Redefining our response

As I monitored the news and the Internet during our week-long Habagat flooding, it became clear to me that some things need to change in terms of how people think and prepare for the rainy season, as well as how they respond to floods and disasters.

For starters, I think it’s about time we put an end to the debate about “climate change,” as well as notions that floods such as what happened last week and during Typhoon Ondoy are a one-time occurrence. The eternal optimism of Filipinos drives us to think that great floods are things that occur every 50 or 100 years. After last week, I’ve decided to stop being encouraging to my friends on the lower side of Pasig, Marikina and Cainta.

Sorry, but if their homes in Provident Village and nearby places were swamped again after three years and this time with no typhoon triggering the rain and floods, chances are that floods will be a regular occurrence until there is a global reversal of climate change.

With this in mind, might I suggest for those who can to re-engineer their surroundings as well as their residential structures for the long term instead of merely moving things around. When word got out that the Habagat rains would likely trigger flooding, several friends relocated their cars, their family and their furniture. In general people drove cars to higher ground or parked them with relatives and then returned home to move all their furniture to their second or third floor. This is practical for a “one-time” hit but if you have to do it two to three times a year, or even just every other year, it’s like gambling against Mother Nature and your availability to respond.

If you check middle or upper class residents of flood prone areas in Manila, you will notice that many Chinese families live in Condominium style homes. In general, the ground floor is often filled and raised up to a meter above the road and is used purely for parking, pets and maids and drivers quarters. Everything begins at the second floor. This is very practical against flooding as well as provides added security against break in. If you live in a flood prone area, it might be well worth the investment to remodel, or upgrade your house to avoid the long-term curse of moving people and furniture as well as security risks from roving thieves.

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Another problem that many people have not corrected, such as office buildings and hospitals, is relocating their power generators from ground level to a higher location or floor level. I know the hassle of subdividing power supplies and maintaining several back-up generators, but I have heard enough stories to prove that in a worse case scenario, many people are thankful they had more than one unit of badly needed equipment spread around the facility.

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In the same manner, not much importance or urgency has been given to having standby dinghys, rafts or flotation devices, because you only need it in an extreme situation, plus the fact that it occupies too much space. What if we built “Catamaran style” boats, meaning two hulls connected to each other by nuts, bolts and riggings which can be assembled and disassembled. The hulls that are made of plywood, fiberglass or steel can be used as planter boxes or decorative furniture when not in use and won’t be an eyesore or occupy much space. When hospitals, schools and offices have to wait for food and rescue during a flood, it means we are not planning way ahead.

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In terms of smart ideas, I congratulate the Philippine Red Cross and the Philippine National Police for having the smarts to make their presence known in a manner that reflects professionalism. During the rescue and evacuation process, PNP personnel wore their light blue T-shirts that had the “PULIS” printed on them. This identified the hard working members of the PNP as they carried the elderly on their backs or while swimming with babies in washbasins.

The Philippine Red Cross led by Dick Gordon showed their colors and their brand in their vehicles, relief goods and just about everything that the Red Cross handed out to flood victims. This branding certainly sent the message that the Philippine Red Cross is well organized to the point that they even have professional branding.

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DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo might want to study the matter of calamities and calamity funds. Several times, some local government officials would state on national radio that the practice of declaring a state of emergency is simply a way of accessing calamity funds. These statements suggest that even before there is an actual state of calamity, officials declare one just for the money.

Isn’t there a better way of addressing this situation? Given that we live in the tropics and that floods are part of life, I somehow feel being cheated and lied to by government officials who simply want to get at the money. 

As a final word, this is for the President and the many Filipinos who belatedly criticized PAGASA or demanded more accurate forecasts. Please bear in mind that typhoons and weather patterns and conditions are like women: they have the right to change their mind and they will do so and there is nothing you can do about it. Generations of people have called “it” “Mother Nature” for a reason. As a friend once taught me: the day you admit that you can never understand women is the day you begin to understand them!

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