SOLUTIONS OF FLOODING IN IWHA COMMUNITY

INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND

It can’t be denied that the cause of pollution is us humans, such as water, air and

land pollution. These pollutions can be the major cause of flooding in the country. Flash

floods are a part of individuals' lives in different locales of the world. The frequency of

natural disasters has been increasing over the years, resulting in loss of life, damage to

property and destruction of the environment (Living with Risk, 2000).

Everyday, there are different natural disasters happening all over the world. It was

stated that from 1994 to 2003, practically 2.5 billion individuals were influenced by natural

disasters. In a data given by United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

(UN/ISDR) from 1975-2005 there are at least 10 most common natural events that occur

on the earth. These are Presented at the Research Congress 2013 De La Salle University

Manila March 7-9, 2013. Flood, Windstorm, Epidemic, Earthquake, Drought, Landslide,

Extreme Temperature, Wildfire, Volcano Eruption and Insect Infestation. But amongst the

ten events, flooding is the most common all over the world wherein it got an average of

30.7 % (Shirey,2011) and it determined that 5,210 disasters recorded in the world

between 1991 and 2005, 2,029 (approximately 40 percent) have happened in the Asia-

Pacific region.

In Davao City, netizens in that community experienced flooding, and it is one of

the problems that is need to be solved. Trashes, vegetation, drainage and such can be

one of the reasons why that issue happens. According to the Regional Disaster Risk

Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC)-Davao Region, some of the rivers

overflowed because of heavy rains like the Talomo river that affects the barangays. As
the amount of water is increase, the stream must adjust its velocity and cross section in

order to form a balance. The discharge increase as more water is added through rainfall,

tributary streams, or from the groundwater seeping into the stream resulting in floods duet

to increase of width, depth and velocity of streams (Ismail DID, 2009). In Iwha, they

experienced floods especially in the corner portion since there are no vegetation and

proper drainage. It is a disturbance to the people especially to those who wants to go

home and to those who have work.

Many places in the Philippines experienced flooding especially when there are

typhoons. Typhoons Ketsana (local name Ondoy), Parma (local name Pepeng) and

Mirinae (local name Santi) in 2009 and Southwest monsoon (locally known as Habagat)

in 2012 have caused widespread impacts on the country. In Metro Manila, flooding has

been a typical occurrence, due to the fast urbanization of the city. Different government

agencies have stated solutions as to how to lessen the damaging impacts of flooding.

Flood alleviating offices such as pumping stations were made to control the rising waters,

but due to the limited resources and lack of proper cooperation from the netizens and

large amount of garbage clogging the drainage these efforts are more often wasted

(DLSU Research Congress, 2013). In Manila, one of the reasons why they experienced

it is because of pollutants. Water pollution – too much garbage in the aquatic ecosystem,

that can cause of overflowing of rivers and seas. Land pollution – they don’t practice

proper disposal of trashes, they just litter everywhere and that can be also a cause of air

pollution – the smell of the garbage that can affect human health. Netizens should

discipline their selves to prevent such conundrum. They should know the consequences

in all the things that they do. In some cases, the effect of extreme flooding is dramatic,
not only at the individual household level, but also in the country as a whole (Integrated

Flood Management Concept Paper, 2009).

Globally, floods are seen as the most dangerous of all naturally happening

disasters. Unlike to those developed countries, Asian countries are more likely to

experienced serious problems. The unique hydro meteorological and monsoonal

influences in the region mainly determined the floods of South Asia. Two monsoonal

windows are operational in the region: the southwest monsoon that follows the summer

months and the northeast monsoon in the winter. The southwest monsoon generally

prevails from June to September and accounts for nearly 70-80% of the rainfall in this

region (Saleh Ur Rahman, 2014). Furthermore, melting of glaciers in the Himalayan-

Hindukush region, may affect rising of water that can increase flash floods in the

mountainous regions. South Asia’s geography makes it particularly prone to natural

disasters. As per the Index of World Risk Report, Bangladesh has been declared the

second most disaster-risk country in Asia only after the Philippines and sixth in the world

after countries like Vanuatu, Tonga and Guatemala. The 2007 South Asian floods had

wide scale effects in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Bangladesh which resulted into

death toll in excess of 2,000 in addition to affecting nearly 30 million people in the region

(SAARC workshop on flood risk management in south Asia, 2012). Additionally, flood

events account for two thirds of the global population affected by all naturally triggered

disaster events (UNDP, 2004).

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The main thrust of the study was to determine the problems and the causes why

IWHA community experienced flooding and to know what are the solutions that can be

done to prevent this problem

Specifically, these research questions guide us in our study:

1. Is the drainage system the problem of flooding in that area?

2. Is lack of vegetation the reason there is flooding in that area?

3. Improper waste of disposal can be the reason of flooding in that area?

Proposed Solutions

1. Cleaning of drainage systems

2. Plant more trees

3. Implement a policy about strict waste management and disposal.

4. Spread awareness about proper disposal in the community and in social

media.

5. Conduct a monthly or even weekly cleaning operations both in your

household and in your community.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study aims to determine the different reasons why there is flooding in Iwha and

what are the causes that leads to flooding. Additionally, it determines what are the

solutions to prevent this issue.

