Clogged drainage causes street flooding in Davao

Photo courtesy of Oliver Menil
Photo courtesy of Oliver Menil

CLOGGED drainage systems caused the street flooding in Davao City during a heavy downpour Saturday evening, April 10, 2021, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said.

In a radio interview on Monday, April 12, the mayor said the Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) reported during their department heads meeting the list of areas that were flooded on Saturday evening.

“Barado ang drainage. Ang monitoring report sa street flooding akong giingnan na ipasa sa City Engineer’s Office (CEO) aron maka-review sila og unsay hinungdan. Pero mubalik gihapon na sa barado tungod sa naglain-laing mga rason (The drainage [systems] were clogged. I told CDRRMO to forward their monitoring report on street flooding to the City Engineer’s Office so they can review it and find out the cause. But it will all boil down to clogged drainage due to several reasons)," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.

She said there have been drainage projects and interventions that were made to address flooding in some flood-prone areas but even after that, flooding still happens in other areas.

The mayor said the CDRRMO street flooding report is vital. The report consists of the list of areas and streets that were flooded and are flood-prone.

She said the list was already forward to the CEO for them to check if the Department of Public Works and Highways has drainage projects in these areas.

"Kung wala pa, kinahanglan og inspection og tan-awon kung unsa ba jud ang problema og unsa ba jud ang kinahanglan na klase na infrastructure nga solusyon sa pagbaha (If there is none yet, an inspection is needed to determine the real problem and what infrastructure is needed to solve the flooding problem)," Duterte-Carpio said.

The mayor also noticed that flood incidents or overflow of water level occur in other areas when there are accomplished drainage projects.

She also bared the usual reasons for the flooding, including private lot owners block the natural waterways as the water passes through their private properties, while some homeowners create their own drainage system that does not connect to the water path.

Duterte-Carpio also said that the usual reasons for the flooding include undisciplined disposal of garbage in canals.

Davao City-based environmentalists are urging policymakers to integrate "more sustainable, resilient, disaster-adaptive development, and more environment-responsive" policies, following the flooding in the city brought by heavy rain on Saturday evening.

This includes stricter regulations to address plastic pollution as various single-use plastic (SUP) wastes were on the streets in the aftermath of the flooding.

Meanwhile, CDRRMO chief Alfredo Baloran, in his monitoring report, said that several areas in 13 of the city’s barangays were affected by the April 10 flooding due to the heavy downpour caused by easterlies with localized thunderstorms.

The affected areas were Kilometer 5 Highway, Tulip Drive, Barangay Matina Crossing; highway fronting barangay hall in Barangay Matina Aplaya; Purok 3, Susan Homes, Barangay Baliok; Bacanaya Village, Barangay Catalunan Pequeño; Countryside Village and La Vista Monte Village, Barangay Talomo; Goldland Subdivision, Barangay Bago Gallera; Spring Valley Subdivision, Barangay Buhangin; Gallera De Oro Subdivision, Barangay Bago Aplaya; New Argao, Datu Loho; Forest Lake, Bugac in Barangay Maa; Circumferential Road, Barangay 76-A; Opal Street, Marfori Subdivision, Barangay 10-A; J.P. Laurel Avenue, Bajada; and Quirino Avenue corner Jacinto Extension.

Baloran said water level also increased in some major rivers of Davao City. (With reports from CIO)

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