The Flood Early Warning Early Action System (FEWEAS)
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technical solutions Indonesian Red Cross Society (PMI) Indonesia, 2017 The Flood Early Warning Early Action System (FEWEAS) Keywords Introduction Half of Indonesia’s population of ap- Early warning, early proximately 141 million people lives on action, flood, new the island of Java. It is the most populous technology. island on Earth. Java is home to several river systems, of which the most signifi- cant are the Citarum river and the Ben- gawan Solo. Due to changing climate and environmental conditions, these river systems are prone to flooding, with huge Indonesian Red Cross Society (PMI) Figure 1. Every year flooding in Java displaces people and implications for the lives of the millions destroys assets and livelihoods. of people who live along them. (ITB), a local academic institution, to de- The Community Flood Resilience (CFR) velop a Flood Early Warning Early Action programme is a collaboration between System (FEWEAS) to predict and monitor the Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah rainfall and flooding. Due to its relevance, Indonesia, PMI), the International Federa- accuracy, and ease of use, the FEWEAS is tion of Red Cross and Red Crescent Soci- now widely used by local governments, eties (IFRC), and Zurich Insurance. To as- policy makers and water authorities sist communities to protect themselves as well as PMI staff and volunteers and against floods, CFR, along with other gov- people living near the Bengawan Solo and ernment and non-government partners, Citarum river basins. joined up with Institut Teknologi Bandung www.ifrc.org Saving lives, changing minds. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 2 Technical solutions The Flood Early Warning Early Action System (FEWEAS) The river systems How 297 kilometers long, the Citarum river is To address the risks arising from floods, one of West Java’s largest rivers. It serves and recognizing that most Javanese have 44.5 million people in West Java province, access to the internet or mobile phones, provides water to the capital Jakarta, irri- the CFR programme developed the Flood gates agricultural land, supports fisheries, Early Warning Early Action System (FE- feeds industrial production, and drives WEAS). It predicts flood events, facilitat- hydroelectric power plants that supply ing early action in response. This internet Java and Bali. based application complements a variety of community-based preparedness and The Bengawan Solo is 600 kilometers long mitigation systems that keep communi- and runs through Central and East Java, ties in the river basins safe and strength- from Mt. Lawu to the Java Sea. The river en their resilience to flood events. is shallow and not navigable; however, it remains a source of hydraulic power and After an analysis of potential service pro- supplies drinking water to the population viders, the CFR programme asked the ITB as well as water for farmers and indus- to support development of the app. try, and is a livelihood source for the local fishing industry. The first FEWEAS was designed for the Bengawan Solo River in 2015. The devel- Problem and context opment and launch of the system took approximately nine months. The sec- Every rainy season, typically from Octo- ond FEWEAS, for the Citarum river, was ber to March, Java witnesses at least one launched in December 2017. significant flood. Floods cause much dam- age: they harm crops and the economy, The partnership developed a website in- destroy infrastructure, displace commu- terface for Android- and iOS-based sys- nities, close schools, imperil livelihoods, tems that can be used by a range of stake- and can spread diseases. holders, including government officials, policy makers, technical weather special- Several factors make flooding more likely. ists, farmers and fisherfolk, PMI staff and They include: changes in land use; popu- Community Based Action Team (SIBAT) lation growth and density; deforestation; volunteers, and of course the communi- waste management; and prolonged or ties themselves. Developed by ten ITB more intense rainfall. Moreover, due to graduates and two professionals, the ap- climate change, flood events are more fre- plication gives updates on the state of the quent and severe. Being an archipelago, river and its potential to flood. It provides Indonesia is particularly vulnerable to the highly accurate information in real time as impact of climate change, which, in ad- well as forecasts. The information is pro- dition to increasing rainfall, may trigger cessed from data observed by Perum Jasa prolonged droughts and other extreme Tirta, which uses automatic water level weather events as well as changes in sea and rainfall recorders at several points level and vegetation patterns. along the river. From this data, combined with data from NOAA’s satellite, the FE- WEAS team created weather, climate, and flood models. The data and models gen- erate: ten-day weather and rainfall fore- casts; information on alert status, water levels, and inundation; hourly flood pre- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 3 Technical solutions The Flood Early Warning Early Action System (FEWEAS) dictions for up to three days (short period) and ten day flood predictions for up to five years; and a village-level warning system. The underlying aim was to enable com- munities living along the Bengawan Solo and the Citarum river to take appropri- ate action to protect themselves and to strengthen their flood resilience. The online version can be accessed here: http://feweas.jasatirta1.co.id/. The appli- cation can also be downloaded for An- droid phones at the google play app store. Indonesian Red Cross Society (PMI) Figure 2. The application FEWEAS can be accessed from any internet based device. Based on the information FEWEAS pro- vides, PMI branches and local communi- To support FEWEAS, the CFR programme ties can plan and implement short- and established a coordination centre in each medium-term preparedness and miti- PMI office, equipped with computers and gation activities with more confidence. communication tools. Staff and volun- FEWEAS’ medium-term predictions are teers in the coordination centres moni- useful for farmers and fisherfolk and fa- tor the prediction and precipitation data cilitate changes to the seasonal calendar. produced by FEWEAS along the Bengawan The programme’s longer-term prediction Solo and the Citarum river. capacities enable policy makers to make informed decisions about land allocation Cost and climate change. Project costs are dependent on academic and technical partner cost structures. In How the project has the specific case of the FEWEAS in Java, analysis, design, development, and imple- promoted resilience: mentation costs for all partners engaged case-study equalled 60,000 CHF. The investments PMI Provincial and District staff and vol- made have the potential to directly ben- unteers are using the FEWEAS to monitor efit 44.5 million people in West Java and floods along the Bengawan Solo in East Java, 16 million in East and Central Java. and along the Citarum river in West Java. PMI staff and volunteers as well as some officials of the government’s disaster re- sponse agencies have been trained to in- terpret the data FEWEAS produces. Early warning can trigger early action, thanks to an innovative website and a handy app that can be used by local people to predict and monitor flooding events in their local communities. Early warning enables PMI to alert and evacuate ’at risk’ communities and schools, using safe evacuation routes, before floods pose a serious risk to life. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 4 Technical solutions The Flood Early Warning Early Action System (FEWEAS) How we work Over the next ten years, the collective fo- cus of the IFRC will be on achieving the Strategy 2020 voices the collective deter- following strategic aims: mination of the International Federation 1. Save lives, protect livelihoods, and of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies strengthen recovery from disasters and (IFRC) to move forward in tackling the crises. major challenges that confront humanity 2. Enable healthy and safe living. in the next decade. Informed by the needs 3. Promote social inclusion and a culture and vulnerabilities of the diverse com- of non-violence and peace. munities with whom we work, as well as the basic rights and freedoms to which all are entitled, this strategy seeks to benefit all who look to Red Cross Red Crescent to help to build a more humane, dignified, and peaceful world. www.ifrc.org Saving lives, changing minds. www.ifrc.org Sauver des vies, changer les mentalités www.ifrc.org Salvar vidas, cambiar mentalidades. www.ifrc.org For more information, please contact: Follow us: http://www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/where-we-work/asia-pacific/indonesian-red-cross-society/ 1266900 06/2018 E 5.