The Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat and Facebook on August 31 launch a collaboration initiative to provide early flood alert and drought monitoring information to riparian communities and governments in the Lower Mekong region. (Photo: mrcmekong.org)Vientiane (VNA) – The Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat and Facebook onAugust 31 launched a collaboration initiative to provide early flood alert anddrought monitoring information to riparian communities and governments in theLower Mekong region.
Thecollaboration, the first of its kind, aims to raise awareness among the generalpublic in the four MRC member countries – Cambodia, Laos,Thailand and Vietnam – about the MRC’s flood and drought information systemsand to build capacity for relevant officials on the use of online digitalsystems during 2020-2021.
According to aUnited Nations report on Economic Losses, Poverty and Disasters, the last twodecades have seen direct economic losses from climate-related disastersincrease by up to 250 percent. In the Mekong region during 1998-2017, Thailandwas worst hit, suffering losses estimated at 52.4 billion USD.
The MRCestimates that while seasonal flooding brings diverse benefits to the region,the average annual cost of flood in the Lower Mekong Basin is approximately 60-70million USD. Cambodia and Vietnam alone account for approximately two-thirds ofthe Mekong region’s total annual flood damage.
Recent MRC studiesalso show that drought in the Lower Mekong Basin has increased in frequency and severity in the pastdecades and this trend is set to continue. The basin is also vulnerable toadditional climate change impacts that include a predicted mean temperaturerise of approximately 0.8 degrees Celsius by 2030.
“We see theutmost importance of providing timely and reliable information on water levelsto Mekong countries and communities exposed to flood and drought and an everchanging climate so that they can take action in time to avoid or reduce theirrisk and prepare an effective response,” said Dr Anoulak Kittikhoun, MRCS ChiefStrategy and Partnership Officer.
The MRC hasinstalled 22 hydrological stations along the main channel of the Mekong Riverin the Lower Mekong Basin to monitor and collect river water level and rainfalldata, which feeds into its Mekong Flood and Drought Forecasting System. Thesystem provides the public and riparian governments with data on daily riverwater levels, including flood alerts and drought forecasting, throughout theyear. The system will be explained through a 3D animated video, which will beshared on Facebook’s platform to reach communities across the region.
Facebook willalso train relevant officials from the four MRC member countries on how to use different digital tools to communicate effectivelyand quickly during and after a disaster. This will include training onFacebook’s Population Density Maps, an application that uses state-of-the-artcomputer visual techniques to combine publicly and commercially availabledatasets with Facebook’s AI capabilities. The maps are three times moredetailed than available sources./.
VNA
