Sitting quietly on her sofa eyes on the TV and phone in hand, Ma. Lourdes D. Ramas stays calm as a yellow warning alert flashes on her screen. Just a few meters from a river basin in Surigao del Sur, her home is vulnerable but unlike before, fear no longer grips her at every thunderclap. She doesn’t need to step outside to check the water level. Technology and a community-first approach to disaster preparedness is making all the difference.
“Don’t worry, Ma,” she tells her elderly mother. “It’s only a yellow warning. Nothing serious. You can sleep now.”
In a country that faces about 20 typhoons a year, scenes like these are familiar. The Philippines tops the 2023 World Risk Index as the most climate-vulnerable nation among 193 countries. Typhoons bring floods, landslides, and storm surges that have repeatedly left trails of destruction, especially in remote areas like Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.
But something is changing residents are no longer just reacting. They’re preparing in advance, and it’s saving lives.
For years, warnings came late, and only through megaphones or barangay sirens. By then, waters were already rising. But thanks to the STREAM-EWS project the Strengthening Resilience through Early Action and Impact Mitigation–Early Warning System, led by PIN Philippines and funded by GSMA timely alerts now reach even the most isolated areas.
In 15 remote, flood-prone municipalities across Mindanao, 19 flood sensors and weather stations were installed, with real-time alerts sent via mobile in local dialects. Residents like Fernando Escartin Jr. of Barangay Cabugao no longer sleep through the danger.
“Before, we’d wake up with our things already soaked,” he said. “Now, we’re alerted early and have time to prepare.”
No More Guesswork
Even local officials have seen a shift. Alexander D. Dapar Jr., the disaster management officer in San Miguel, Surigao del Sur, recalls having to personally check rivers for flood risks. Now, he monitors everything on a screen.
More importantly the project helped institutionalize disaster preparedness. Through training, table-top simulations, and planning workshops, municipalities adopted policies like pre-emptive evacuation ordinances, turning knowledge into law.
“Before, we didn’t have a policy. Now, we do because of what we learned from the training,” said Dapar.
A major win of the STREAM-EWS project is localized communication. Warning messages come in local dialects ensuring children, the elderly, and everyone in between understands them.
“The alerts are in our own language. Even my child knows what a yellow alert means,” said Ramas.
For Escartin, this has made families more independent. “Now, we don’t wait for neighbors to warn us. If you’re registered, you get the alert on your phone and can act right away.”
With this information, families can ready Go Bags, secure documents, and evacuate safely if needed.
A Culture of Prevention
Disaster preparedness is no longer about reacting it’s about anticipating. More than 55,000 people across the project’s areas now receive early warnings directly on their phones. Color-coded maps and household preparedness posters further build a culture of readiness.
But leaders agree: technology is just the tool it’s the people who make it work.
In a nation as disaster-prone as the Philippines, the success of STREAM-EWS shows what’s possible when innovation, local leadership, and community action come together. Yet the work isn’t done. The call now is for more programs, sustainable systems, and a continued focus on prevention over panic. For families like the Ramases, it’s no longer about surviving the storm it’s about staying one step ahead of it.