Sinacaban in Misamis Occidental heightens disaster preparedness thru DOST support
To intensify community disaster preparedness in flood-prone areas, the Department of Science and Technology Region X (DOST-X) recently turned over a check amounting to Php 209,400 to the Local Government Unit of Sinacaban (LGU-Sinacaban) in Misamis Occidental.
Flooding has become prevalent in Sinacaban’s lowlands and coastal areas, as well as near the floodplains of its major rivers. Historical records from the past few years show that the municipality experienced the worst floods in 1999, 2008, 2010, and 2014.
The floods are usually the effect of continuous rains caused by Intertropical Convergence Zones (ITCZ) and Low-Pressure Areas (LPA). As a result, these natural hazards cause damage to several crops, livestock, fishponds, government, and private structures in the barangays.
Unfortunately, the municipality's disaster surveillance has been insufficient due to the lack of weather monitoring devices to monitor rainfall in the area.
To address the problem, the DOST-X and LGU-Sinacaban formed a partnership to empower the municipality and increase its resiliency in times of natural disasters and calamities. The turned-over fund will be used to acquire Automated Rain Gauges (ARGs) to be installed in Barangay Tipan and Barangay Katipunan; one for each barangay. The Mindanao PAGASA Regional Services Division (MPRSD) of the DOST-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) validated the barangays as feasible sites for gathering and transmitting rainfall data for disaster response.
The MPRSD will provide a one-day training on the operation, installation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and rainfall data management of the ARGs. The weather forecasting agency will also give an orientation on its products and services, local forecasting and warnings, and updates in the disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) system to enhance the existing three-year municipal DRRM plan of LGU-Sinacaban.
This initiative is under the DOST-X's Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (CEST) program that seeks to aid fourth- to sixth-class communities in five key entry points: disaster risk reduction and management and climate change adaptation, economic development, health and nutrition, human resource development, and environmental protection and conservation. For more information of the different projects of DOST-X, please contactJulie Anne H. Baculio, Science Research Specialist I (stpromotions@region10.dost.gov.ph, 0917-709-3706)(Grazelle Dela Cruz, DOST-X)
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