Science-based approach

SKETCHES

- ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN

These days the prospect of a mere thunderstorm and the sight of dark clouds can trigger panic among residents of flood-prone areas.

One of our colleagues, whose house was inundated by floodwaters nearly up to the second floor earlier this year, was stunned the other weekend by that cataclysmic flood that rose rapidly within just one hour of torrential rain, again submerging their home in about three feet of water.

Their sofa set, newly re-upholstered in white, was sent to the cleaners, whose fee was nearly as much as the cost of the furniture, probably because of strong demand amid the floods. The cabinets became warped.

Looking on the bright side, they reported that they managed to save one of their refrigerators, using a hair dryer to clean the machine. The other one, however, probably was not dried enough. When plugged in, its control board sparked and the appliance was kaput.

The flash flood caught motorists on the road, who watched helplessly in horror, some trapped inside their vehicles, as the water rose rapidly up to the window. In some areas, cars were submerged nearly up to the roof.

Former public works secretary Rogelio Singson, an industrial engineering graduate of University of the Philippines in Diliman, echoed what many people noticed: it was the first time ever, he said, that the UP Diliman campus became flooded. It was also a first for the Ateneo campus.

That was just an hourlong thunderstorm, which scientists said dumped more rain per hour than storm Ondoy.

The bad news is that such extreme rainfall and destructive flash floods are emerging as the new normal. The worse news is that our decades-old drainage systems are not equipped to deal with it.

And of course the worst news is that, thanks to gargantuan corruption, it will take time before engineering interventions that can mitigate the flooding can be completed, even under fast-tracked work schedules.