Severe flooding in Manila, Philippines

Flooded streets in Metro Manila. Credits to Reuters.

Since yesterday, Metro Manila and its immediate neighbors have been flooded once again due to the continuous heavy rains spawned by the southwest monsoon as a result of the Typhoon Saola (with the PAGASA name of Gener).

It was reported that the flood experienced in Metro Manila has been worse than on what the Typhoon Ondoy left on the same area, more than two years ago as the rainfall measured to 472 mm in for the last 22 hours as of this writing this blog and if it continues, it would increae to 514 mm in 2 hours.

Because of severe flooding in Metro Manila and its immediate neighbors, educational and other labor institutions forced to cancel their classes and work just to avoid the students and the workers to perished more with the severe flood.

It was reported already that 53 persons were dead during the duration of Typhoon Gener and the subsequent events today.

But Manila’s weather bureau said a separate tropical storm off eastern China had intensified monsoon rains in the Philippines and was responsible for the latest deluge, which began Monday night and did not let up until Tuesday morning.

That deluge happening in Metro Manila right now is indisputably usual especially to the Metro Manila residents as the increasing population there tends to siphon lots of tap water from below the surface and as more people siphoned the tap water, the surface tends to submerge gradually as the tap water which serves as a guard against the elements of salt water from the sea has been siphoned by the increasing number of people living in Metro Manila due to lopsided economic and political system that focuses in Metro Manila.

I have my personal long-term solution for the yearly problems of severe flooding in Metro Manila. My solution will be the structural economic and political reformation of our country that would decentralize and reduce the population size and economic significance of Metro Manila to other regions so that the problems that the Metro Manila has been experiencing right now will not be repeated. The increasing population in Metro Manila creates not just an environmental pressures but also economic, political, and social pressures that the Metro Manila government cannot control because it would beyond the capacities of each Metro Manila mayors constrict by the flawed economic, political, and social system installed in our country.

Before I would end this writing, I would like to say my sympathies for the victims of the severe flood in Metro Manila and its immediate neighbors and my condolences to the families of 53 causalities.