By Anna Valmero
PASIG CITY, METRO MANILA—To mitigate the risks of flooding in disaster-prone nations like the Philippines, the government must “strike a balance” in setting up infrastructure and policies under an integrated flood risk management mechanism, according to World Bank.
“Policy makers need to strike a balance between instituting infrastructure and key policies that keep people safe from floods,” said Abhas Jha, lead urban specialist and program leader for disaster risk management for World Bank East Asia and Pacific.
These measures include building drainage floodways, integration of urban greening buffers such as wetlands, creation of flood warning systems, and better land use planning to avoid floods, according to the World Bank report “Cities and Flooding: A Guide to Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management for the 21st Century.”
During a live teleconference from Tokyo, Jha underscored the need for “a coordinated flood management strategy and better early warning systems” in the country to alert urban Filipinos of potential floods and corresponding evacuation measures.
“The issue of coordination is one of the issues faced by the Philippines, which has a lot of disaster management agencies. They need to work in harmony to orchestrate efforts,” said Jha.
Typhoons Sendong, Ondoy and Pepeng were three of the strongest typhoons that hit the country between 2009 and 2011, triggering massive floods and huge losses in lives and infrastructure.
As the texting capital of the world, the Philippines can look into China's use of text message alert for weather updates and storm warnings, said Jha.
The alert system is readily available on the mobile phones of 90 million Chinese subscribers and gives live updates on weather disturbances such as storms since 2007.
To address the risks to slum dwellers living under bridges and near the riverbanks, local authorities could foster a “more participative” resettlement strategy following China's example.
In Southwest China, local authorities in Chengdu have implemented an urban revitalization program that relocated people from disaster-prone areas into safer settlements, while making sure that they are still near their sources of livelihood to prevent their return in flood-prone settlements.
For those living in Laguna de Bay, the government can raise the western portion of the lake by 1.5 meters. This is to prevent flooding and to be used as a relocation site for displaced settlers from the flood-prone side of the lake.
Following typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, the Philippines enacted Republic Act 10121 or Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act and Strategic National Action Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction containing the country’s framework for disaster risk reduction and management.
The government, with World Bank support, is set to complete the preparation of the Metro Manila Flood Management Master Plan early this year, said Joop Stoutjesdijk, lead irrigation engineer at World Bank South Asia's Sustainable Development Department.
The master plan will serve as guide for the construction and retrofitting of buildings that take into consideration the impact of flooding from stronger typhoons in the future, said Stoutjesdijk.
“After Ondoy, rebuilding schools is needed but unless the concern on perennial flooding is under control, the schools built haphazardly will be prone to destruction from floods and thus, result in massive losses.” said the expert.
The master plan also allowed for the use of mathematics models to simulate the impact and intensity of future floods that could hit urban centers like Metro Manila.
Multipurpose dams are among the variety of options considered in the plan, alongside the construction of more green spaces, conservation of wetlands and establishment of flood catchment buffers to contain water during peak flooding, said Stoutjesdijk.
“Despite controversies on dam construction, a multipurpose dam can lower flood levels by becoming a temporary catchment and also serve as a potable water reservoir for Metro Manila, in addition to Angat Dam. Or, the local government can create walls around basketball courts to contain flood waters during strong typhoons,” explained Stoutjesdijk.
In East Asia, 40 percent of people are impacted by flooding, which also account for over 90 percent of world population affected by flooding. For example, in Thailand, the impact of flooding affected regional and global supply chains, said Pamela Cox, World Bank East Asua and Pacific regional vice president.
As East Asia is rapidly urbanizing, over 50 percent of population in urban centers this is the opportunity to build risk planning in urbanization, by retrofitting current establishments and building new infrastructure that help mitigate the impacts of flooding, said Cox during the live teleconference.
“Rapid urbanization also means we have the opportunity to do things right the first time, so cities and towns can support sustainable development, saving lives and money,” said Cox.
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