Thus The Guardian today. “Philippines carries out its largest peacetime evacuation as typhoon Hagupit approaches a year after thousands were killed by typhoon Haiyan,” elaborates the newspaper. More than half a million people are in flight as the storm churns toward central provinces that still bear the scars of a super typhoon thirteen months ago. Haiyan killed more than seven-thousand people. More than four-million people became homeless, as well. Hagupit is a notch below super typhoon category but it is still very dangerous. Early evacuation is considered the best response. Although the article does not mention it, the question is what to do with so many people exposed to typhoon risk in the Philippines in the longer run. If Haiyan and Hagupit are so close in time, who can say what the next few years will bring? Large-scale relocation will have to be considered sooner or later. The same holds for many other parts of the world where inclement weather is causing repeated devastation. Interestingly, relocation is never even mentioned in such cases, but this is where only governments can help with timely expropriation of land and legislation needed for the planning, design, and construction of new settlements. With rapid climate change, evacuations are for the birds.

Addendum (December 9, 2014)

Typhoon Hagupit passed out of the Philippines this morning. On today’s count, it killed twenty-seven people. More than a million and a half people were evacuated ahead of the storm. One of the lessons from typhoon Haiyan last year was to evacuate before the storm hits. It remains to be seen how many people will remain homeless after this storm, but the people across the Philippines are learning fast how best to respond to the inclement storms. Wonderful news, this. Nevertheless, evacuating millions of people year after year is hardly the right way to go. Fingers crossed.