The Effectiveness of the Flood Disaster Warning System in Barangay San Sebastian

Hagonoy Bulacan: A basis for Enhancement

I. Introduction

Flood disaster warning systems have been acknowledged as a useful tool

for lowering vulnerabilities and enhancing preparedness for and response to natural
disasters. The flood disaster warning system is important because it gives people
enough time to make preparations, reduce damages and save lives. Through the use
of a warning system, countries should be able to send and receive hazard alerts and
effectively communicate this information to locals and first responders. It denotes
that local authorities have prepared reaction strategies for the warning, such as
identifying safe locations and quickly evacuating residents of dangerous regions to
designated safe areas.

A flood is an occurrence where water submerges normally dry land. Floods

are a natural process that can be due to several factors and are affected by human
activities. Floods happen at irregular intervals and no two floods are the same.
Sudden, heavy and intense precipitation can cause floods to quickly rise in minutes
or hours followed by flash floods and are typically associated with small catchment
areas. In large catchment areas, rainfall can build up over hours, days or weeks.
Many factors contribute to floods however the main cause of floods is rainfall. When
the rain pours over a catchment, some rainfall is captured by soil, vegetation, and
water storage such as farms and dams. The rest flows downhill into waterways. The
amount and time the rainwater reaches the waterways are dependent on the
characteristics of the catchment, particularly its vegetation, shape, size, the way the
land is utilized, and the preceding weather conditions.

Flooding is one of the most common natural immense damages to

agricultural production, destruction of infrastructure, and loss of lives. Flooding in
most cases cannot be prevented. (Chubey and Hathout, 2014).
 Every person has a significant obligation to take a chance, especially in the
prevention for those who live in an area that is prone to disasters. According to
(Annan, 1999), thousands of lives may be avoided if more effective preventative
techniques were utilized. Building a culture of prevention is challenging because its
expenditures must be incurred now but its benefits will not be seen for many years.
Most frequently, disasters like floods will result in property damage and perhaps the
loss of life. By installing certain early warning systems and improving the drainage
system, this natural occurrence brought on by heavy rains may be prevented.

Its primary objective is to ensure the safety of human life, property and
warning systems in Barangay San Sebastian Hagonoy, Bulacan, in order to
effectively prepare in beforehand and prevent or minimize damages caused by floods
In the aspect of flood early warning indicators, the same warning level is used in the
Barangay or city of Hagonoy with the amount of rainfall, rainfall duration, and
rainfall intensity Such rainfall indices can offer decision-makers a good level of early
warning information so they can take safety precautions.

Hagonoy is a 1st-class municipality on the coast of the province of

Bulacan, island of Luzon. The municipality has a total land area of 103.10 square
kilometers or 39.81 square miles subdivided into 26 barangays, accounting for 3.70%
of the total area of Bulacan (PhilAtlas, 2022). Barangay San Sebastian is one of the
barangays in the municipality and is located at about 14.8393, 120.7368. At these
coordinates, the elevation is found to be 7.4 meters or 24.3 feet above mean sea level
(PhilAtlas, 2022). With Hagonoy being deemed as a 1st class municipality, it is safe
to assume that San Sebastian socio-economic status is of 1st class as well. All
barangays are also classified as urban by Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA, 2022).
It has an estimated population of 8,168 people according to the 2020 Census. This
represented 6.12% of Hagonoy's total population. In the 2022 Census, Sta. Monica's
household population was 8,317, divided into 1,854 homes, with an average of 4.49
people per household. From the previous population of 8,317 in 2022, the newest
census results in 2022 show a negative growth rate of 0.38 percent, or a reduction of
149 persons. The municipality of Hagonoy is prone to floods as an effect from the
overflow of water in Pampanga and Angat River, and Hagonoy River. Furthermore,
due to high tide, many low-lying places in the municipality flood all year (Balgos,
2022). The classification of flooding susceptibility of each barangay varies
depending on their geographical location, Barangay San Sebastian was found to be
one of the high-risk areas of the municipality based on the 2022 DENRMGB study
(DENR-MGB, 2022, as cited in Balgos, 2022).

