Tiger Test: How do you rebuild a city obliterated by Typhoon Yolanda?
Rescue and recovery operations in the areas obliterated by Typhoon Yolanda are well underway. Donations have been pouring in from local and foreign sources. The residents of Tacloban, Guiuan, the stricken areas, have started picking up the pieces, literally. It’s time to give serious thought to the task of rebuilding.
The task is huge. It seems insurmountable. It will take years and years. It must be done.
How do we rebuild a devastated city and make it better? Send us your brightest ideas. We’d like some practical, workable solutions, but we’re never averse to far-out schemes from the science-fiction universe. Post your answers in Comments.
Our judges will select the brightest idea, and its sender will receive a Tigerair gift voucher worth Php5,000, good for a round-trip ticket to any Tigerair Philippines domestic destination. Tigerair flies out of NAIA 4 to Bacolod, Cebu, Iloilo, Boracay (Kalibo with transfer to Caticlan), Puerto Princesa and Tacloban.
Post your bright ideas in Comments. We’re accepting entries till 30 November 2013.
This contest is sponsored by Tigerair Philippines. To find out more about Tigerair deals and promos, follow TigerAir Philippines on Facebook and Twitter.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
November 20th, 2013 at 09:16
I would suggest the DILG to assess each province that has been affected by Yolanda, and match the size and resources of able Provinces currently Not affected, and try to Match each- so they can “adopt ” the other, make One the Sister City/Province.
November 20th, 2013 at 09:42
In order for a city to rise from the ashes, I feel that there are three things that should be immediately done: First, the government (be it the local government or the national government) has to absolutely gain control and function as expected. Upon gaining full control, peace and order should be a top priority. Second, businesses should be encouraged to resume operations. For those enterprises that have been devastated by the storm, the state should also offer some financial assistance so that these businesses can renovate their establishments, replenish their inventories, buy the essential fixtures required to operate their businesses normally and pay the salaries of their employees. Finally, the important infrastructures such as roads, bridges, power lines and telecommunications facilities should be fixed right away.
November 20th, 2013 at 17:33
distribute two radios (aka walkie talkies) to every barangay and label them “for disaster preparedness”. set up a base radio with a strong antenna in every municipality to serve as a central command and response center. regular check-in should be done by every barangay to central command, with structured reporting protocol becoming more frequent (eg hourly) leading to the time a hazard is expected to impact. this helps update people in real time. best if the base radio is set up to work even without electricity.
November 20th, 2013 at 18:59
I would first commission a city planner(like Baguio did with Burnham, I think – outdated, but you get the gist). The planner should take into consideration future calamities and vulnerabilities according to the geohazard map that the DOST has done. Unliveable land (due to said vulnerabilities) could be turned into parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Provisions for renewable energy sources should also be there, like the Bangui windmills. Then the displaced people could be recruited (construction, food, etc.) to help in rebuilding their community. Since Tacloban had a bustling BPO hub before the storm hit, a business ecozone should also be integrated. This could be an opportunity to remake that province into a model urban community. They are starting from scratch, they now have the freedom to draw with a clean slate.
They should also be putting a positive spin on the rebuilding effort, enjoining the community on social media to trumpet their rise from the ashes. They were a tourist hub before, they can attract more after this.
All the activity will also contribute to the country’s GDP, adding to the PR spin.
November 21st, 2013 at 01:44
Copy what Batanes houses and buildings have. They are proven Signal 4 strength proof structures. Merely suggesting, Your Grace.
November 21st, 2013 at 06:07
We have been called resilient too many times in the course of this calamity–why not monetize this so-called resilience? Turn Tacloban into a culture/arts hub much like Thailand’s Chiang Mai, and let the town morph into a tourist destination (one which offers not just sand and seas, mountains and forests).
Make those planned bunk houses for the displaced colorful. Rebuild the streets in such a way that they exude character, not something you’d see elsewhere in the archipelago. Think an entire town of Cubao-expo, or perhaps B-side (if you prefer it haughtier). Inspire residents to take on crafts making and arts in general. Teach/train the locals how they can tap grief and fashion them into something beautiful; music, graffiti, poetry and recitals, community theatre productions, the list goes on. After all, art in itself is a kind of relief.
This new Tacloban will be visited by local tourists, who wish to support their kababayan’s novel efforts to bounce back, or morph, in a way that also proves novel. This new Tacloban will be visited by our very own third world hipsters (not derogatory…yeah). This new Tacloban will be visited by foreign tourists who wish to experience this so-called one-of-a-kind resilience first hand.
