GMA News, Project NOAH team up for cutting-edge weather expertise

Effective communication often spells the difference between life and death during a disaster like Typhoon Pablo.

 

To this end, GMA News has been constantly striving to up the ante on weather reporting in the country. After acquiring its own editorial weather consultant, weather forecasting system and full-time resident meteorologist earlier this year, GMA News now delivers almost real-time weather updates via the government's groundbreaking Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazard).

 

After meeting with representatives from the government, GMA News Online now has a "mirror site" where information from Project NOAH can be viewed by the public. The Project NOAH mirror site can be viewed at www.gmanetwork.com/news/weather/noah or simply at noah.gmanetwork.com.

 

"Kaugnay ng GMA News, kaisa tayo lagi ng gobyerno sa mga hakbang tungkol sa disaster preparedness, hindi lang sa mga bagyo kundi pati sa iba pang hazards na pwedeng harapin ng ating bansa," said GMA resident meteorologist Nathaniel "Mang Tani" Cruz.

 

The partnership leverages GMA News' in-house weather expertise and online infrastructure to supplement government efforts to keep the public informed and forewarned of ongoing weather conditions.

 

Project NOAH is an inter-agency collaboration "to promote and integrate advanced science and technology to enhance disaster management and prevention capacity of the Philippine government." Moreover, Project NOAH's almost real-time updates serve to complement GMA News' own cutting-edge forecasting efforts.

 

GMA News Online's mirror site for Public NOAH also helps address the high public demand for information at the height of crises.

 

"It's a form of public service on our part, to help (Project NOAH) defray costs of bandwidth and ensure that the site is available," de Guzman also said.

 

Project NOAH Executive Director Mahar Lagmay tweeted earlier:

 

Project NOAH was getting 7-8 requests per second yesterday but it held up well. Thank you for the mirror sites. — Mahar Lagmay (@nababaha) December 5, 2012  

 

In a text message, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) spokesperson Mon Liboro said, "Disaster prevention is everyone's business and cooperation is always the start. This partnership is meant to save lives of many Filipinos in these times of climate and environment uncertainties." 

 

Other media organizations such as Interaksyon and Rappler are also hosting a mirror site for Project NOAH. — TJD, GMA News