Friday, 21 October 2022 08:01

Capitol, City Hall to join forces vs floods

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The October 16 flash flood that hit barangay Bugo in Cagayan de Oro and barangay Casinglot in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, prompted Mayor Rolando “Klarex” Uy and Gov. Pedro M. Unabia to agree on working together for better disaster responses.
 
Among the agreements was the sharing of early warning information and search and rescue assets between the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Department and the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.
 
The CDRRMD and PDRRMO agreed to meet with their counterparts in Bukidnon, particularly the municipalities of Manolo Fortich, Baungon, Libona, Talakag, and Malitbog, to discuss sharing early warning information. Cagayan de Oro and the Bukidnon have an information-sharing agreement.
 
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Mayor Uy and Gov. Unabia also jointly appealed to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which was invited to the coordination meeting at the Capitol last Thursday to fast-track the approval of river dredging applications.
 
Mayor Uy said the completion of the drainage projects by DPWH is crucial in flood control. But if the rivers remain heavily silted, flooding will persist. “Bisan unsaon daghan drainage, kinahanglan gyud ang desilting sa atong mga suba. Ang problema kay dugay ang pag-approve sa dredging sa DPWH Central Office,” Mayor Uy said.
 
He also called on the people to cooperate and do their role in mitigating flood impacts. “Kinahanglan ang mga tawo dili mulabay sa basura bisan og asa, ug mananum ta’g kahoy,” he added.
 
According to the DPWH, the third-party study on the proposed dredging of the heavily silted Cagayan de Oro and Iponan rivers is to be finished in November this year. And only then can the DPWH decide whether to approve or not the proposed dredging based on the current policy. The dredging of the two largest rivers in Cagayan de Oro City had been proposed way before the deadly Sendong flood in 2011.
 
Gov. Unabia said he would raise the issue of prolonged dredging approval with the League of Provinces of the Philippines. He and Mayor Uy are mulling resource sharing to fund the study for the dredging of the Alae River that overflowed following torrential rains in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon.
 
Last Sunday’s floods resulted in the death of three persons and the evacuation of around 10,000 individuals from barangay Bugo, Cagayan de Oro, and barangay Casinglot, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Pagasa’s Climate Outlook for 2022 to March 2023 forecasts above-average rainfall from September to March 2023, with the La Nina expected to persist from December 2022 to February 2022.
 
According to studies by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), increased rainfall is one of the climate change impacts on the Philippines, along with sea level rise, more intense typhoons, droughts and heat waves, and compounded extreme events. (CMO Communications Group)