Marikina recalls Ondoy, acts to prevent another big one

Intense fear wrapped every household in the Balubad resettlement site in Marikina. It was dark. Wind howled through the area and the obstinate downpour made the residents restless and unable to sleep peacefully. It was the tail end of Typhoon Inday last Friday evening. But it brought back vivid memories of Ondoy exactly a year ago. Hector Gadula was among the hundreds of residents in Balubad who endured that sleepless night. “Akala ko bumalik na naman si Ondoy kagabi, pinahirapan niya kami noon. Nakakatakot si Ondoy… Pabalik balik yung feeling na baka ito na naman siya. (I thought Ondoy visited us last, it was scary, all of us here think ondoy will come back) During the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy, the floodwaters reached as high as the second floor of Hector’s house. It literally forced him and his family to seek refuge on the rooftop of their house, waiting for help in the cold rain. Hector says the trauma left by Typhoon Ondo left a mark not only on him and his family but on thousands of other residents who live beside the river and other waterways. Ondoy left a large tree trunk on the roof of Hector’s neighbor. He sees it every day but they opted not to remove it because it makes the roof stronger - a defense against another storm. But the tree trunk and the rain remind all of them of Ondoy’s rage. Many residents from Marikina City, particularly those who live beside the river and creeks, are still traumatized. Marikina was among the cities in the national capital region that was hardest hit by Ondoy. Most of its 70 casualties drowned. The cost of damage in infrastructure and agriculture reached more than 27 million pesos. A year later, homes and infrastructure have been rebuilt, but much damage remains, often in the minds of residents who lost loved ones and property. [Do you live in a flood-prone area? What are the nearest evacuation centers to your house? Find out using our interactive flood map of Metro Manila.]

So part of the remembrance of Ondoy’s first anniversary are continuing efforts to be better prepared for the next big one. Mindful of the lessons of Ondoy, the city has organized thrice-a-week training in water search and rescue operations, and a week-long exhibit as part of its continuing effort to bolster its disaster preparedness capabilities. The exhibit features rescue equipment for use in emergency situations such as flood, fire, and earthquake. These include 15 to 20 seat-rubber boats, an all–weather pvc boat, an all-disaster kit and several vehicles that are important to saving people in distress. The ground floor also serves as the venue for a photo exhibit in commemoration of the Ondoy tragedy. Marikeños have joined the event by submitting photos showing people helping each other, individuals in dire need of help, and the actual rescue and recovery operations during Ondoy. Mayor Del de Guzman ordered the local health department to look for patients suffering from trauma or phobia that until now seek medical or psychological help. The waters of Ondoy also engulfed Pasig, a neighboring city of Marikina. In the riverside village of Barangay Sta Lucia located in the eastern portion of Pasig, about a thousand vehicles and 475 houses were submerged in floodwaters for almost 48 hours exactly one year ago. When the water finally left the village, the homeowners association formed a team of engineers and volunteers to look for a possible solution to the flood problem not only in Sta Lucia but in other barangys in Pasig as well as parts of Marikina and the adjacent towns of Cainta and Taytay. The team found out that several hours after the rain stopped, the west portion of Pasig was already free of floodwaters while the east portion was still submerged. Based on their study the massive flooding was caused by the clogging of the Buli creek bordering Cainta and Pasig. The city ordered a massive clean-up of the Buli creek and other waterways and declog the main drainage. The municipality of Cainta, Rizal followed suit. Other projects included concreting and rip-rapping of walls along parts of the Buli creek. But the team of Eng. Wilfredo Laconico appealed to the authorities that the projects alone wouldn’t solve the problem. He added that it would not completely free the residents from devastating floodwaters by abandoning the entire engineering design of the Buli creek since Barangay Sta Lucia and some parts of Marikina, Cainta and Taytay are considered the catch basin of floodwaters from the uplands of Rizal, Laguna and Quezon province. The inappropriate design of the retaining wall and discharge outlet of the Buli Creek was could not accommodate the large volume of water. Pasig city officials and engineer Laconico also learned that there were several receptors placed within the city, which were stolen while others were covered by informal settlers. Informal settlers also built their houses on top of the Buli creek discharge system located in Cainta. The study also revealed that during the flooding the water level in the floodway was lower than the water level on the east bank road. Laconico has alleged that most discharge outlets leading to the floodway were either closed or clogged. The team concluded that re-engineering of the Buli Creek discharge system was needed to prevent a recurrence of the recurring massive flooding thsat endangered residents living in some parts of Pasig, Marikina, Cainta and Taytay. Officials from the Cainta and Pasig as well as the Metro Manila Development Authority agreed to work together to prevent another Ondoy-like flood. To do this, informal settlers especially those living on top of the Buli Creek and other waterways must be relocated. Based on data gathered by GMA News Research, Pasig and Cainta are not the only cities and municipalities that have clogged waterways. 291 barangays in Metro Manila are intersected by rivers and creeks that are clogged by informal settlers, more than 100 thousand families who use Metro Manila waterways as their garbage dump and sewer. They pose a risk to themselves as well as to the millions of others who call the water-logged flood plains of Metro Manila home. – HS, GMANews.TV