Prof. Alfredo Mahar Lagmay said that Project NOAH, also known as the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards, has already mapped most of the flood-prone areas in the Philippines, including those in Mindanao.
He made the remark after Severe Tropical Storm Paeng brought heavy rains across the Philippines, and caused floods, which officials said caught the public by surprise.
Lagmay, executive director of the University of the Philippines (UP) Resilience Institute, said on Sunday, October 30, that the government and the public can access these hazard maps at noah.up.edu.ph, the website of Project Noah.
"It is available naman yung mga map," Lagmay, the director of Project NOAH, told DZRH.
"Buhay yung mga mapa na iyan na ginawa. Maraming mapa na pwede natin gamitin. 3-dimensional iyan. Buksan niyo lang yung noah.up.edu.ph at makikita ninyo yung panganib sa inyon neighborhood," he added.
Project NOAH was launched in 2012 but the government cut the funds for the disaster mitigation and prevention program in 2017.
The operations of Project NOAH continue due to the decision of UP to adopt the program.
As of Sunday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management has validated the deaths of 38 individuals due to the inclement weather brought by STS Paeng, which has weakened into a tropical storm category.
Meanwhile, NDRRMC still needs to confirm 42 other reports of fatalities.
