Tips for homeowners and prospective homebuyers

MANILA - Informal settlers are the usual victims and survivors of flooding. But, tropical storm Ondoy proved that even if you are pretty well-off, there is always the risk of being hit by a disaster.

Environment planners and architects convened at the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) for the “Rising from the Depths: Living and Planning With Nature” forum to discuss possible disaster risk reduction management learned from tropical storm Ondoy, Wednesday.

The event was organized by ASoG and the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planning (PIEP). PIEP is an organization of urban planners trying to promote responsive and alternate systems of urban planning.

For flood affected subdivisions

The event yielded some practical tips for homeowners and prospective homebuyers.

For instance, those living in subdivisions that were affected by the floods brought on by Ondoy but do not want to leave their homes, should “urge [their] local government and homeowner’s association to come up with a disaster risk reduction plan for the safety of the residents,” said environmental planner and architect Anna Maria Gonzales.

She said that both the local government and homeowners’ association are the responsible planners for disaster risk reduction management. They should be able to address the following questions:

1) Should we build a higher wall around the subdivision to prevent water from overflowing into the area?
2) Could we raise everybody’s elevation without harming the environment?
3) How much would this cost if it would be done?

Laws should be amended

Before buying real estate, prospective homebuyers were advised to find out first if the area where they plan to buy their new home is susceptible to flooding. “The first thing you have to do is figure out if you're part of the area that is flood prone,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales added that homeowners’ associations should warn landowners or homeowners “about the risks of living where they are.”

Property laws should also be amended.

“A reality in the Philippines is that our property laws are not based on nature, there are a lot of properties near the rivers. It is not in the realm of our memories that certain areas are vulnerable to flooding, especially when the frequency of the flooding is very rare—it may be every 100 years like Ondoy,” Gonzales said.

Ernesto Serote, professor in the University of the Philippines (UP) School of Urban Planning, said that there should be amendments in building ordinances to allow higher level of construction of houses.

“These are for the people who live in vulnerable place who can afford to help themselves,” he said. Serote, recently recognized by the Professional Regulation Commission as the 2009 Outstanding Professional of the Year Award for Environmental Planning, added that homes in flood prone areas should not be lower than 2 stories.

Creative adaption, housing for relocated victims

PIEP President Liza Marie Elum questioned some of the housing and government relocation projects, especially the loan Ondoy victims could avail from Pag-IBIG if their houses are destroyed.

Elum said that fixing their homes along esteros and along rivers would not solve or prevent their homes from being hit by another disaster.

Associate dean of ASoG Dennis Gonzalez said that there should be “creative adaptation to flooding.”

Instead of the loans, “maybe the government should look for floating concrete for low cost housing projects,” Gonzalez said.

He cited the Netherlands where many houses are built using floating concrete. Much of the land in Netherlands is below sea level, and thus, prone to flooding. But the Dutch have found ways to adapt to this.

Houses there are anchored beneath the ground—preventing the house from hitting one another or going away from their land when floodwaters rise, Gonzalez said.

Metro Manila in the way

Source: Dinky von Eisendel’s report for the “Rising from the Depths: Living and Planning With Nature” forum

Architect and urban development planner Dinky von Einsiedel from the Comprehensive Environmental Planners, Inc. said that the blue areas in the map are areas in Metro Manila vulnerable to 50- to 100- year flooding. Fifty- to 100- year flooding means that the storm that caused the flooding comes every 50 to 100 years. The yellow areas are prone to 2- to 10-year flooding.

The length of the interval between storms of the same intensity is proportional to the height of the flood that it will bring to a location, he said. So the waters from the 50- to 100- year flooding will be higher than the 2- to 10-year flooding, he said.

War of the Rivers

“As we can see, there are a lot of areas in Metro Manila that will be affected by flooding. We cannot ignore this,” von Eisendel said.

“Unfortunately this (Metro Manila) is where we live. What happened was a disaster only because we were in the war of the rivers. We just happened to live in river basins,” environment planner and architect Gonzales said.

Covering surface areas worsens the problem. “Land is like a sponge,” Gonzales explained, “if you cover it then it would not be able to absorb water.”

And this, she said, is what happened in Metro Manila. Structures covered up river basins which made it impossible for land to absorb the water.

Gonzales cited a study done by the National Institute of Geological Sciences in UP that the land where SM Marikina stands would have been “the ideal natural impounding catchment area. Meaning, it could have been able to absorb excess water run off from the Marikina River.”

Source: Google Maps

Marikina and nearby localities Rizal and Pasig were affected most by tropical storm Ondoy.

“We should accept that there are a lot of explanations for the flooding, we just have to plan disaster risk reduction if we would be hit again,” she said. – abs-cbnNEWS.com/ Newsbreak