Main natural hazards
The two most important hazards in the Philippines to address are coastal hazards and mass wasting (landslides). The worst coastal hazard in the Philippines is coastal erosion. As the news has shown, coral reefs all around the world are diminishing quickly. In the Philippines, the coral reefs are facing further diminishment from ocean acidification and other human interaction. Sadly without the coral reefs, the coastline is vulnerable to waves coming in with a stronger force. This is because the fully alive coral reefs before blocked around 97% of the incident wave energy. Now the waves are crashing into the ground that much harder and causing erosion. The coastal erosion leads to major costs in damage and the coastline moving further and further back from so much wear against the sand/rocks.
Along with coastal hazards, mass wasting has proven itself as one of the most dangerous hazards to the Philippines, specifically landslides. Since the Philippines goes through two monsoon seasons, one from October to March and another from June to October, there is typically very heavy rainfall. This heavy rain is the main cause of the landslides in the Philippines. This is because the soil becomes oversaturated making it loose, and the plants are taking in the water and the vegetation is growing to make the slope heavier. Since the slope is heavy with vegetation it increases the chance of a slide due to its weight.
I am addressing these as a priority because the Philippines has spent billions of dollars on repairs and is now prioritizing these hazards by planning prevention methods.
My recommendations based on what I have learned on how to mitigate certain hazards is to install shotcrete walls, retaining walls, and seawalls, and to have visible signs in populated or dangerous areas of these hazards. The shotcrete walls are to deals with landslides because they will spray concrete on the side of the slopes and the concrete does not retain any water, therefore it can prevent a full-strength landslide. The retaining walls would be also beneficial to the prevention of landslides because there will be tall structures built by the sides of roads and on the sides of slopes that will hold the soil in place. As for the mitigation of coastal hazards such as erosion, there are seawalls. The seawalls protect the sand/seacliffs from the waves hitting them, therefore preventing further erosion. Lastly, I believe in having signs and education on what to do when you are in an area prone to hazards. By keeping people educated there is further prevention.
For my mitigation efforts of landslides, I would target central cities such as Manilla because of the many landslides that impact central roads. Because Manilla has a population of 1.78 million, it is necessary to have road access. Manilla is surrounded by areas that could be easily threatened by landslides, due to the tall unstable slopes on the sides of the roads.
As for mitigation efforts of the coastal erosion, I would target small communities on the coastline such as Basco and El Nido. This is because they face the threat of losing their community from coastal erosion because they are built right on the coast. As well as being in danger of coastal erosion leading to dangers in the community, many small communities are isolated from access to quick aid.
References:
https://toolkit.climate.gov/topics/coastal-flood-risk/coastal-erosion#:~:text=Already%2C%20coastal%20erosion%20costs%20roughly,structures%20and%20loss%20of%20land.&text=Coastal%20erosion%20is%20the%20process,or%20sands%20along%20the%20coast.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/erosion/mass-wasting.htm
https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/manila-population
https://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2022/07/28/abra-earthquake-1/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basco,_Batanes
https://coastalcare.org/2015/06/boracay-experiencing-beach-erosion-70-coral-loss-philippines/
