Hi, I've visited the Philippines a few times, and am planning on moving from Europe to Dumaguete in about a year (as soon as I sell my house). Next month I'm visiting to explore the city and surroundings. I now have a Barangay map thanks to this forum, and I want to ask, can anyone tell me which Barangays in Dumaguete are worst for flooding when there are big storms and which ones don't usually flood. Thanks!
5 Year Flood Map - Dumaguete: 25 Year Flood Map - Dumaguete: 100 Year Flood Map - Dumaguete: Storm Surge Advisory 1 - Dumaguete: Very little flooding. Not worth uploading. FYI Yolanda had less than Storm Surge Advisory 1 flooding. (There was no visible storm surge flooding from that storm in Dumaguete on the maps I was looking at.) I don't think storm surge is something that should be of much concern. Don't quote me on that though, if you rent a place on the beach and get properly f*cked don't come crying to me. Storm Surge Advisory 2 - Dumaguete: Storm Surge Advisory 3 - Dumaguete: Storm Surge Advisory 4 - Dumaguete: Here is a landslide risk map: Sources: Philippine Flood Hazards Map Mines and Geosciences Bureau
Probably sound advice to stay away from the rivers. If you build your own place, raise your lot a meter and slope it.
Thanks very much both of you, especially Wrye83 for those links - that's exactly what I needed. It looks like areas near the road to Valencia (barangays Bagacay, Junob, Talay) are the safest, so that's where I'll focus my property search when the time comes.
We live beside the river here in Maluay, Zamboanguita. My wife has lived here sine 1992 and the river here has never risen enough to become a threat as the elevation here is higher above sea level, you climb higher as you head south on the highway to get to Maluay/Malatapay. When it does flood here the water flows very quickly to the sea, and any local flooding mainly flows from the Rice fields, then flows east towards the ocean, so we are in a very good place here safe from floods, and I believe; we would even be safe from any serious sea surges. I was thinking of buying 25,000m2 of land at Mayabong, but my wife's relatives live there and every time it rains they are above their ankles or halfway up their shins in water, being surrounded by rice fields and the river there. (Mosquitoes are TERRIBLE there!) Best to look around and survey any prospective areas for yourself that you are interested in to assess past/future flooding problems, also try speaking to the locals who have lived there for many years, unless they are the ones trying to sell you on somewhere! lol
The maps I posted are 5, 25 and 100 year floods. This should tell people what to expect in their lifetimes. Personally, I would trust topography analysis more than word of mouth and people's memory. A 25 or 100 year flood might not be remembered (or have happened) in some people's lives. The links I provided allow you to see an flood map overlay for almost the entire country. The link I provided also had an option for a dengue infection/mosquito layover. I didn't see much in Dumaguete City limits but I didn't look around anywhere else on the map. Might be worth looking at as well.
It sure does not appear that way to me. Keep in mind that whenever there is a flood you have to get across the Banica river somehow. Then take a look at member Jack Petersons yard whenever there is heavy rain (yes he raised it a meter and yes he is in Junob). Note that I will not say those areas are unsafe but I would surely not say they are the safest (with regard to flooding). I would put the area around the new City Mall high on the list of areas safe from flooding within the city of Dumaguete but for me, I like to live in Sibulan as there is much less flooding there. Many times I have had to drive home from Dumaguete through a foot of water (any more and I would not have made it) and when I got to Sibulan the roads were practically dry.
I tried to find likewise Maps outside of Dumaguete with no luck... Would be nice if local Maps were available for other areas such as Valencia/ Bacon/ Dauin/ Zamboanguita/ Siaton etc... But it would seem they do not exist online, at least not in my searches. Yes the OP asked about Dumaguete... If he has no intention of looking around elsewhere outside of the map zone you provided then please disregard my comments. I was merely offering up that he may need to ask around the locals for any area not covered by the maps you provided in the case he looks further outside of the city limits, such as with past experience like with my family here who have lived in places locally that have been very flood prone to safer areas such as where they now live.
I provided a link for the flood maps if that is what you are talking about. It is just Google maps with overlays. They have flood overlays for the entire island. You just have to scroll around and wait for the overlays to load on the map (if you are dealing with a sh*t connection like I am). There isn't much shown for other areas as most areas outside of Dumaguete aren't prone to flooding. Dumaguete is particularly troublesome because two "larger" rivers nearly meet at dogleg turns in a low laying area and several other smaller rivers (I would call them creeks) also come into the city. You don't really see this in other towns or cities in the area...which is likely why Dumaguete is the more populated area.
I tried looking for information outside after seeing many of the pictures of flooding around Valencia/ Bacong etc in the last Typhoon/heavy rains we had here but came up short. I was hoping the links you posted had some information as I would be interested to know why we do not suffer similar here, I just put it down to that we are in a higher elevation here, high enough so any flood water quickly runs off down behind the Thalatta Resort area. I know it floods over the highway here past the Malatapay Markets but that also runs off very quickly eastwards towards the ocean. I suppose I cannot expect too much from a developing nation, just curious in the event we ever decide to move to another area around here so as to avoid landslides, flooding, tidal surges, even bloody Volcano's since learning how close we are here to our local Mount Mordor! lol