Column: high-rise housing as solution in flood-prone cities

Several areas in the city submerged in floodwaters that lasted for more than one week.

This necessitates flood mitigation measures to minimize its impacts to people, properties, and the environment. The flood affected some areas within its urban barangays including San Pedro, Bancao-Bancao, San Miguel, San Manuel, San Jose, Tagburos, Sta. Lourdes, Sicsican.

Aside from recurring floods, the Philippines is also a typhoon-prone country. In November 2013, Supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan), the strongest storm on record that swept through the Pacific, left a broad scar of devastation. Our country bore the brunt of the superstorm that flattened Tacloban, which was on its eye.

In its aftermath, Yolanda caused damage to more than 1 million houses, of which 550,928 were totally damaged. Final report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said that the typhoon caused widespread destruction, especially in coastal areas.

Many houses wiped out by the supertyphoon was built within the coastal areas and no-build zones, leading to both challenges and opportunities for relocation and reconstruction. This highlighted the vulnerability of the community in coastal areas and incited efforts to relocate families to safer zones.

Since majority of the totally damaged houses at the height of Yolanda are mostly small houses in coastal areas made of light materials we can assert that high-rise buildings can offer a solution for typhoon-prone areas in the country by providing a vertical space that at the same time mitigates some of the risks linked with typhoons and flooding. While this may not be a complete solution, high-rise structures can be designed to endure strong winds and rain, and their verticality can offer a scale of protection from flooding.

The national government’s Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program launched three years ago medium rise and high-rise residential buildings and these could potentially provide long term solutions in flood prone and typhoon prone areas in our country. The Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD) said that their 4PH project will be implemented in at least 12 areas in Eastern Visayas, among the typhoon-prone regions in the country.

In Palawan, the national government has partnered with the City Government of Puerto Princesa and funded the construction of 47-five story buildings housing project to help rid the city’s coastlines of informal settlers. The buildings would provide 5,640 housing units under the auspices of the national government’s 4PH.

It appears that typhoon prone and flood prone Philippines needs the 4PH program to protect the people and property from furious typhoons and recurring floods. The mid and high-rise housing offers resilient housing to people who very prone to disasters, as it shields them from strongest winds and rampaging floodwaters-ending their long-time problem and exposure to typhoons and floods.