Flood reflections

After the floods in Bulacan due to typhoons last September 27 and October 1, I posted something to reflect on Facebook which I am now sharing here. It is originally written in Filipino so I included some translations.

This is the original text...

pagninilay po lamang... 

(1) sadyang mababang lugar ang bayan ng Hagonoy, sa tuwing may high tide ay umaapaw din ang mga ilog, at sa katunayan nung 1972 nakaranas na ito ng malaking baha na nagmula sa Angat Dam, naging "catch basin" at pinayuhan ang mga residente na lisanin ang lugar... ngunit sinong residente naman ang aalis sa isang bayan na kanyang kinalakhan lalo pa't nandun din naman ang kabuhayan. nagpatupad ng iba't ibang solusyon gaya ng pagtaas ng mga daanan na natupad sa ilang lugar, gayundin ang paghukay ng mga ilog na alam nating hindi naging ganap na tugon upang maibsan ang pagbaha kahit mag-high tide. 

(2) may itinakdang taas ng tubig sa Angat Dam upang mapanatili ang de-kalidad na serbisyo nito sa ilang kababayan sa Bulacan at Maynila. tuwing may bagyong nagdadala ng malakas na ulan, naghihintay sila ng abiso sa tuwing tumataas sa kritikal na lebel ang tubig ngunit naisip kaya ng pamunuan lalo't alam nila nung 1972 madaming namatay sa pagbaha dulot ng Angat Dam? at alam din naman natin na tuwing tag-araw nagkakaproblema din sila dahil mababa naman sa itinakdang lebel ang tubig sa dam. sadyang wla bang solusyon upang hindi masayang ang tubig na itinatapon ng dam sa tuwing mapupuno ito? 

(3) ang tagapagtaya ng panahon sa PAGASA ay nakakapagsukat lamang ng dami ng ulan kapag ito ay nakapasok na sa kalupaan, ang radar ay sumusukat lamang sa lakas ng hangin at bugso nito gayundin ang bilis at direksyon ng takbo nito. Ang mga dam ay nagpapasya ng pagpapakawala ng tubig ayon na din sa dami ng ulan na ipapalabas sa ulat ng PAGASA. wala bang pagsasaliksik kung papaanung sa karagatan pa lang na nasasakupan ng Pilipinas ay masukat na din ang dami ng ulan at pati na rin dayametro na maaring kapalooban nito?

This is the translated version...

For a reflection ...

(1) The town of Hagonoy (in Bulacan province) is actually a low-area, surrounding rivers overflow during high tide, and in fact in 1972 the town experienced a great flood that came from Angat Dam spills, it became the "catch basin" and some authorities advised the residents to leave the area... But residents would not turn away as their livelihood is situated there,  they have implemented various solutions such as elevating the passage which was carried out in some areas, as well as the dredging of rivers that we know did not become complete solutions to relieve the flooding even during high tide.

(2) Angat Dam has designated water measure to maintain the high quality service to some fellows in Bulacan and Manila. Whenever a storm brings heavy rain, they wait for notification when the water reached critical levels, but the authorities did not learn just so in 1972 when many died in floods caused by the Angat Dam? and we also know that during summer they are also having problems because of low water level in dams. do they have solutions to design and not waste any water from dams thrown whenever it reached high water level?

(3) the PAGASA forecasters can measure the amount of rainfall only when the typhoon makes a landfall, their radar measures only the strength of the wind and gustiness as well as its speed and direction. The dam decides to release water after they knew the amount of rainfall also to be disclosed in the report of PAGASA. are there researches wherein the amount rainfall can be measured when the typhoon is still on the Philippine seas and also the typhoon's diameter?