During this rainy season, some towns and cities in the Zamboanga Peninsula and Basilan can use a tool to be more alert against flash flood.
With the unpredictable weather, there is always a better way to stay safe—or at least stay alert—to make sure those living in so-called danger zones, or flood-prone areas, will not be swept away by raging rivers or flash floods.
Thanks to the Automated Water-Level and Rain Monitoring Using Near-Real Time Observation (ALeRTO) project of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
ALeRTO was showcased at the recent Luwas Pilipinas, Ligtas Pilipinas caravan organized by the Department of Science and Technology-Caraga Region and the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) of the DOST in Butuan City.
According to ALeRTO’s web site, the technology is an early-warning system that makes use of Automated Rain Gauges (ARGs) and Automated Water-Level Sensors (AWLS) installed in the different river systems in the region.
It was developed as part of the Geo-Informatics for the Systematic Assessment of Flood Effects and Risks for a Resilient (Geo-Safer) Mindanao for Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi (Zambasulta) region.
The device in a small box was programmed to monitor the critical water level and rain data from DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute, and the status of the hydrometeorological data, specifically in Caraga, from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
It determines the threshold category in each river, which is represented by the different color warnings. Once the device determines that a particular river has reached a certain threshold, it will automatically send alert messages via short message service (SMS) to registered users, specifically to local government units (LGUs).
The SMS will contain the threshold interpretation, along with the rain and water-level values.
Through ALeRTO, local authorities and the communities can be more prepared for the adverse impact of rains and floods. More importantly, local authorities will be able to decide what course of action to take to reduce the risk of disaster and save lives and properties.
A localized early warning system that keeps track of water level in a particular river basin, ALeRTO uses sensors of Pagasa which provides data about weather disturbances, including rainfall and flood warnings, said Engr. Raymond Ong, one of the developers of ALeRTO.
While these data are readily available in Pagasa’s web site, many LGUs are still unable to use them—either because they are not easy to understand or because they may not apply in the LGUs’ area.
Hence, despite available data coming from Pagasa, many local officials are oblivious of what is forthcoming, Ong said.
“That’s why we developed ALeRTO. To make the available data from Pagsa useful and more understandable for local settings,” Ong said in Filipino.
So far, he said, ALeRTO is now serving 10 LGUs.
The 10 pilot areas and their specific river systems are:
In Zamboanga del Norte: municipality of Siocon and Siocon River, municipality of Labason and Kipit River, municipality of Salug and Salug River; municipality of Sindangan and Sindangan River; and municipality of President Manuel A. Roxas and Tangian River.
In Zamboanga Sibugay: municipality of Bayog, Dilahan Imelda, Siay and Payao—all covering Sibuguey River; and municipality of Kabalasan and Kabalasan River;
In Zamboanga City: Manicahan River and Tumaga River; and in Lamitan City, the Gubauan River.
“ALeRTO is a big help as an early warning system,” Mario Rodriguez, ALeRTO project leader said.
The development of the project started mid-2017 with funding from DOST-PCIEERD.
In 2018, upon its completion, it was presented to President Duterte during a meeting with DOST officials in Davao City.
ALeRTO, Rodriguez said, was developed also to make use of available geohazard maps, specifically for flood-prone areas because of the existence of large river basins.
But ALeRTO is all about a small box which gives advanced information through SMS about what is forthcoming.
For ALeRTO to work properly, it has to be connected to the computer with access to the Internet. Recipients of ALeRTO’s text messages must be encoded in the system prior to being armed.
Rodriguez explained that the box is like a cellular phone that is operated by a software that collects and processes data from Pagasa and transmit life-saving text messages based on specific rainfall and water-level threshold to the users, who may need to call for a forced evacuation before the river overflows.
A rain threshold is color-coded and matches the water-level threshold determined by ALeRTO teams, which are essential inputs into the ALeRTO device.
Yellow alert is for 7.5 millimeters to 15 mm of rainfall, while orange alert is for 15mm to 30 mm of rainfall. For the red alert, it means a 30 mm of rainfall was detected.
This means that the water-level threshold of the river basin being monitored is 60 percent bankful, 80 percent bankful, and 100 percent bankful for yellow, orange, and red rainfall alert, respectively.
“To determine the water-level threshold, we need to go to the river basin and conduct an assessment. For accuracy,” Rodriguez said.
According to Rodriguez, ALeRTO can be modified based on the specific requirement of the concerned LGUs. Some LGUs, he said, want the device to respond to text messages, which they are now working on and ready to integrate to enhance ALeRTO’s capacity.
The ALeRTO web site also provides information including the latest weather bulletin and the latest information about earthquakes directly coming from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Image credits: Jonathan L. Mayuga