Urban Flood Monitoring - Philippines

To build climate resilience, the national government of the Philippines deployed flood monitoring stations nationwide. These locally developed flood monitoring stations use ICT for data transmission, distribution and early warning.

Fast facts:

The activity has installed a total of 36 flood monitoring stations within Metro Manila;
Two street-level flood monitoring stations have been installed on streets and include color-coded signage about certain water levels and what types of vehicles will be able to pass;
This activity has developed a web-based visualization tool for street-level flooding. By clicking on a location, users can see flood levels on any given route, letting them know if their vehicles can use the streets.

The problem

The Philippines is vulnerable to climate change, and has experienced extreme weather events and an increased number of cyclones. An average of 20 cyclones has affected the country and flooding has become a major challenge.

The solution

This activity effectively monitors flooding and issues warnings to the public. Stand-alone flood monitoring stations transmit real-time readings to a central server via mobile Internet and SMS. The data is received by a database server and displayed through a web-based visualization tool. The public is able to view flood data and information from a smartphone app and through LED info-boards installed on streets. This activity is currently archiving the data and will distribute it later via APIs and data repositories to government agencies, research institutions, academe, and private and non-government organizations interested in conducting activities or formulating solutions to the flooding in the Philippines.

Helping the planet

The data obtained from these stand-alone flood monitoring stations can be used or correlated with other parameters for environmental studies. The stations will be equipped with air quality sensors that can generate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions data to inspire action and research on climate change.

Helping people

Citizens in the Philippines have benefited from this activity through the government's enhanced decision making due to timely flood information. Decisions have included evacuation times, which routes to take when commuting and remaining in safe places when there is a flood occurrence.

Scaling Up

There are many flood-prone areas in the Philippines that require flood monitoring. More than 1,000 flood and rain monitoring stations have been deployed nationwide to reach more beneficiaries. With available funding, more monitoring stations can be produced and distributed to reach more beneficiaries. The systems rely on cellular services, which are prevalent throughout the country. In places where there is no cellular service, the stations can be configured to use alternative communication means like satellite communication.