Trade winds push toxic haze away

By NITZ ARANCON
and LITO RULONA
Correspondents

THE sky turned blue again starting Sunday as winds shifted directions, pushing away the toxic smog from Indonesia that threatened and hovered over the region for nearly a week.

Visibility is also back to normal, said Luz Mercado, a weather  specialist of the state weather bureau based in Mulogan, El Salvador City in Misamis Oriental.

Mercado said the winds changed directions starting on Friday, slowly clearing the sky of the haze caused by the forest fires that have been burning in Indonesia for weeks. She said the smog that carried “solid tiny particles” had been brought by winds blown from the southwest but the situation changed when the northeast winds came on Friday.

Mercado said the visibility distance normalized at 20 to 25 kilometers yesterday, a dramatic improvement compared to the variable  visibility of 10 to 18 kilometers in previous days.

Unlike other areas, there was no canceled flight at the Laguinduingan Airport last week despite last week’s relatively poor visibility, said airport manager Jose Budeongan.

The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) said the air pollution level here doubled but added there was nothing to be alarmed about because it did not reach critical level.

EMB regional director Sabdullah Abubacar said the Bureau has continued to closely monitor the pollution levels in the city and neighboring areas.

Dr. Bebina Casiño, Misamis Oriental health officer, said the health office does not have a record of anyone from Misamis Oriental who was hospitalized due to the poor air quality.

Allan Porcadilla, chief of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, said his group also monitored the situation round the clock last week, and no one in the city was reported to have been brought to any hospital due to the “smaze.”

Porcadilla said they would continue monitoring the air quality in the city until the Indonesia fires have been put out.