Calumpit, Philippines

The government of the Philippines is fighting a losing battle with residents living in flood-prone areas as they refuse to relocate.

In October, following Typhoon Nalgae, former army general Benito Ramos, the Philippines' top civil defence official, went from one submerged house to another in the town of Calumpit, north of the capital Manila, appealing to those stuck on their rooftops to evacuate to safer areas, only to be rebuffed and told to return with food items.

"It is very frustrating. You go out to those areas trying to save lives and end up arguing with these people," Ramos told IRIN.

Similar scenarios played out across the area as rescuers in rubber boats and helicopters struggled to convince thousands of families in low-lying areas to flee, complicating an already difficult emergency situation and stretching the government's limited resources.

"There are times I want to physically remove them or handcuff them just so they will be saved, but what can I do? They will accuse me of violating their human rights...The dilemma for me, however, is that the government will be held accountable for whatever may happen to them in times of disasters."

"Not budging"

Residents told him they wanted to protect their properties from looters. Others argued that as floods and heavy storms were common in the Philippines -- the country gets battered by up to 20 typhoons a year, some of them deadly -- they were well equipped to cope.

"But what often happens is that there are a lot of casualties, people panic and get flat-footed when the waters quickly rise," Ramos said.

On 27 September, Typhoon Nesat hit , with a massive rain band that covered most of Luzon island, affecting about 35 provinces, many of them in the country's fertile but low-lying central rice-growing plains; in some places reaching rooftops.

Five days later, Typhoon Nalgae struck, cutting a similar destructive path, compounding its impact.

According to the country's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the death toll from both typhoons was more than 100, while the number of people affected was over 4 million.

Of those, some 727,000 people required assistance, including more than 61,000 in 138 evacuation centres in Luzon.

For weeks, floods from the back-to-back typhoons submerged vast tracts of farmland and riverside communities before subsiding, but many residents said they would rebuild in the same place, despite warnings to relocate.

"Sometimes it boggles the mind why they would want to build there. But because their families have lived in these communities for generations, it is difficult to move them away," Ramos said, noting that in one township in Pampanga province, he saw a sports gymnasium standing just a few metres from a river that frequently overflows its banks during storm season.

"And this is the same gymnasium that people use as an evacuation centre."

Disaster aid

After the disaster, President Benigno Aquino ordered the release of US$1.6 billion in funds between now and the end of the year, a huge part slated for local government units to improve infrastructure against natural disasters and relocate informal settlers and those living in danger zones.

James de Jesus, the mayor of Calumpit, said local emergency staff had repeatedly warned residents in the typhoon's path to seek shelter elsewhere, but the appeals went unheeded.

Forcibly evacuating them was next to impossible, he said.

"There were just too many them. It would have been an impossible task," he said. "The next thing you knew, many were stranded on rooftops, and the next best thing was to drop food and other basic items for them."

A typical case was Jocy Barletta, in her late 60s, who said she and her family did not see the need to evacuate because they thought the water would quickly subside.

"But we were wrong. The water was so high and it submerged even the town proper," she said. "We were just worried about our belongings. And besides, where will we go? We can't stay in an overcrowded evacuation centre.

"The next time, maybe we will be more prepared," she said. "We didn't think the floods would be like Ondoy."

Tropical storm Ondoy, or Ketsana, ravaged the Philippine capital and nearby suburban areas in late 2009, bringing massive floods and misery.

It was closely followed by Typhoon Parma, and both weather disturbances left millions affected and about 1,000 people dead, with the total cost of recovery and reconstruction estimated at more than $4.4 billion, according to the World Bank.

- Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

 

 

 

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