Or we can build a dome. Cover entire Tacloban. It’ll be the first of its kind. A city indoors. A kind of middle-finger to global warming and to those countries able but not willing to do more to stop it.
Or maybe we should transfer the entire Tacloban community someplace else. Say Davao or Bohol or Cebu (definitely not Manila). Then transfer the house of senate, congress, and maybe even Malacanang to Tacloban. Then hope against hope typhoons are not like lightning.
November 21st, 2013 at 09:19
Social tourism, like Eco tourism. Package tours that will allow tourists to help in rebuilding efforts, e.g build school buildings, replant in communal farms (may consider including in the package (literally) seed (or seedling) money), plant mangroves. This way, not only will you bring in much needed tourists (which in turn also benefit other sectors, like those providing accommodations, stores, transportation, etc.) you also get free manpower, funding for needed small items and possibly get insights/inputs from these tourists on how to improve processes/systems. Of course, prior to these, there should already be planning as far as where to build homes, schools, farms so that anything that is put up will already be calamity ready.
November 21st, 2013 at 12:09
First, the government should tap the services of international architect and urban planner Felino Palafox, Jr. He would be responsible in redesigning the devastated coastal city (or any city for that matter) to make sure that there’s proper zoning and that it is safe for habitation. Palafox, then, can have Edward Hagedorn, former Puerto Princesa mayor, and environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa as his consultants. A sound plan is the most basic (and probably the most important) part of the reconstruction phase.
Second, the government must legislate a budget for disaster preparedness AND rehabilitation immediately. This must be in billions of pesos, which will be used in further preventing Yolanda-type disasters and in paying for construction materials and labor for the rebuilding of the devastated city. The money formerly allocated to PDAF or DAP can be re-allocated to fund this.
Third, pull all the survivors and the local government units, along with many, many selfless volunteers, to work together in reconstructing their devastated city. This will save cost in labor. At the same time, the vigor and desire of the survivors to bring their lives back to normal would be key in ensuring that the job get done right away, minus the bureaucratic challenges and budget shortcuts.
Fourth, stop the blame game. The sooner the people and the government start working on this, the better for those affected by the devastation.
Or, we can just build a super-tall and super-tough wall along the coastlines, may a few meters from the beach, to protect all our coastal cities. We can use that aborted wall from Pacific Rim as inspiration or the three-pronged walls in Attack on Titan. Lol.
November 21st, 2013 at 12:47
In 1953, The Netherlands had its own storm surge from the North Sea which killed 2,551. So what did the Dutch do? They launched a national program “Delta Works” to build storm surge barriers. Now, they have levees that can withstand 1 in10,000-year storm. Can we do the same in Tacloban and the whole country?
The Netherlands-Philippines comparison is significant because the former is below sea level, while the latter is dead-smacked in the middle of Pacific Ocean. But the comparison becomes nonsensical when we acknowledge that other than climate change, we Filipinos will also have to contend with a deadlier malaise: government corruption. That’s something that is manageable, if nonexistent in Europe. While it is entrenched in Philippines. I hope we now realize the immediate effect of corruption: had taxpayers’ money been used for community building and disaster prevention, we won’t have a 4,000+ Yolanda death toll. Instead of beach front mansions for public officials, the people of Tacloban really deserved levees and evacuation centers.
So what do we do now? Here are my (humble perhaps naïve) ideas:
1. Let’s ask the Dutch how they did it. Let’s ask the world’s best engineers on how we can build levees to protect us from the next Yolanda.
2. Let’s rebuild housing settlements away from the coastline and on higher ground.
3. Let’s negotiate with the survivors and create a community approach in rebuilding so we can discuss the fact that while business activity is at the coastline, housing should not be.
4. Let’s prod the Aquino administration to have a hands-on approach in the recovery effort so public money will not get diverted for private gain.
5. Let’s put our social media skills to better use and transform them for civic engagement: let’s use the internet to make Tacloban officials accountable and make sure that the rebuilding projects are on target. Let them be aware that we are WATCHING!
6. Let’s welcome technical assistance from civil engineer Dr. Elizabeth Hausler Strand, Founder & CEO of Build Change (she will be coming to Philippines in a few weeks) in teaching us how to build sturdier homes.
