Baguio eyes flood warning system

By Gaby B. Keith

BAGUIO CITY: The Summer Capital's push to establish its own smart flood early warning, information and mitigation system initiated in August 2020 is ongoing, said Antonette Anaban, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office head.
    In the third quarter meeting of the CDRRMO Council on July 14, Anaban said the project aims to improve community disaster preparedness and awareness and to ensure ownership to enhance urban resilience.
    It is implemented under the Asean Australia Smart Cities Trust Fund supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and managed by the Asian Development Bank, Anaban added.
    She said the project's expected outputs include the establishment and execution of a smart flood early warning information system (FEWS); the establishment of a real-time data capture system in four river basins in the city; and the preparation of a flood mitigation action plan. Anaban explained that FEWS is part of the city government's current Smart City initiatives such as the Smart City Command Center; digital innovations to speed up the delivery of government service; the Smart City twinning program with Perth, Australia; and the establishment of the National Government Data Center and Digital Transformation Hub.
    Its key focus areas are enhanced capacity-building and on-the-job training; climate change assessment as input to modeling and design for enhancing city resilience; and gender transformative approach for strengthened development, application, and replication of the city's FEWS.