at ‘yung lungkot na bakit n’yo dinadanas ‘yan at baka na naman ‘yung pangamba ninyo na mangyari na naman ‘yan,” he explained.

[Translation: It has a different feeling when you are there. You feel sad when you think of why you experienced it and that it may happen again.]

Cesar Idio, OCD operations service director, said there are measures to address responders’ typhoon fatigue.

“Meron pong ginagawa ang ating Secretary of National Defense [Gilberto Teodoro] na nagpapakalat siya ng mga medical personnel — doktor, nurses, etcetera — bale mga health workers na patuloy, araw-araw nagtse-check ng mga health conditions ng ating mga workers,” he said in a press conference.

[Translation: Our Secretary of National Defense deploys medical personnel like doctors and nurses to check the health conditions of our responders daily.]

The typhoon victims, including Torre, are still getting back on their feet. Yet, the weather bureau said two tropical cyclones may occur in December.