2020 TYPHOON ULYSSES

The Philippines is not new to strong Typhoons. In fact, the country experienced the wrath of the strongest
typhoon ever recorded to make landfall in November 2013. The country experiences approximately 20 typhoons
annually with the months of September to November being the most active. Typhoon Ulysses is the 21st Typhoon to
hit the country in this year 2020. On November 8, the cyclone entered the Philippine area of responsibility and was
categorized as tropical depression. The following day, the cyclone intensifies as it moves northwest and was
categorized as storm and later became typhoon. The typhoon make landfall over Quezon province at 10:30 p.m. of
November 11 with a maximum sustained wind of 150kph and gustiness of up to 205kph. The typhoon’s eye traverses
the Central Luzon and leaving landmass on November 12. Though the typhoon is not the strongest, it was one of the
most devastating typhoons. Since, Cagayan valley is mostly agricultural land, the agricultural damage according to
the Department of agriculture was P12.8 billion. However, the NDRRMC said that Typhoon Ulysses incurred P540-
billion worth of damages, P250 billion in Cagayan Valley, P159 billion in Bicol Region, P56 billion in MIMAROPA
and P349 million in NCR.

There are many reasons on why this disaster happened. First, “unexpected effect”, according to the LGU and
DRRMC, they said that they are prepared but they do not anticipate that kind of effect. The unprecedented effect
surpassed the province historical data in which most of preparedness plans was anchored. Second, “over saturation of
land”, prior to Ulysses, there are series of typhoons that hit the country and torrential rainfall were experienced in
Cagayan 3-4 weeks before landfall. This causes the land to be over saturated that it can no longer soak in water and
the result is the direct run off from the mountains to the river. Third, “heavy river siltation”, according to Gov. Mamba,
the Cagayan river is heavily silted because of the deforestation happening in the mountains of cordillera and sierra
madre. Lastly, “Dam protocol on dam discharge”, the magat dam protocol on dam discharge states that the drawdown
of the Magat dam is on 2-3 days before expected landfall of the typhoon or heavy precipitation. However, the water
level at that time was very high and can be aggravated by the typhoon. However, they only release water on November
9, only 2 days prior to the landfall of the typhoon.

Flood control can exist in different method. Techniques like planting vegetation, construction of floodways,
construction of dikes or levees along riverbanks, construction of dams and water reservoirs can all be attributed to
flood control. How can we apply it to the province? The Cagayan Valley is situated between the mountains of
Cordillera and Sierra Madre. The area is the catch basin of waters from the mountains. Cagayan is also the location of
the longest river and the largest river basin in the country with a drainage area of 25,649 sq km. Dikes and levees are
constructed along the riverbank, and they have dredged the Cagayan river for a long period of time, but there is still a
massive river flooding along the area. Based from the reasons of flooding stated above, I think the best solution to the
problem is planting vegetation as natural flood control. Based on the first and last reason stated above, I think it can
be solved by better planning and management. However, the second and third reason cannot be solved easily by
planning, management and building structures. As stated, the river is heavily silted because of the deforestation of the
two mountains making up the Valley. So, planting trees on those areas is needed to hold of the sand preventing it to
fall on the riverbed. Next, the oversaturation of soil, it can be mitigated by planting more trees to expand the capacity
of the forest to hold off water and overland water. Moreover, this solution is the solution for the future because building
infrastructures for flood control can have an expiration wherein the structures are no longer capable of serving its
purpose while planting trees have no end. In addition, it is also more economical and eco-friendlier, the only downside
of it is that it may take some time so the plan must be correlated with building fixed flood wall or demountable flood
wall along severely flooded area.

The flooding of Cagayan is not new; however, it is worsening over the years. I believe it can also be attributed
to climate change. So, the solution proposed can be a direct and indirect solution to the flooding. It can be direct based
on the reasons stated above. On the other hand, it is indirect because planting trees can mitigate climate change and in
result, extreme weather conditions will be less frequent. In addition, Cagayan government cannot afford expensive
flood control infrastructures like dams, water reservoirs and the like. So, the plan of planting trees and selective
installation of flood walls is the best solution for the problem.
REFERENCES:

1. Typhoon Ulysses, monsoon rains spawn massive floods in Cagayan province: TeleRadyo. (2020,
November 13). Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://youtu.be/THLN8UY1pLQ
2. Miraflor, M. (2020, November 26). Typhoon Ulysses' damage to the agriculture sector at P12.8-B-DA.
Retrieved December 08, 2020, from https://mb.com.ph/2020/11/26/typhoon-ulysses-damage-to-the-
agriculture-sector-at-p12-8-b-da/
3. Buan, L. (2020, November 18). What went wrong during Typhoon Ulysses? Retrieved December 08, 2020,
from https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/what-went-wrong-protocol-communication-leadership-
typhoon-ulysses
4. Buan, L. (2020, November 18). What went wrong during Typhoon Ulysses? Retrieved December 08, 2020,
from https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/what-went-wrong-protocol-communication-leadership-
typhoon-ulysses
5. The Magat Dam Protocol on Dam Discharge and Flood Warning Operation. (n.d.). Retrieved December 08,
2020, from http://mariis.nia.gov.ph/?q=page%2Fmagat-dam-protocol-dam-discharge-and-flood-warning-
operation
6. IWA Publications. (n.d.). Retrieved December 08, 2020, from https://www.iwapublishing.com/news/flood-
control-and-disaster-management
7. Harrabin, R. (2016, March 11). Tree planting 'can reduce flooding'. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35777927
8. Working with nature to reduce flooding. (2018, July 08). Retrieved December 18, 2020, from
https://youtu.be/yS2WmslNerU
9. Biyahe ni Drew: Cagayan River Escapade (Full episode). (2018, March 18). Retrieved December 18, 2020,
from https://youtu.be/1FEjBEFuV2I