Milenyo (Xangsane): The Impact of Weather on the Business Economy

Today was one hell of a day here. We were scheduled to go to Dagupan City to have talks with potential business partners and at the same time take some time off work. Unfortunately, the weather was not as cooperative, relegating me to staying at home and worrying about our safety as well, as the winds of Super Typhoon "Milenyo" hit the country hard. I called of work for my staff as early as 5:00 a.m., worried more about their safety than business operations.

There was no electricity, no telephone lines and no water the whole day. Trees were falling everywhere, floods in most areas, flying debris, and falling billboards here and there, rendering the whole country of the Philippines totally helpless to the wrath of this typhoon which I would call as one of the worst typhoons that the country has experienced. Restaurants and malls, such as the Shangri-la mall in EDSA were closed, even experiencing damage as walls ripped open and had all store owners and on-hand customers looking for ways to get to safety.

Businesses suffer hard blows during such calamities, not only hampering daily operations and distribution means but also the purchasing power of its target markets. The basic necessities will always have the initial priority, survival of which is the most important. Inconvenient as it is, this is an event which most business has to consider in a year. Providing allowance for such occurrences, this may lead to losses in most cases. These are scenarios where most companies have to realistically face them everyday. However, much as they hit periodic times of the year, these should not become reasons or alibis for losses. They are natural events that cannot be controlled and other reasons for losses of most organizations are not fairly attributed to such.