The new website of a disaster response hub managed by the University of the Philippines provided users with updated assessments on the natural hazards of different locations in the country.
The UP NOAH, spelled out as Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards, launched its revamped website on Monday, October 4.
In a Facebook post following the launch, UP NOAH thanked its partner organizations for their support.
“The revamped NOAH website is now live at noah.ph or at noah.up.edu.ph! (tada emoji) We’d like to thank our partners from Mapbox, Advanced Science and Technology Institute, and UP Information Technology Development Center – UP ITDC for the support you have provided us!” read their post.
“Also a huge thanks to everyone who joined us at our launch today! (heart emoji) Serve the People! (heart emoji),” they added.
Mahar Lagmay, head of the organization, shared a screenshot of the website’s interface last June.
LOOK: A screenshot of the new website of UP-NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards), a research center for disaster response, to be launched soon. | via @ricci_catalina
📸@nababaha pic.twitter.com/cSDh1e1krN
— Interaksyon (@interaksyon) July 23, 2021
In a new tweet about it on October 6, Lagmay released screenshots of a hazard map of the UP campus in Quezon City.
Every building shown in this hazard map was delineated by a volunteer through #OpenStreetMap. If you want to help in the disaster risk reduction effort doing the same thing, one option is to join @UPRIYouth or the chapter nearest to your place.#UPRI #NOAH#CitizenScience pic.twitter.com/0BCFTtbm9P
— Mahar Lagmay (@nababaha) October 6, 2021
He also stated that these maps were made on a volunteer basis.
“Every building shown in this hazard map was delineated by a volunteer through #OpenStreetMap,” Lagmay said.
To those who wish to improve their disaster reduction efforts, Lagmay encouraged them to join the UP Resilience Institute Youth Mappers, a group dedicated to creating maps for disaster resilience.
“If you want to help in the disaster risk reduction effort doing the same thing, one option is to join @UPRIYouth or the chapter nearest to your place,” he said.
The homepage of the site opens to a box with the subject: “Know Your Hazards.” Here, you can determine a particular location’s weather situation.
“Assess how likely are you to be affected by floods, landslides, and storm surges and what you can do about it,” read the text on the box.
For researchers or policymakers, UP NOAH also provided access to another platform called NOAH Studio where users have access to more features of an area.
In the profile on the website, UP NOAH is described as a project that “seeks to assist the country in disaster risk reduction and management, climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts and related activities through research, development and extension services.”
It is previously the national government’s disaster prevention and mitigation program under the Department of Science and Technology that was established in 2012.
However, in 2017, the government shut it down due to lack of funds.
Through the UP Executive Order PDLC 17-03, DOST turned it over to the premier university to become an attached agency of UP System’s Office of the President.
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UP NOAH is now being managed as a key component under the UP Resilience Institute (UPRI). UPRI is established in 2016.