Why does manila flood

As deaths mount, aid agency says it fears for safety of thousands of people trapped by floodwaters in Cagayan Valley. Published On 24 Jul Philippine authorities moved thousands of residents of the capital, Manila, out of their low-lying communities on Saturday as heavy monsoon rain, compounded by a tropical storm, flooded the city and nearby provinces The national disaster agency said 14, people, most of them from a flood-prone Manila suburb, had moved into evacuation centres.

More from News. At US-Mexico border, asylum seekers maintain hope amid hardships. The challenges in Manila brought about by floods, overpopulation and poor traffic had actually been addressed in a World Bank-funded project in Eventually, rapid urbanisation and uncontrolled population growth — in a city of 13 million now — led to weak oversight of what needed to be done, which raises the issue of whether the existing laws were implemented well.

Scientific evidence has suggested that by , many of the Philippine coastal regions, including the Manila Bay area, could find themselves underwater if countries fail to mitigate the effects of climate change. Since , however, with President Rodrigo Duterte at the helm of the country, it has been reported that more than 6, flood control projects have been completed to protect flood-prone areas across the country.

This includes relocating government offices to other regions. By developing other urban growth centres, he said, this could reduce the primacy of Manila. In fact, Manila was not always the administrative capital; in , the seat of power was relocated to nearby Quezon City. But in , the then President, Ferdinand Marcos, reinstated Manila as the capital, although Quezon City still hosts a number of government offices today.

And after several decades, said Lagmay, it is time to relocate the administrative centre again. Indeed, work has started on a new metropolis called New Clark City — about km north of Manila — becoming the seat of the national government by Some key government offices, like the Department of Transportation, have already relocated there.

Watch this episode here. The programme Insight is telecast on Thursdays at 9pm. We know it's a hassle to switch browsers but we want your experience with CNA to be fast, secure and the best it can possibly be. Politics and corruption is also a factor to consider here. There are several project proposals to improve the flood situation in Manila but failed to implement. During the time of President Aquino, he approved the plan to relocate squatter communities that are living besides waterways to prevent flooding.

But some politicians wanted to delay the operation to reserve it for the coming election as revealed by Public Works and Highways Secretary Singson, making it late for the rainy season. Another reason is that the metropolis is composed of 16 different leaders with different agendas for which makes it complicated on the decision making for the betterment of the whole community.

Given the situation, government assistance seems insufficient because of the massive disasters that the community is having. This Master Plan is rooted in two natures of solution to the previously mentioned problems. The first is non-structural measures.

These are ways that are focus on the prevention of flood, policies to be maintained, and disaster responses of the government, specially the LGU e.

Harmonization of Hazard Maps, is a map that would alarm the citizen where the hazards are likely to occur in times of natural calamities, these maps should be available online and in every corner of the city. Watershed Management should be efficient for water exits and water flow control. Lastly, Community Disaster Management should be strongly implemented and complied by the LGU for they are the first respondent and first line of defense during these unfortunate times.

Second solution is Structural Measures, these are the common flood infrastructures that are present physically. This movement will keep the people safe from hazard at the same time it will paved the way for the government to directly aid the problems in our creeks, drainage, and waterways. Through this movement, the government will be able to clean and clear the clogged drainages in the area for proper water exits, this will result to more efficient water pumping in the flooded area. Water exits will be more accessible to implant flood structures.

This will be a long term solution instead of raising the pavements or roads which does not address the source of the problem. Lastly, I strongly agree and support on the Master Plan. A complete, timely, and efficient execution of this can save many lives, livelihood, and resources. This Master Plan may seem enormous but through the cooperation of the concerned Government Agencies, this is achievable.

The ground is also sinking due to the weight of all that concrete, buildings and infrastructure mentioned in reason no. It floods because we have less drainage than before. Reports have it that we have lost almost half of our metropolitan esteros and canals. We used to have over 40 kilometers of them and now we only have about Many have been lost to development, disappearing without a trace now it regularly floods where they used to be of course.

It floods because many of those esteros, canals and waterways of our metropolis we have left are chock-full of informal settlers. Because there are no alternatives for low-income mass housing, desperate people settle in desperate areas. These settlements have little by way of solid waste management and sewers. All these go to the waterways, filling many of them so solid that dogs can cross over them. And we wonder why it floods. Many of these drainage ways and easements were identified in the several master plans made for Manila and Quezon City.

Planners had allocated as much as 50 meters of space on either side of these but greed set in and these easements disappeared and what little was left are now our favelas teeming with millions. The Manggahan floodway was only one half of the picture. It was meant to channel floodwater into Laguna Bay.

That spillway was never built. To build it now would cause trillions and urban sprawl has seen its path covered with more millions of people and thousands of structures. It floods because what little left of our drains and flood control infrastructure is ill-maintained. Reaching many of them is a problem because of informal settlements. Overlapping jurisdictions of local and national agencies conspire to dissipate responsibility and funding for this vital task of ensuring our drains are unclogged and free.

When the typhoons come, the gutters overflow. It floods because urban development is unplanned and unfettered. Mega-developments that see clusters of 30 to storey towers on retail podiums surrounded by hectares of parking cause havoc in districts planned with drainage infrastructure meant for low-density development.

The final reason it floods in this short list and there are many other reasons is politics.