Aftermath, solutions

Nothing is harder than to clean up after a mess. Especially a mess you did not create. Be it an old administration’s crimes, or the aftermath of Mother nature’s fury. In this case, it is the latter. As the sun’s rays finally broke through the cloud cover that we have been experiencing for at least two weeks, it also revealed the mess that the southwest monsoon left behind. Water may wash away dirt and grime, but in this case, it brought mud and garbage!

Indeed, as the waters receded, what was left behind was nothing short of disgusting. After the flotsam comes an amalgamation of every conceivable kind of garbage known to originate from man, mixed in with a generous serving of mud! I don’t even want to imagine the organics that were thrown into the mix, my goodness! In some places, the garbage has overrun the houses themselves. Their belongings mixed in with the trash!

But as they say, behind every cloud lies a silver lining. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Scavengers have a field day collecting what they can sell, and I do hope they make a killing from this calamity. If there are persons who can and should benefit from something like this, it is definitely them. Not only do they gain income from it, they actually help the environment. These are the unsung heroes of every calamity’s aftermath. They do the dirtiest jobs that most will not do. And is right that they earn from it.

But the city just cannot be this way after every typhoon or extreme monsoon. There should be a working flood control program in place that kicks in once the rains start pouring in. And not the kind where pumping stations run out of fuel and just conk out at the height of a downpour, there by causing a wide area to flood, like what happened in Taguig! That is inexcusable, and it is just right that the manager of the MMDA flood control program get the axe! Fuel can be bought anywhere, and transported to the stations in many ways. Running out is no excuse. That is bad management, plain and simple.

A comprehensive flood control plan is being proposed, where the government will spend an estimated three hundred fifty-two billion pesos in a period of twenty-three years. This covers new infrastructure designed to quickly drain flood waters away from the metro. I would think that the government seek the advice of the Dutch, who are experts in this field. The Netherlands normally floods at the slightest shifting of the tides and excessive rainfall, but they have all the infrastructures to deal with it.

In the meantime, we would do well to think about the suggestion from a Bangladeshi. Bangladesh is another country that easily floods. So their solution is simple. Build houses wherein you already expect a flood, and have privately owned boats to transport you to safety. A simple but novel idea. If families who live in these known flood-prone areas and just do not want to leave, then they might as well prepare. If they have the boats, then they wouldn’t have to climb to their rooftops waiting to be rescued. Government resources wouldn’t have to be spread out too thinly during disasters, and their response time will definitely improve.

Something to think about, as we all get back to cleaning up, until the next time. They say another low pressure area is forming near the country. When it rains, it pours.