As of this writing the death toll from severe tropical storm Kristine has risen to 20 with seven still missing. Just when people are about to heave a sigh of relief with the exit of the storm from the Philippine Area of Responsibility, the state weather bureau said it may loop back into our PAR by Monday.
If worse comes to worst it may mean no respite for those in areas still affected by heavy rains and landslides. And with another possible storm brewing in the offing we cannot seem to get any break.
From what we see on TV and social media, many local government units were unprepared for the onslaught of tons of water, especially those areas that have never seen flooding before.
But even those LGUs that have seen heavy flooding before seemed unprepared, leading many of us to wonder if we learned anything from previous disasters or go back to tabula rasa after each crisis ends.
This has given rise to proposals to look for long-term solution to our constant inundation, with proponents saying that we should turn to the Netherlands for solutions.
The Netherlands is another country that sees constant flooding. While actually only a quarter of that country is below sea level, more than half of it is always in danger of ending up flooded if a big storm hits.
However, the country has managed to handle the flood problems through a series of dams, levies, and dikes that prevent rivers from overflowing and pumping stations that quickly get water out of low-lying areas.
Is this feasible here? For sure there will be many challenges. Unlike the Netherlands, the Philippines isn’t one landmass but many islands. Then there is also the challenge of funding the dams, levies, dikes, and pumping stations needed.
Then there is also the perennial issue of corruption siphoning funds intended for flood projects.
While a “Netherlands solution” remains unsure, what is sure is that if we don’t find permanent solutions to our flooding problems we will experience what we are experiencing with severe tropical storm Kristine over and over again with each strong storm that hits.