Quezon City’s early warning system keeps residents prepared for weather events

MANILA, Philippines – First used to collate the number of coronavirus cases in every barangay in the city, the Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (QCDRRMO) turned its COVID-19 dashboard into an early warning system now called the Intelligent, Resilient, and Integrated Systems for the Urban Population or the iRISE UP.

iRISE UP provides real-time monitoring of weather, gives rain forecasts, updates on level of flooding, heat index, and temperature per barangay, and detects earthquakes.

To make this data gathering possible, the local government has installed 50 weather cameras, 18 flood sensors, 13 rain gauges, and 130 flood markers throughout the city.

Two seismic accelerographs, one in the Quezon City Hall complex and one in Fairview, transmit data of ground movements to the headquarters of the QCDRRMO.

iRISE UP recently won at the 2023 Galing Pook Awards, a program that recognizes innovative practices by local governments. A working early warning system is considered an integral part of disaster risk reduction that can prevent deaths and mitigate economic impacts.

Quezon City is home to more than two million people. This makes their job doubly hard, Peachy de Leon, QCDRRMO spokesperson, told Rappler.

“Ito ‘yung pinakamalaking city sa Philippines. Mas madaming resources, pero also malaking ‘yung population, ang daming businesses,” De Leon said.

(This is the biggest city in the Philippines. We have a lot of resources, but we also have to take care of a bigger population. There are also a lot of businesses.)

With the platform, cascading information to the city residents also became easier, said De Leon.

Twelve of the city’s 142 barangays are categorized as “high-risk” to flooding, while another 43 barangays were identified as “medium-risk” to flooding.

“Through iRISE UP, we are able to develop a scientific approach to make informed decisions using digital and traditional tools especially when we suspend classes, prepare for camp management, drainage master planning, social housing, and development planning,” said QCDRRMO officer-in-charge Maria Bianca Perez in a statement.

Inside the QCDRRMO headquarters, huge screens show maps of the city.