With flooding and typhoon season ahead, central and local authorities must assess their preparedness and strengthen emergency plans to protect citizens and their property, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today at a weekly Cabinet meeting where the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) reported on preparatory work for this year's flooding and typhoon season.
Come every May, the government must prepare for the dual threats of drought and flooding. This year, disaster reduction and relief drills have been completed by local authorities in all regions except the offshore islands, Jiang said.
Jiang also highlighted the importance of guarding water supply as light rainfall in March and April has left the country's major reservoirs at relatively low levels. While the reservoirs can still supply water for households and industries, the MOEA should continue monitoring and adjusting usage and encourage water conservation to ensure water supplies last through plum rain season in May and June.
The premier also said that information and communications technology is crucial for disaster prevention and relief operations. As such, he asked the MOI to make sure its disaster communications facilities as well as radio communications and broadcasting systems in remote regions are functional and well maintained during flooding season. In addition, the MOI must also ensure the stability and security of its disaster reduction cloud system, a platform that has integrated disaster reduction data and other resources across agencies and bridged information between central and local authorities.
When 4G mobile Internet technology is launched in the near future, it will enhance information and communications services and cloud systems for disaster reduction and relief, Jiang added, directing all related ministries and agencies to promote the technology.
Disaster relief maps are another useful tool, and the MOI has created simple-to-read evacuation maps for 7,835 villages and communities across the nation. Disaster warning and remote-region notification systems have also been set up to alert local residents of unusual weather conditions and mudslides. Local governments are setting up pole-mounted loudspeakers to broadcast warning sirens or voice messages and creating electronic sign boards to display emergency evacuation alerts. So far, these tools have been set up in two disaster command centers, eight level-one facilities, eight level-three facilities and 256 terminal stations (loudspeaker poles). Four relay stations are expected to be completed by July 31 this year.
This year, the MOEA will be employing new technologies (such as flood surveillance image recognition and flood sensing capabilities) and information from the private sector to stay on top of flood developments. The locations, times and water depths reported will be used to automatically and quickly estimate the surface area and number of homes affected by floods. The ministry has also developed a complete suite of disaster preparation tools for the public, including information websites, mobile apps, text messages for cell phones, and recorded voice messages for landline phones.