The Flood is Never Just Water

Description

The Flood is Never Just Water: Community, Trust, and Resilience in a Changing Climate examines how four flood-prone shoreline barangays—Aplaya, Cogon-Biao, Dawis, and Sinawilan-Badiang—experience, withstand, and recover from recurrent flooding. Drawing on surveys, interviews, focus groups, and Causal Layered Analysis, the book shows that resilience is shaped not only by drainage, embankments, evacuation facilities, and government response, but also by trust, social networks, local knowledge, livelihood security, and cultural beliefs. Residents demonstrate strong grassroots capacity through preparedness activities, mutual aid, environmental action, and household adaptation, yet persistent infrastructure gaps, delayed or uneven assistance, health risks, and livelihood losses continue to undermine long-term resilience. The book argues for a shift from reactive disaster response toward an integrated, community-centered model that combines participatory governance, nature-based and hybrid infrastructure, inclusive preparedness, and sustained institutional support. It offers practical lessons for local governments and other coastal communities facing intensifying climate and flood risks.