Building floodgates rules needed

Heavy rains have battered Keelung this month, with floodwaters inundating the basements of numerous residential communities. Total losses remain difficult to estimate, while residents blame building management committees and property managers for failing to close floodgates in time.

Floodgates are standard features in many buildings, yet there are recurring stories of their use failing to prevent flooding. In addition to operational and training issues, the decisionmaking structure and emergency response capacity of apartment buildings must also be taken into account to effectively address holes in the system.

Apartment complexes generally cannot make decisions as quickly as buildings under single ownership can. Decisionmaking authority is shared equally among owners and management committees are typically only empowered to handle routine matters of maintenance and management. Building bylaws also often fail to fully authorize management committees or property managers to close floodgates when disasters strike, leaving them in an impossible position when floodwaters approach.

A driver attempting to exit the carpark after the floodgates have already closed could threaten to hold the committee responsible for losses if the gates are not opened. Conversely, someone returning home to closed gates might threaten to hold the property manager liable for any damage resulting from having to leave their vehicle outside.

Decisionmakers can find themselves caught between conflicting demands and having to close and open the gates several times.

Communities also often have no way of knowing how long it will rain, how high the water will rise or whether it is safer to leave their cars in the basement or move them to an elevated area. A local government leader who makes the wrong call in declaring a typhoon day off might face some public criticism, but apartment management committees can come under enormous pressure to directly compensate residents for their losses.

Expecting residential communities, which lack the capacity to forecast weather or assess urban hydrology, to decide when to close floodgates is a recipe for disaster. The government should make that decision instead.

Just as the government issues instructions on when evacuation gates should be closed based on meteorological information, local water-management authorities should use flood-risk assessments to advise residents when and where floodgates should be closed. That would give residents sufficient time to assess their own needs and make preparations.

Residential communities then need only stipulate in their bylaws or committee meeting resolutions that floodgates are to be closed according to government warnings. That would take the decisionmaking risk off management committees and property managers, while preventing disputes between residents over differing personal needs or judgements. Only then can residential floodgates truly function for everyone as intended.