Recently, I read a news article from Mindanews.com dated Dec. 6, 2012 saying that Philippine president Noynoy Aquino was not aware that the country's state weather agency PAGASA's[1] Doppler radar station (or equipment) in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur was not working at the time Typhoon Pablo[2] ravaged the supposed "typhoon-free" Mindanao.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas himself was not aware of the problem, and said that the President was not noted about it.
Read more: {E} Latest Track for Typhoon BOPHA (PABLO)
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| The eye of Typhoon Pablo (Bopha) over Davao Region as shown in this Doppler radar imagery from the Hinatuan station. From PAGASA's Facebook page |
I'm not saying that the news is completely wrong. No. The reporter(s) who asked Sec. Roxas perhaps consulted the Project NOAH website for the rainfall amount Typhoon Pablo had. And at that time, the Hinatuan radar is "under maintenance" (sorry, I don't have snapshots of it for proof), so he/she/they may had concluded it as "down".
Read more: {M} Project NOAH, ClimateX, and PAGASA Doppler radars
Nevertheless, with that image as basis, Hinatuan radar station was really working at that time.
I think, it is just the "connectivity problems" of the radar equipment with Project NOAH which was needed for resolution.
So this time, we cannot blame the radar equipment again for the loss of more than a thousand people, two years in a row.
Sorry peeps.
The thing is, our Doppler radars are now reliable in giving us rainfall updates in most parts of the country. I can't wait for all of them to appear in Project NOAH. I'm so excited to see it, very soon.
(Sorry to those who may have been struck and hurt by this blog post. I just based everything "on facts, not fiction".)
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Footnotes: [1] stands for Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration
[2] internationally known as Typhoon Bopha
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