It was just announced that the Department of Science and Technology’s Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) has released a new version of its disaster risk reduction and decision-making platform.
As the Philippines is often a hotbed for natural disasters, these upgraded tools utilise more advanced technology to provide increased support communities affected by these events.
Project NOAH is the Philippines government programme for disaster prevention and mitigation initiatives. Over 30 national and international agencies and organisations have contributed or participated in Project NOAH. Through this programme, DOST aims to provide tools and vital information to help citizens mitigate or deter disasters caused by natural threats.
NDRRMC Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment System
Project NOAH works to provide critical data that helps identify at-risk areas through National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Council’s (NDRRMC) Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment System.
With this announcement, Project NOAH will provide more scientific data and an improved user interface to the NDRRMC Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment System.
Using this system, Project NOAH has been successful in determining which areas would be hit by hazards at specific times. This has allowed for greater proactive response and reactions to natural threats.
Hydrometeorological Hazard Maps and Improved Impact Assessment Tool
Project NOAH is also incorporating new hydrometeorological hazard maps, including:
- Barangay-level flood hazard maps for major river basins
- Storm surge hazard maps for all coastal municipalities
- Landslide hazard maps for the entire nation
- Hazard maps for debris flows
On the Project NOAH website, users may navigate the recently improved WebSAFE application –an impact assessment tool. This tool provides an estimate of the number of people and/or buildings that would be affected by a natural hazard occurrence.
It also helps local government units better predict the affected areas during a natural hazard and the resources necessary to respond. It also provides and overview of community specific vulnerability to natural disasters.
With this new data, recent upgrades have been made to Project NOAH’s award winning Arko app. Arko provides location-specific flood hazard maps- and with this new version, now features storm surge and landslide hazard maps.
