Hospitals exposed to flooding in Manila City, Philippines : GIS analyses of alternative emergency routes and allocation of emergency service and temporary medical centre

Abstract: Every year the Philippines get affected by a number of typhoons, which cause severe damage, sometimes due to flooding. The capital, Manila, is located on a flood plain that is partly at, and even below sea level and with several rivers crossing the area. These are some of the factors that contribute to that Manila often is affected by severe flooding. During ten weeks of the spring semester in 2014, this thesis was conducted as a completion of the bachelor program Geographic Information System (GIS) at Karlstad University, Sweden. Eight weeks were spent in Manila in the Philippines at the University of the Philippines Diliman, School of Urban and Regional Planning (UP SURP). The aim of the study was to investigate how hospitals in Manila City get affected during flooding. GIS was used to perform network analyses, in order to calculate the shortest route for the emergency service to travel from a station via a barangay to a hospital. The shortest alternative route during a 5-year flood was also calculated in order to compare the distance differences that might be due to flood. During a 100-year flood another type of analysis was performed, where suggestions for suitable locations for placing emergency service and temporary medical centre were presented. These suggestions on suitable locations were placed in an area that will not be affected during a 100-year flood. Results from the analyses showed that Manila City is a very exposed area during flood. During a 5-year flood some parts of Manila City will be highly exposed and about 1/4 of the population will be affected. The shortest alternative route for the emergency service to use during flood will generally be longer than in normal situations. Some hospitals cannot be accessed from some barangays due to impassable roads. During a 100-year flood the area gets gravely affected, almost 2/3 of the population will be affected and many roads become impassable, which limits the accessibility in Manila City.