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Disaster preparedness in today's social-networking age

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8/3/12

Disaster preparedness in today 's social-netw orking age - C N E T A sia Blogs: The V irtual E y e

Disaster preparedness in today's socialnetworking age
Ever since Typhoon Ondoy in 2009 (international code name: Ketsana), Metro Manila inhabitants have been traumatized by heavy rain. When Ondoy hit Luzon, it inundated the Philippine capital in flash floods and left the country with 464 dead. With the two typhoons (Ferdie and Gener) that hit the metro the past two weekends, it was good to note that the government was on its toes monitoring the rainy situation with the MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) and PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) constantly giving out Twitter updates. Their heavy weather and flooding monitoring system was also up and running thanks to Project NOAH (or Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards). This project is being run in conjunction with a number of state agencies like PAGASA and the DOST (Department of Science and Technology). Moreover, PAGASA had instituted a new tri-color warning system against the dangers of possible flooding and heavy rains. As befits this social networking age, it wasn't only the government doing this job but also the national media. The common citizenry was also sending out updates via Twitter and Facebook of the state of the rains and floods. (The irony here, of course, is that an electrical brown-out occurred during the last weekend that robbed people access of the Internet. Ah well...) And speaking of crowdsourcing, a group of Filipino cartographers, through the help of Google, are ensuring the disaster preparedness of the Philippines in the future via Google MapUps. By digitally mapping the Philippines, these cartographers are able to give updated information of their communities in preparation for national disasters. I've heard some people say that it should be the national government's job to ensure the country's disaster preparedness. However, I do think we should also do our own part and--lacking the funds and proper technology comparable to anti-flooding systems of the First World--come up with our own ways to help each other out. What, are we just going to pray for the rains to go away?

About the Blogger
Joseph F. Nacino is glad to be writing in the Internet Age as it's greatly opened up the field. He used to work for the news media site Philstar.com and was once the editor for the content side of EYP.com, the local Yellow Pages directory. He's currently working for an online content company and doing work on the sidelines like writing science articles for kids. He also serves as the series editor for the electronic publishing firm Estranghero Press in his free time, given that it's his crazy idea. And he likes reading and writing interesting stuff, especially this thing called technology and how it affects people. You can contact him at jfnacino@yahoo.com The Virtual Eye
Joseph F. Nacino, Philippines

asia.cnet.com/blogs/disaster-preparedness-in-today s-social-netw orking-age-62218187.htm

8/3/12

Disaster preparedness in today 's social-netw orking age - C N E T A sia Blogs: The V irtual E y e

asia.cnet.com/blogs/disaster-preparedness-in-today s-social-netw orking-age-62218187.htm

Summary With the two typhoons (Ferdie and Gener) that hit the metro the past two weekends, it was good to note that the government was on its toes monitoring the rainy situation with the MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) and PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) constantly giving out Twitter updates.

Description And speaking of crowdsourcing, a group of Filipino cartographers, through the help of Google, are ensuring the disaster preparedness of the Philippines in the future via Google MapUps. By digitally mapping the Philippines, these cartographers are able to give updated information of their communities in preparation for national disasters.

Tags: Crowdsourcing, Filipino cartographers, Google MapUps, PAGASA, Philippines, Project NOAH, Typhoon

Posted by Jason Robbins

Aug 03, 2012 02:35 am GMT Viewed 1222 times

Author: Joseph F. Nacino Source

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