Philippines: GIZ donates P1.6M worth of flood warning system for Albay
Legazpi City - The German government has donated P1.6 million to install local flood early warning system in the town of Malinao and Tabaco City in Albay.
This following the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) Thursday last week by Albay Gov. Joey Salceda for the provincial government and Olaff Neussner for the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ),
The signing of the MOA also marked the start of implementation of the project.
Neussner, chief of the GIZ, said the flood warning system will significantly contribute to the reduction of human casualties and mitigation of ill-effects to properties in the face of flood-related disasters.
He said the facilities to be set up in Albay will bring to 18 the number of local flood early warning systems or LFEWS established across the country.
In Bicol region, GIZ earlier provided similar flood warning system in Sorsogon province for the major river that serves as flood path of rain water coming from the slope of Mt. Bulusan.
Flood warning system was installed along Cadac-an River, which stretches from the lower slope of the active volcano and traverses several barangays in Juban town and neighbouring municipality of Irosin.
Similar system are in the provinces of Leyte, Samar, Negros Oriental, Oriental Mindoro, Surigao Del Sur, Surigao City, Caraga, and Isabela.
Salceda, known for championing initiatives on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, welcomed the project as a value-added program to further improve the province’s DRR measures.
He said the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council has been operating by getting disaster data based on the weather bureau forecasting system, the satellite-based system, “and with the addition of the LFEWS, the province will indeed sustain its “zero casualty” goal.
Salceda, convinced by the flood early warning system introduced by GIZ, further requested that an additional LFEWS be installed in the flood-prone areas in the second district of Albay--covering the towns of Daraga, Camalig and Manito and this city.
Neussner explained further that the LFEWS, once set up at the Buang river channel in Tabaco City and the Cumon and Suwa river in Malinao, Albay, would enhance and strengthen local disaster officials in preparing and compiling flood risk information that will guide them in planning their disaster management operations.
At the project briefing, Neussner furthered that the equipment installed at the river and watershed areas will detect and predict the likelihood of flood disasters and corresponding development of response system from the affected communities.
It will also develop communication protocols in processing rainfall and water level data that will be translated in the form of warning signals through a communication network.
The LFEWS will have the following components: risk knowledge, monitoring, analysis and forecasting, communication and dissemination and response capability.
The project carries with it the installation of telemeter rain gauges, water pressure gauges, digital rain gauged and water level markers. (MAL-PIA5/Albay)