It is about time that I write about myself, my travels in Europe in autumn 1971, from 19 August to 14 October; my scholarship grant to Washington D.C. in 1975; and my official trip to New York, USA, in 1981.

May baha rin ba sa Paris? Mayroon! Pero walang ghost projects sa kanilang flood control katulad natin. (Are there floods in Paris? There are. But they don’t have ghost flood control projects like us.)

Is there flooding in the Netherlands? There is. Roughly 17 percent of the Netherlands is land reclaimed from either the sea or lakes. Sixty-five percent of the country would be underwater at high tide if dikes, dunes, and pumps were not used.

But there is the natural fear the sea might claim the land back someday.

Belgium is sometimes inundated by floods following heavy rains, which leave

many parts of the country submerged.

Belgium and Germany have extensive flood control measures, including storm water basins, dikes, flood walls, and nature-based solutions like restored wetlands and “sponge cities” to absorb excess water. Germany has a robust federal and state-level flood warning system, while Belgium’s is progressing, though challenges remain in some regions.

For flood control, Belgium uses storm water basins to absorb large volumes of water during heavy rains, with 30 of them in the Brussels region. Germany employs measures like dikes and flood walls to protect against rising water levels.

Both countries are increasingly adopting nature-based approaches. Belgium is restoring

wetlands to act as sponges, absorbing excess stormwater. Germany is developing “sponge

cities” by greening buildings and increasing green spaces to absorb rainwater naturally.

Is it true that grand and beautiful Paris also suffers from flooding? Yes, in fact there was chaos in Paris when hailstorms and floods hit the city in 1910. That was the worst and most historic. Massive floods overwhelmed the city, disrupting transportation, causing damage and extreme discomfort and forcing the closure of facilities.

Luxembourg, while considered safe from earthquakes and natural disasters, has not been immune to the occasional catastrophe. The country and city have flood forecasting centers and permanent provisions of measured water levels and forecasts of watercourses, as well as additional information during floods.

At 89, I really doubt I‘d see this country great again. All I wish to see is a flood-free and corruption-free Philippines run by the now young Turks: Representative Leandro Levistre, son of Antonio Liveste and Senator Loren Legarda; Mayor Vico Sotto of Pasig City, son of Coney Reyes and Vic Sotto; and the promising young leader from the North, the formidable Ferdinand Alexander Araneta Marcos or Sandro Marcos, in short, the incumbent Majority Floor Leader of the House of Representatives.

At this writing, 13 September, Sandro is celebrating the 68th birthday of his father, President Bongbong Marcos, together with his mother, Liza Araneta Marcos, grandma Imelda, relatives, colleagues and friends at a “Salo-salo sa Palasyo.”

On Thursday, I shall tell you about the storm and floods in Rome, etc. I was there when I was 36 years old, the same age of the rising young Turks now, and about America as I took a jet to Washington D.C. in 1975 and New York in 1981.