After Cagayan-Isabela flood, better early warning, monitoring facilities sought

Floodwaters that reached up to 7-foot deep inundated almost the entire city of Tuguegarao between Friday and Saturday. Some residents were trapped on their rooftops waiting for the flood to recede after the Magat Dam released water and rivers overflow due to incessant rains dumped by Typhoon Ulysses and enhanced by the tailend of a cold front. Photo courtesy of David Te

MANILA, Philippines — The recent flooding in Cagayan and Isabela underscored the need to upgrade the capabilities of the early warning and flooding monitoring facilities in the region, an official of the Office of Civil Defense in the Cordillera Administrative Region (OCD-CAR) said Monday.

During the hearing of the House Special Committee on North Luzon Growth Quadrangle, OCD-CAR Regional Director Albert Mogol presented their proposals following the devastation brought by Typhoon Ulysses in the provinces of Cagayan and Isabela, which local government officials consider as the worst flooding they had experienced in more than four decades.

“Because of this orographic effect, nagkaroon ng precipitation at hindi nakaalis ‘yung tubig. Hindi nadala sa kabilang side, so dito lahat bumagsak sa eastern side ng Cagayan Valley kaya ‘yung ating mga dam ay nag-swell, ang mga river ay nag-swell,” Mogol explained.

(Because of this orographic effect, the rain went to the eastern side of Cagayan Valley so our dams and rivers swelled.)

“Pero kung mayroon tayong effective and efficient na early warning system, makakatulong ito sa early evacuation sana ng mga tao natin on the downstream,” he added.

(But if we have effective and efficient early warning system, it would help in the early evacuation of residents on the downstream.)

Under Mogol’s proposal, he said that the flood warning systems from the water tributaries of Cordilleras down to the provinces within and outside CAR should be upgraded and expanded.

He added that facility and capability improvement and possible assistance to local government agencies (LGUs) manning these systems should also be implemented.

“Siguro kapag ito ay na-realize natin, kailangan natin dito yung ating mga experts para mapag-aralan yung takbo ng tubig dito and we are in need of hydrographers para sila ‘yung mag-man nito because all of these things have scientific explanation as an effect of the climate change,” Mogol said.

(If we do this, we need our experts so they can study the flow of water here, and we are in need of hydrographers to man this because all of these things have scientific explanation as an effect of the climate change.)

According to Mogol, there are a lot of non-functioning hydrometer stations which could not be maintained or upgraded after the Optimization Project of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) was suspended in August this year.

He said that he will meet with the DOST director in their region to tackle this concern since flooding in low-lying areas are already “inevitable” due to the effects of climate change.

“Ito ay matagal ng problema ng ating director ng Pagasa dito sa north… Kulang talaga ‘yung mga tao na magma-maintain nito at makapagbibigay sana ng early warning kung properly maintained ito at may mga taong magma-man,” Mogol said.

(This has been a problem of our Pagasa director here in the north… There is not enough personnel to maintain it, when it could provide early warning if it is properly maintained.)

“Ang nakikita namin is dapat maging effective and efficient ang ating early warning system para may time pa na mag-evacuate at makapaghanda ang mga nandun sa low-lying areas particularly Cagayan Valley,” he added.

(We see that we need an effective and efficient early warning system so there is time to evacuate and those in low-lying areas, particularly in Cagayan Valley, can prepare.)

JPV