The Urban Drainage Co. (UDC) has launched an app that updates users on flooded areas, rain, and flood tides in Ho Chi Minh City.
Users of Android devices can now download the UDI Maps app on Google Play to access news about flooding in the city.
The app has been developed as a two-way communications channel between the company and residents.
UDI Maps uses Google’s map and driving direction features to provide detailed and accurate information on flooded locations in the city and recommend alternative routes.
Users will receive the latest information and emergency alerts on flooding and can also send information and images of flooded areas to help UDC deal with the situation and mitigate losses.
UDC previously coordinated with certain agencies to use the Geographic Information System (GIS), the foundation of UDI Maps, to issue flood alerts. The GIS database helps agencies to check the drainage system and propose solutions to flooding. But the GIS-based system was not well managed, making it difficult to monitor and repair sewers, according to the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research.
The city currently has 31 points subject to severe regular flooding, such as Nguyen Van Qua, Kinh Duong Vuong, Me Coc, Nguyen Huu Canh, and Pham Van Dong Streets and the Hanoi Highway. The Center for Urban Flood Control Program has predicted that flooding at all of these points will have been addressed by 2018.
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