Philippines: Government develops disaster early warning system

The Department of Science and Technology of the Philippines has developed an early warning system in order to keep the public informed of possible storm surges floods or landslides.

The system is made primarily to warn residents in densely populated areas up to 48 hours in advance. The warnings for storm surges will have three indicators – for storms up to 2 meters in height, from 2 to 5 meters and for over 5 meters. The flooding warning system also has three levels of indicators– 129 mm rainfall in the next 24 hours, up to 190mm and up to 240mm.

The team that developed the system proposed also some accompanying measures to support the system like no-build zones in coastal areas and resilience strengthening measures for residential and commercial structures.