Criteria for houses to be considered resilient

1. Location - Location plays a big role in assuming the resiliency of a house. Houses settled
near mountains and rivers are highly at risk on mudflow. Mudflows are prone in
mountainous area lacking in trees to support the soil during rainy seasons. For instance, in
the year 2015 typhoon Lando devastated the town of Sta. Cruz where one of its barangay
experienced severe mudflow leaving houses damage and wrecked. Brgy. Bayto was
situated near a waterway where mudflow made its way to the inland after the river
overflows. According to our gathered result and information from our survey, houses that
were constructed just before the river were all totally destroyed because they received the
strongest surge before the mudflow scattered to the different parts of the barangay.
2. Designer of the house - Having your house designed by carpenters or engineers will sure
have differences in terms of strength, life span, materials used and resiliency to natural
phenomenon. Though some houses designed by carpenters shows some potential in
withstanding a mudflow occurrence. In relation to our study, the houses we surveyed at
brgy. Bayto are mostly made of concrete and designed by carpenters.
3. Extent of the mudflow – this pertains to the area covered by the mudflow. According to
our study, houses that were closer to the focal and starting point of the mudflow receive
the full intensity of it and sustain considerable damage. In contrary, the houses that were
far enough from the concentration of the mudflow only received minor damages. This gives
us the idea that vulnerability of the house and its resiliency will vary according to the
position of the house from the initial starting point of the mudflow
4. Mitigating structure – Lack of mitigating structures can impose threat to houses when
facing torrential mudflow. From what we observe during our survey at brgy. Bayto, the
area where the houses are situated don’t have proper drainage system. Their only drainage
was located near the the primary road directing to the national highway. This made the
mud being stagnant in the area and therefore result to the erosion of soil on the foundation
of the houses.