SAN FERNANDO CITY, PAMPANGA, Philippines — Predicting when and where massive earthquakes will strike is still beyond the reach of both technology and experts, but a state-of-the-art facility here has got flood forecasting nailed down like an exact science. Constructed under the Japanese government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) program, the Pampanga River Flood Forecasting and Warning Center (PRFFWC) in San Fernando City is said to be the first flood forecasting and warning system in the Philippines.
“It’s flood warning and flood information services at its best,” boasted Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) Hydrometeorology Division Chief, Dr. Susan Espenueva, adding that the PRFFWC has already proven its worth in the past particularly when tropical storm “Ondoy” battered the country in 2009.
“We had no fatalities around the Pampanga and Agno River Basins during Ondoy because we were able to send out warnings to the communities regarding the rise in water level. This attests to the effectiveness of the PRFFWC,” Espenueva said.
With PAG-ASA as the executing agency, the Japan government in 2008 provided ODA “grant aid” amounting to ¥1.15 billion (roughly $13.4 million in today’s foreign exchange) in efforts to improve and expand the existing monitoring facilities for rainfall and water level in the region.
Espenueva said that it is the biggest ODA aid to the national weather bureau.
Using 17 rainfall gauge stations and 10 water level gauge stations that have been strategically placed near tributaries, the PRFFWC is able to collect exact measurements on rainfall and flood level from Sasmuan town to as far north as the area around Pantabangan Dam.
The data is transmitted at an hourly basis via repeater or relay station in San Rafael, Bulacan (also built under the ODA) to the PRFFWC where the numbers automatically pop up on computer monitors and are interpreted for dissemination.
“We have dedicated lines for the agencies involved in the warning and dissemination process,” Espenueva pointed out.
The hydrometeorology division head bared that the remote gauging stations are fully automatic, meaning they are unmanned. “In order to prevent theft or vandalism, police have been called on to check the remote stations at least twice a day.”
Japan Embassy Second Secretary (Economic Section) Hirochika Namekawa, who participated in an inspection of the high-tech facility, said that the construction of the remote gauging stations through ODA “complements the existing structural measures it ensure more efficient and effective disaster risk management in the areas.”
Espenueva, for her part, described these stations as life-saving facilities. “We issue the appropriate flood warnings and then it’s up to the local government units to call for an evacuation if it is needed.”
She said expect a busy year for PAGASA since 2011 is a La Niña year, meaning there could be an early onset of floods. Some 19 typhoons usually visit the Philippines in a year.
The Philippines is the fourth largest recipient of ODA projects in the world, next to Indonesia, China and India. Once approved by the Japanese government, the ODA projects are handed down to its implementing arm for international development projects, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
