As part of the FEW2 project, 12 representatives from various Vietnamese agencies gathered in Hanoi, Vietnam, to participate in PDC’s Flood Modeling Applications training.
Vietnam’s Disaster Management Center (DMC) continues to strengthen internal capacity for hazard monitoring and early warning to save lives and livelihoods in the storm- and flood-prone country with the technical assistance of Pacific Disaster Center (PDC). Under funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the two-year Flood Modeling and Early Warning Capacity Development Project, Phase II, (FEW2) seeks to strengthen early warning capacity, adding new data and information resources to and bolstering the operational capability of VinAWARE, a web-based early warning decision support system based on PDC’s DisasterAWARE platform.
As part of FEW2, PDC’s South East Asia Program Advisor Victoria Leat and Disaster Management Applications Analyst Andrea Chatman conducted a four-day training program on Flood Model Applications Supporting Disaster Preparedness and Planning. The event was held at the Esri Training Center in Hanoi, February 24–27. Opening the event, DMC Director Dr. Nguyen Huu Phuc addressed participants. Dr. Phuc emphasized the importance of the training topics, provided context on integration for response and preparedness, and stressed the relevance for the upcoming flood season.
Participants work together on applying flood modeling outputs for developing disaster plans.
Among the 12 participants were representatives from the DMC, Vietnam’s National Committee for Search and Rescue (VINASARCOM), the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF), The World Bank Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), and the Center for Water Resources Consultant and Technology Transfer (CWRCTT).
This event is part of a series of training sessions developed under FEW2 to enhance Vietnam’s disaster management capacity. In December 2013, 10 participants received training on the MIKE 11/21 flood modeling applications; in early January of this year, nine people received training and certification to become VinAWARE Train-the-Trainers; and in late January, 74 national- and provincial-level disaster managers received VinAWARE training to build capacity to use the VinAWARE system. Additional planned training sessions include U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Dam Safety Program training scheduled for May and further VinAWARE user and administrator training planned for later in 2014. In addition to this training, PDC is also working closely with DMC to incorporate additional national data into the VinAWARE system and institutionalize the use of the system to improve the country’s disaster management early warning and decision making.
Learn more about the FEW Project with these resources:
- Details on the first VinAWARE training sessions,
- Information from the FEW2 stakeholder meeting,
- The launch of the USAID-supported FEW2 Project,
- Special training in the use of PDC’s DisasterAWARE,
- News of PDC commitment to DM in Vietnam,
- A description of the first use of the VinAWARE,
- The first Flood Early Warning Project launched in 2009, and
- To see what Dr. Phuc and the DMC are doing, go to www.dmc.gov.vn.