 This study highlights the reasons such as the drainage system, lack of vegetation

or the improper waste disposal. The citizens and the barangay should take an action to

prevent these disasters. The results of this study will know the major reason why there

is flooding in that area. These concluded data will help the people and the community to

identify the cause and to apply the solution to that specific conundrum. Every problem

has a solution, if all of the people in that community will help to have a clean and

peaceful environment.

Findings of this study would raise awareness to the individuals in the community

about the issue and to tell them to act as a responsible citizen. They should discipline

their selves to prevent further damages in our ecosystem. This study would spread a

word to all of the netizens to stop doing things that can affect the environment since we

humans are the one who will face the consequences.

II. Review of Related Literature

Before going into the main variables of the study, the proponents discuss in the first part

what are the reasons of flooding in the local, national and global community. Researchers

stated about the solutions on how to solve this issue.

LOCAL

Sinclair and Pegram (2003) stated that floods cannot be prevented but their devastating

effects can be minimized if advance warning of the event is available. With large increase

in population and increasing urbanization there are more people living in informal

settlements, which are often on flood plains as this is the only underdeveloped land

available near cities. The people living in these settlements are those who are most at
risk, not only due to their geographical location in the flood plain but also because they

do not have the financial resources to recover from the damage caused by flooding.

According to Smith and Ward (1998), there is more evidence that the flood problem is

getting worse in terms of the damage caused by flooding. Despite massive expenditure

on flood defence, flood damage losses continue to rise in many countries. Although most

floods are more or less natural phenomena, the flood hazard is largely of human origin.

Most floods results from moderate to large events, occurring within the expected range

of stream flow. Floods constitute a “hazard” only where human encroachment into flood

prone areas has occurred.

In Davao City, places in different areas were flooded due to heavy rains brought by a low-

pressure area caused Davao rivers to swell, causing over 200 families to evacuate

because of this calamity. Hundreds of commuters heading out of Davao City such as

Panabo and Tagum got stranded (2019). Four barangays in Davao City have been placed

under state of calamity, they experienced massive flooding that waters have entered their

houses. Tugbok Proper, Los Amigos, Talomo, and Wangan are directly affected by this

calamity. (Che Palicte, 2019)

NATIONAL

In a study of south Asian region Bank off (2003) states that, in Philippines, flooding is not

a recent hazard but one that has occurred throughout the recorded history. On the one

hand, it is related to a wider global ecological crisis to do with climate change and rising

sea levels but on the other hand, it is also the effect of more-localized human activities.

A whole range of socio-economic factors such as land use practices, living standards and

policy responses are increasingly influencing the frequency of natural hazards such as
floods and the corresponding occurrence of disasters. He also mentioned in his study

that, Municipality has its basis in a complex risk of inter-relating factors that emphasize

how the nature of vulnerability is constructed through the lack of mutuality between

environment and human activity over time. Statistical trends suggest that floods have

become more numerous and more devastating in recent years. Certainly the frequency

of events and the number of people affected have increased steadily as human related

activities such as deforestation; overgrazing and urbanization aggravate environmental

conditions, making communities more vulnerable (Bank off, 2003). Cebu City experienced

a calamity which we call flood. Councilor Dave Tumulak stated that “It's quite clear that

the flooding was caused by irresponsible disposal of garbage. It wasn't really a heavy

downpour, but the trash has clogged up our drainage system's waterways,” The

government of Cebu City blames improper waste disposal because piles of rubbish were

seen scattered all over the affected areas when the floodwater subsided. (Fernandez,

published, 2017)

GLOBAL

In UK, flood risk represents a significant threat to many communities. Around 1.8 million

households and 140,000 commercial properties in England and Wales are located in

floodplain areas, affecting at least 4-5 million people. The researcher further points out

that a range of flood risk management activities are undertaken by operating authorities.

These include emergency planning, awareness raising, provision of flood warning and

creation of flood storage areas as well as the construction and maintenance of both

conventional and innovative flood defences. Crossman, M. et al. (2006) suggests that in
the face of such increases in risk, the provision of reliable information and public

awareness is essential.

In east China’s Jiangxi province, heavy rains caused a deadly flood that trapped 285

hikers from three tourist groups. According to the Xinhua news agency, the hikers were

saved by Monday Morning after the local government sent more that 530 rescuers to that

area. In the south china, they issued a red alert for heavy rain that caused widespread

flooding in that area. The main street in Sanming city, at XInshibei road, about 300 meters

of the read was in flood or underwater. China issued a red alert for the rainstorms, in that

occurrence, there are approximately 20 landslides were reported. China has a four-tier

color-coded warning system for severe weather, with red representing the severest

conditions, followed by orange, yellow and blue (Al Jazeera and news agencies, 2019).

The rain affected more than 72,000 citizens and 1,235 were evacuated to safely.

Farmlands also was affected and it losses of around $29m.

III. METHODOLOGY

Research Locale
The case study was conducted at Iwha Village, Brgy. Baliok during academic year 2019-

2020 at Davao city since the respondents are citizens of this community.

Research Respondents

Research Instrument
To conduct the study, the proponents made a survey questionnaire that aims to find out

what are the causes of flooding in the Iwha community and to discover possible

solutions for this issue.

Data Gathering Procedure