PAGASA outlines recommendations to address flooding problem in Iloilo City
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Service Administration (PAGASA) has outlined several recommendations to address flooding problem based on the result of a 'Flood Hazard and Vulnerability Mapping Project for Iloilo City' which was conducted in 2007.
Foremost among its recommendations are the review and revision of Iloilo City's Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and restrictions in the construction of new buildings on areas subjected to flood inundation and in coastal zones.
Ma. Cecilia A. Monteverde, Supervisory Weather Specialist of the Natural Disaster Reduction Branch of PAGASA who led the team that undertook the study, said the whole city is 'really prone to flooding because it is located in the flood plane.'
In fact, she added that it also experienced severe flooding in 1994 where about 80 percent of the total land area was underwater.
"If that same event happens this time because of the environment now being urbanized, lot of properties that will be affected the impact would be severe. And it happened during Typhoon Frank," she stressed.
In the study, Monteverde said her team identified flood prone areas in the city which include the low-lying barangays near Jaro, Batiano and Iloilo Rivers and those barangays located along the coastal area, the river channel and inland barangays along the creeks.
"These were areas with flat to gentle slopes and poor drainage,' she said.
In their recommendation, it was mentioned that 'authorities can review policies such as building codes while settlements in hazardous areas may only be allowed provided that mitigating or protective measures are adopted.'
Also included is the establishment of flood hazard map 'that could help convince the people not to encroach into the river channels and look for other safer areas.'
"There is the need to have a national standard report format for disaster event assessment and emergency response to facilitate data exchange and for post disaster evaluation. It is suggested that the data should be collected at the barangay or at the smallest administrative level," the recommendation added.
Moreover, there has a to be a 'national archive that should be established for data on disaster events, impact assessment and government intervention, for researchers needing reference materials for post disaster evaluation of "lessons learned" and future contingency planning purposes.'
"In order to improve data management, the city would largely benefit with the use of the Geographic Information System (GIS). These can effectively enhance decision-making by facilitating spatial analysis and can also be an effective communication tool to disseminate information on disaster risks," it was stated.
'Significant maximum flood level markers attained in an event should be painted on posts to increase the people's awareness to flood disaster," it added.
In the end, the researchers deemed that what is most important is the 'cooperative effort and information sharing among stakeholders, full support, active participation and commitment of Local Government Units (LGUs) and the community.'(PNA)