While most of the Philippines experienced Typhoon Haiyan’s wrath and reported a substantial amount of casualties, the people on one tiny island, San Francisco, survived unscathed. Former San Francisco mayor Alfredo Arquillano Jr. claims “Preparedness is the key here, and how you can reduce the risk. The problem is that there are some local governments that are too focused on response.” The evacuation mandated by the local government helped save the lives of almost 48,000 residents.

Since 2010, the island has been practicing disaster preparedness drills designed to empower citizens in disaster situations. By requiring citizens to store a few days’ worth of emergency food and practice evacuating to safer ground, these actions become fluid by the time an actual typhoon strikes. Arquillano Jr. explained that the residents’ awareness of their susceptibility to disasters paired with their knowledge of detrimental effects also eases the evacuation process.

In comparison, more than 1,500 Filipinos perished on the neighboring island of Leyte. Although these residents evacuated, they fled to even more dangerous low-lying areas that became immersed in the storm surge. These residents only anticipated strong winds coupled with heavy rain and were caught off guard by the massive waves that engulfed their homes. Pete Troilo, the Devex director of global advisory laments, “Storm impacts aren’t easy to predict, but if authorities had told the people to plan for a wall of water crashing into city streets, they would have better understood the gravity of the situation and more lives could have been saved.”  

 San Francisco was recognized in 2011 by the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) for the municipality’s outstanding efforts to implement disaster preparedness and risk reduction plans. Focused on promoting a “culture of prevention”, the UNISDR aims to enable communities worldwide to achieve resiliency and reduce the risks associated with natural, technological, and environmental disasters.

For a collection of UNISDR publications about disaster risk reduction, click here. The UNISDR calendar of events is also worth checking out; this webpage lists a number of global courses and events ranging from “Natural disaster awareness for community leaders” to “HURRIPLAN resilient building design for coastal communities” to Earthquake planning workshops.

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