The Paths Of Destruction

Americans may never admit it, but I think when it comes to choosing a place where to build their houses, they seem to lack some wisdom.

Hurricane Rita will be another disaster waiting to happen, but of course people most likely to be hit have been warned and had made the necessary steps to avoid another New Orleans. As of this writing, a mass exodus is happening in parts of Texas and the last hit state, Louisiana. The hurricane may have somehow lowered its level a notch, but nevertheless Americans are not risking lives again.

Thousands have died already, not only by Katrina but from other hurricanes in the past 20 years. Twenty years already, and yet, the same places have been incessantly being pounded and still we see on television not roofs, but entire houses torn and blown away. And the aftermath is always the same: grieving families who lose property and loved ones.

Why, the Philippines also suffer the same fate everytime we are faced with our own version: the "Typhoon." Sometimes even deadlier. I am not saying we do not suffer the same fate when these disasters strike us, but at least we don't build cities like New Orleans right smack on an immense river delta system of one of the longest rivers in the world, prone to devastating floods. And New Orleans is one beautiful city to bear such brunt. Hurricanes and storms, any way you call it, follow the same path again and again.

Manila on the other hand is a reclaimed land, and we do endure deadly typhoons every rainy season, but it is located on a natural harbor relatively safe from tsunamis or tidal waves. And the river that bisect it doesn't overflow to the extent the Mississippi did to New Orleans and cities located on its banks. Rains happen. Rivers overflow. Anything on their path is not spared.

Lastly, I have this feeling we build stonger houses than that of our big white brothers. Hurricanes pull huge trees from its roots same as our typhoons, but our typhoons never uproot houses. I guess the best example to support my claim are the rock-built houses of typhoon-beaten Batanes islands, where people there have learned that if you don't want to leave your place, don't build puny houses.

Challenge nature. Somehow.