At the core of Build Change’s philosophy is that “earthquakes don’t kill people, poorly built buildings do.” In the case of Philippines, “corruption and climate change kill people, too.”
http://alenette.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/tacloban/
November 21st, 2013 at 14:20
With all the money from the world pouring for Visayas, we should be able to build the following:
1. Sea walls
2. Relocation sites (away from the sea and earthquake proof, I also disagree with the government’s idea to build bunk houses first, I think that’s a waste of money and time, let’s just use the money to build permanent houses for the victims)
3. Proper drainage system
4. A disaster response plan or program for the Visayas (a program that the residents will follow in preparation for a disaster where every month or every whenever the residents will have drills)
5. Storm proof establishments
5. and lastly, schools, or basically, affordable education
November 21st, 2013 at 16:26
Rebuilding is a complicated process. My suggestions are for Tacloban or a similar urban area and can be implemented in the next 6 months:
1. Restore the LGU hierarchy (Mayor to Barangay) during the recovery phase (now). This is critical especially in channeling relief efforts. Having an official work-flow will prevent parallel or overlapping operations, which can cause conflicts among the providers and/ or the beneficiaries.
2. The survivors must be given shelter on a selected and secure area. I prefer building bunkhouses over tent cities because bunkhouses are sturdier and more secure than tents. Bunkhouses are also conducive for restoring the dignity of the survivors, many of whom had lost everything in a traumatic way.
3. Prior to rebuilding, the services of an experienced urban planner must be acquired by the LGU to work with the City Administrator so that the city can be planned in a better manner, e.g. to ensure the balance of commercial, residential, public, and service spaces, as well as building infrastructures that will mitigate the impact of future events, such as sea walls and permanent evacuation facilities.
4. During the rebuilding itself, put the citizens to work through a cash-for-work program. This way, those who lost their jobs have the chance to earn once again for their families and at the same time, this will give them a sense of ownership of the city because of their role in the actual rebuilding of the city.
5. Prioritization in the rebuilding must be exercised: roads first, service buildings like schools, hospitals and clinics next followed by the local government offices.
6. Similarly, a food-for-school program can also be implemented for the children of the survivors for them to return to and stay in school. For each day of school attendance of a child, his/ her household will receive a specific amount of food.
7. As the rebuilding progresses, the LGU must institutionalize a city-wide disaster response plan that will be strictly implemented as necessary. Such disaster plan must be disseminated well, supported by an education campaign so that everyone understands what to do, who to see and where to go during emergency events. Education campaigns must comprise of conducting “drills” for typhoons, earthquakes, etc., education sessions down to the barangay level, and other communication activities.
8. Rebuilding assistance of various organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, Gawad Kalinga, and the like must be coordinated with the LGU so that their construction projects will be in compliance with the urban plan that the city has formulated.
November 22nd, 2013 at 11:48
Form a research and rebuilding department that would get in touch and partner with various international governments and foundations (esp those with relative experience in handling disasters) that could help restore Tacloban. This department, of course, will have subcategories so as to cover everything that needs restoration and improvement–local government, businesses, infrastructures, disaster management, etc. and most importantly, the lives of the people.
November 22nd, 2013 at 20:03
TEN-POINT STEP TO REBUILDING
1) First, as suggested by architect Paulo Alcazaren, all the felled coconut trees and previously used tarpaulins from Metro Manila’s billboards can be used to quickly build temporary shelters.
2) As residents of the stricken city live in temporary shelters, rebuilding houses can quickly commence. How? Use all the debris from the disaster as aggregate in the manufacture of reinforced concrete. Plastic, glass, and metal scraps can be processed and used as aggregate in place of gravel, to bring down cost. Concrete should be the material of choice as it is the easiest to prefabricate and it is also the best material for storm-proofing.
3) Use the resulting reinforced concrete to create pre-fabricated houses that could be rapidly mass-produced and assembled on site.
4) The reinforced concrete can also be used to build massive, storm-proof, all-concrete evacuation shelters.
5) Debris that cannot be used as aggregate can be used to build storm surge barriers along the coasts of the destroyed cities, similar to how mangrove forests function as wave breakers.
6) Restore economic activity quickly by hiring the residents in the reconstruction of their city. If everything is easily mass-produced and assembled on site, highly-skilled workers are not necessary, so a huge number of residents can be recruited in the rebuilding at once, with little or no training necessary.
7) Require engineering students, medical interns, social worker trainees, and first-time teachers from Metro Manila to have their OJT’s in the disaster areas, to rebuild, heal, and continue basic social services for little or no cost at all to the government.
8) College students who choose community service in place of reserve military training should be sent to the disaster areas to help in the rebuilding.
9) To further spur economic activity, have a moratorium on taxes of at least three years to businesses who choose to remain or relocate in the disaster areas.
10) Finally, preserve parts of the devastated areas as they are, which can be used as real, apocalyptic, dystopian sets or backgrounds in Hollywood blockbusters, similar to how New Zealand promotes its landscape as great locations for fantasy films i.e. The LOTR trilogy.