Project NOAH has finished mapping the building footprints of ISAIAH’s 15 target provinces and an additional province for “good will”. The completion of its mapping initiative was made possible through the help of several organizations and individuals such as MAVC program, Aurora Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, UP Rockhounds, Geographic Society of the University of the Philippines (GSUP), Eastern Samar State University, Eastern Visayas State University, UP NSTP-CWTS program, and OSM-Philippines contributors. NOAH finished mapping the building exposure data of Abra, Aurora, Bataan, Batangas, Biliran, Camiguin, Cavite, Eastern Samar, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Leyte, Misamis Oriental, Northern Samar, Samar, Southern Leyte, and Zambales. NOAH also mapped the building footprints of Pateros and Taguig City of Metro Manila.

The building exposure data is essential in calculating the disaster risk of the communities. Part of the ISAIAH’s objectives is the completion of risk profiles of the 15 target provinces. With this data, local government units can formulate their disaster risk reduction and management plans and make informed decisions when they are threatened by natural hazards.

The translated building footprint data mapped by NOAH through OSM is integrated into the WebSAFE application of Project NOAH. It is a web and mobile-based impact assessment tool used to identify the number of affected people and structures when a hazard scenario (e.g. flood, landslide, or storm surge) hits a certain area. WebSAFE can help us identify the buildings exposed in hazardous area that is useful in disaster preparedness activities, especially for preemptive evacuation.

WebSAFE feature on the NOAH Website showing a sample calculation of how many buildings might be affected in the event of a 3-meter high storm surge in Mambajao, Camiguin

Thank you for helping us in mapping the Philippines through OpenStreetMap!