Flood control measures

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Flood mitigation measures.  

One of the first step is to obtain data and risk assessement of flooding.   Residents should be removed from harms way as those near low lying areas, rivers, lakes.   And permanently declared unhabitable.  The SC Mandamus might help

If it is necessary to declare certain Naga City unhabitable, let it be.  Am sure there are plenty of areas where the residents can be relocated.  We are constantly mired in this cycle of flooding and relief operations   One of the solution is not to have relief operations by stopping the cause

1,  Dams as in Holland.   Several dams were built at rives to  shorten the coastline.  And they were massive.  This was meant to defend the coastline of  Holland form the onslaught of the North Sea.  Remember Holland lies below sea level.  

2.  Dry retention ponds (in parks)  these may be parks or buildings where flood water flow can be diverted so that the flow is slowed down.  It could be football park, or buildings

3.  Separate storm and sewer lines

4.  Straightening storm drains

5.   Egg shaped drain storm drains

6.  Buried tubes to let water seep into the ground   As in Toronto and Tokyo

7.  Green infrastructures (to soak floodwater - sponge)  Shrubs and trees to absorb the flow of flood water

8.  Levees -  the traditional way of flood control.  But they collapse and causes flooding disaster.  

9.  Widening and reclaiming the flood plains for  improved water flow   (But what if the reiver banks have been improved or titled, reclaimed. 

Am sure the MDDRC have these measures that are proactive, not reactive.  

These alone or in combination can be constructed to mitigate flood

Our flood control engineers/geniuses can come up with better ideas. Or ask AI

We humbly submit

Exercising tighter supervision; quadcomm inquiry into flood control projects

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We understand that the Philippines 1.   is in the path of no less than 20 typhoons a year.   2.  most of the typhoons carry more moisture (ie rainfall than the earlier ones)  ----> hence we allocate more funds into flood control every appropriations year running into billions.   P1.4 trillion in fact for the past 10 years.  

Many vaunted mega projects on river basins with borrowings from multilateral institutions.  We keep on saying that flood is not a matter of administrative supervision by a town or district but covers a large expanse as in the case of Bicol or Metro Manila.

But nothing seem to be happening in the flood control or mitigating structures.   The photo and video we saw of Bicol ie a bridge connecting Iriga and a town seems to be substandard and devoid of sturdy reinforcement underneath.   How can this happen to a structure that is visible  So what happens to the structure underneath?

Let us make those 5500 flood control projects work.  Let uus not allow our countrymen  tobe in harms way due to flood and typhoon.  There are many things that can be done:

1.  Declare certain area inhabitable.  Remove residents from waterways.  Transfer them to flood free areas.  Revise land use map.   Move away residential areas from flood prone areas as lakes or rives.  Building officials LGU must do their jobs

2.  Use Drones, satellite pictures to study floods.  Refer to big data to study history of flooding  Refer to experts and geniuses in hydrology and flood controls (and there are plenty of them here in the Philippines)

3.  Simulate flood flow using computer models and even scale models.   Use maximum rainfall as we see now for the simulation

4.  Use the best minds to create flood control mitigating measures.   

5.  Mitigating measures/structures could have been built:

      1.  Impounding lakes

      2.  Dredging of silted waterways

      3.  Impounding pons or lakes to slow down the flow

      4   Fllod ways and floodgates as in Manggahan and Napindan channels  (for Naga and Bico rivers

      The Dutch Englishmen Japanese have solved their flooding problems by throwing in a lot of money.  We have thrown in a lot of money too   

I am sure these are being done.   But if there is corruption....

When shall we ever learn from tragedies involving field trip of children?

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We had this in the locality.  Several schoolchildren and teachers (including a principal) died in a field trip to Batangas.   Did we stop this or took safety measures to prevent similar incidents.  I believe from the number of buses Ii still see on the road, the practice continues.

And so we had 25 dead,children and teachers from a fire running on LPG in Thailand.  Then we see video of enumeration of safety features of buses.

Some interim measures are in order:

1.  Stop field trips immediately.

2.  Subject buses to be used for safety inspection and upgrade, retrofitted with safety features.

3.   There should be a reminder of safety feature of the bus before each trip, and safety cards at the seat.

4.   Training of bus personnel on safety and evacuation during fires.

5.   Rule out buses that are deemed dangerous eg running on LPG, on hydrogen, on EVs unless they can be proven that they are fire proof.