“Carried by Water” is an audio story series that revolves around water, both as a hazard and as a resource produced by Blue Lab with support from Princeton University. It was created and hosted by Mario Soriano with research, writing and production support from Patrick Jaojoco and Braeden Carroll. It is composed of three episodes, all regarding super typhoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda). The first episode centered around an interview with PAGASA and their detection of the typhoon before it made landfall and the challenges they faced in warning the population of its severity. The third episode is focused on physical infrastructure and features guest speakers from around the world. It also included interviews with survivors who witnessed the storm first hand.
Second episode of Carried by Water titled “If We Called it a Tsunami”
The second episode was centered around UPRI Executive Director Dr. Mahar Lagmay and the shortcomings in the evacuation process. They talk about the purpose of NOAH in using and applying the current technology to the decision making process of policy makers. They mention that NOAH was able to recognize the dangers posed by storm surges and were able to warn the president of the dangers of waves in excess of 6m of height. They follow with an anecdote from a survivor from Tacloban who recounts how despite being warned about the danger of storm surges, they were still surprised and unprepared for them. The two narratives that arose after Typhoon Yolanda were that, first, that no one recognized the term “Storm Surge” and, second, that the force of Yolanda was in excess of any preparation made. The lack of recognition of Storm Surges meant that no one heeded warnings regarding them due to a lack of understanding regarding their danger. For this reason Dr. Lagmay believes that science education should be paramount. Another issue that was recognized is that evacuation centers themselves were vulnerable to storm surges, with 60% of evacuation centers being inundated. Dr. Lagmay believes the vulnerability of the centers was due to a lack of clear information on their location, The existing hazard maps were not sufficient or accurate.