Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (MHEWS) Assessment Methodology for Schools

Abstract

Schools play an important role in any community because children spend most of their time in schools for their education. Unfortunately, schools are exposed to natural hazards such as earthquakes, typhoons, and floods like other structures. However, implementing an effective Early Warning System (EWS) can help school administrators, occupants, and communities prepare against these hazards. EWS is an essential component of a disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) plan. Its purpose is to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful information of possible extreme events to administrators and eventually to the students. However, it is difficult to ascertain the quality of a school’s EWS to address any upcoming hazards. With this, the authors designed a workshop with toolkits to guide school administrators in evaluating their organizational structure within the context of DRR. The toolkits assessed the soft and hard measures of the school, particularly its DRRM and EWS. A method was developed to measure the EWS in schools based on the toolkits. A radar scoring system was used to measure the school’s key elements: Risk Knowledge, Monitoring and Warning Services, Dissemination and Communication, Response Capabilities. Indices for each element and EWS as a whole were obtained. Modes of warning and communication were ranked. In Lipa City’s case, the results showed that the schools have an average of 74.050 EWS index, meaning the EWS is of good quality but can still be improved. This method can be applied to other schools to assess their EWS.