San Sebastian, along with nine (9) barangays in Hagonoy, Bulacan is said to
have moderate to high susceptibility of flooding according to Mines and Geosciences
Bureau-Regional Office III [MGB-R3], (n.d).

The Republic Act 7160, also known as the Local Government Code of 1991,
which contains several laws supportive of the goals and objectives of the disaster
preparedness, prevention/mitigation programs, served as the basis for this study's
early warning system need. This code also supports Republic Act 10121, also known
as the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System, which is defined
as an early warning system as a set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate
timely and meaningful warning information to enable individuals, communities, and
organizations threatened by a hazard to prepare. These provisions in the Local
Government Code strengthen the efforts of the disaster management program at the
local level.

The aim of this study is to see the effectiveness of the flood disaster warning
system in Barangay of San Sebastian Hagonoy Bulacan, it is a basis for
enhancement.

The researchers proposed the study of the effectiveness of the flood disaster
warning system in the Barangay of San Sebastian, Hagonoy Bulacan: A basis for
Enhancement to help the residents to be well-oriented about flood preparedness,
safety and protocols. As one of the low-lying areas that needs to have warning
system, it is effective tool to improve preparedness and response to a natural hazard.

Residents of the villages in the towns of Paombong, Hagonoy, Guiguinto,

Balagtas, and Marilao are reportedly affected by the flood, according to the regional
disaster risk reduction and management office. Geographically, Hagonoy lies on low-
lying territory next to a coastal area; it is located on the northern shores of Manila
Bay, which is the main reason why the town is at risk of flooding anytime it begins to
rain excessively. By this study, it can help residence in San Sebastian, Hagonoy to be
alert and aware in flooding. It can also help the community to build a flood disaster
warning system, when conditions are expected to result in flooding of property and a
potential risk to life, a flood warning is given. Flood warnings are primarily intended
to save lives by giving the public, first responders, and other stakeholders enough
time to prepare for flooding.

Furthermore, because they believe that the problem is minor and should be
addressed by the district or local authority, most of the residents of San Sebastian
Hagonoy, Bulacan are less concerned about environmental issues, especially
disasters. They also anticipate that the government will be the only one to provide
flood protection when flooding occurs. Following one of four options accommodate,
defend, retreat, or do-nothing people will react to calamities. It is evident that human
adaptation to floods varies naturally by region due to differences in the natural
environment, the national economy, people's living habits, and social institutions.
 II. Statement of the Problem

The Effectiveness of the Flood Disaster Warning System of this study include
local government unit concepts that are generated by barangay experiences on Flood
Disaster such as barangay warning system, precautions toward the Flood, perception
of residence in giving warning to Flood disaster, Concept of Enhancement, response
of the Barangay Officials and terminologies, support and difficulties or challenges in
doing the Warning System toward to Flood Disaster.

The study seeks to find out the Effectiveness of the Flood Disaster Warning
System in Barangay of San Sebastian Hagonoy.

Specifically, the research is intended to determine into;

1. How may the profile of the respondents/residents be described?

2. How does the Flood Disaster Warning system affect the preparedness of the residents
of Barangay San Sebastian, Hagonoy, Bulacan?
3. What are the factors affecting the disseminating of flood warning system in Barangay
San Sebastian Hagonoy, Bulacan?
4. How does the flood warning system of San Sebastian Hagonoy Bulacan effective?
5. Does early flood warning effective?
6. What is the risk of late warning to the residents of San Sebastian Hagonoy, Bulacan?
7. What is the significant of Flood warning system?
8. What do you think is the importance of being prepared in case of having a warning of
a flood?
9. How will residents of San Sebastian receive information about a flood disaster or an
emergency situation?
10. How do you prefer to receive information about flood warning?

Also, this research examined the response of Barangay Officials in

Barangay San Sebastian Hagonoy, Bulacan.
 Research Adviser

Sir. Jayson Christian T. Caballa

Group 6

Danilo G. Flores Jr.

Mark Angelo DG. Mapoy

Ñino D. Reyes

Erwilyn S. Almera

Ashley Nicole Bautista

Anna Corinne A. Cruz

Rose Anne B. Del Rosario

Nicka Tria