By Rambo Talabong
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To give exact answers on where residents can flee and where help could meet them, the city’s Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO) is looking at mapping the entire city online, pinning down the best places people could go to when the unexpected comes, and where responders are ready to accept distress calls from those who are lost.
“Right now we are geotagging the different vital government installations as well as the location of the different evacuation centers,” the DRRMO’s chief, Rizal Binatiro, told Rappler.
The map, based on the Ushahidi application, is accessible through a web browser in any desktop computer and in an application for mobile phones.
Ideally, the application would work like this: the local government has an access to an online map of Dumaguete projected live. The spread will contain pins that point to critical locations, such as evacuation centers and landmarks, during disasters.
When disaster comes – a flood for example – lost residents can send reports through their phones where they need help, and authorities can easily find them.
Residents can send a report either through the application or even through SMS. With residents turning on location services on their devices, the government can spot their approximate location and send help in a matter of minutes.
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