No typhoons, but morning rains paralyze half of capital

THE ONE THAT ALMOST GOT AWAY A lone taxicab braves the knee-high waters outside the gates of Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, only to conk out midway through a flooded stretch of Edsa. Flash floods from heavy rains stranded vehicles and brought traffic to near-standstill in the metro for more than an hour Friday morning. —SCREENSHOT FROM MMDA METROBASE

A cocktail of familiar traffic and infrastructure problems compounded by flash floods from heavy rains forced half of Metro Manila to a standstill on Friday morning.

At the gates of Camp Aguinaldo in Ortigas, knee-high waters that submerged a long stretch of Edsa stranded both south and northbound vehicles for more than an hour.

Heavy rains from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. resulted in flash floods in many areas in the Metro and worsened the already crippling traffic problem in the capital, particularly during the rainy season.

Vehicles were backed up for at least an hour and 20 minutes from Gate 3 of Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, to Harrison Street in Pasay City, a distance of about 15 kilometers, said Vic Felizardo, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) metrobase operations commander.

Even trucks stopped

The same situation was evident along E. Rodriguez Avenue, also in Quezon City and quite near San Juan River, as knee-high flood waters forced even huge hauling trucks to a halt.

The floods again highlighted the all-too-familiar problems that have long hounded the Metro:  drainage canals blocked by garbage, uneven roads that result in catch basins in some areas, and the lack of enough pumping stations to suck out excess water.

Part of the problem, too, is the tangle of mandates between the MMDA, which is tasked to oversee flood control, and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the agency given the budget to develop road infrastructure, MMDA flood control director Baltazar Melgar said.

Interventions

While the MMDA was doing the necessary interventions like fixing and maintaining drainage systems and pumping stations, their efforts would be useless without enough flood control infrastructure, Melgar added.

The MMDA official cited the flood along Ortigas that, he said, was caused by water from Camp Aguinaldo’s golf courses flowing downstream toward the northbound lane of Edsa.

Aside from drainage systems choking with garbage, portions of the road outside the camp’s Gate 3 were also depressed, allowing water to pool and rise to knee-deep, said MMDA flood control unit team leader Eddie Garcia.

It did not help that waters in San Juan River reached 15.6 m at the height of the rainfall and flowed into low-lying areas in Quezon City, which had to suspend classes for the day.

RIDING HIGH Desperate commuters hitch a ride on MMDA vehicles (above photo) that went around picking up passengers stranded by the flash floods along Araneta Avenue in Quezon City, which street urchins happily convert into a wading pool. PHOTOS BY NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

More pumps needed

Much of northern Manila’s waters are pumped into the river, Garcia said.

The floods could have been reduced if there were at least two more pumping stations along the river, but to date, a  $500-million World Bank project to install at least 20 new pumping stations and modernize 36 more across Manila has remained a proposal.

While the MMDA was the implementing agency, the budget has yet to be granted to the DPWH, Melgar said.

A long-term solution would be to allow only one agency to oversee flood control so that necessary infrastructures are not bogged down by bureaucratic bottlenecks, the MMDA flood control director said.

Right now, he added, 47 of the MMDA’s 68 flood control projects worth P459 million are hounded by issues in bidding and procurement.

At least 35 of these projects are drainage systems, most of which have yet to be completed, Melgar said, adding that the MMDA is planning to build a revetment wall along Caliraya Creek near G. Araneta Avenue, Quezon City, to prevent water from inundating the area.

With the backlog of flood control projects, much of what the MMDA does is limited to the operation and maintenance of existing structures, Melgar said.