Drivers struggle to deal with flooding caused by high tides on Le Van Luong Street, HCM City’s Nha Be district (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - Flood-sensor chips willbe installed at an additional 32 flooding hotspots to warn HCM City residentsof potential floods from heavy rains or tides, according to the HCM City UrbanDrainage Company.
The city made the decision after seeing positiveresults from chips that had been installed earlier at five flooding hotspots.
The hotspots included Binh Thanh District’s NguyenHuu Canh Street; Thu Duc District’s Duong Van Cam Street; Tan Phu District’s TruongVinh Ky Street; Go Vap District’s Le Duc Tho Street; and District 7’s Huynh TanPhat Street.
Bui Van Truong, a HCM City Urban Drainage Companyofficer, said the company had previously sent staff to manually measure waterlevels and report the results.
“But this created a problem because we could notproactively draft plans to tackle any rising problem,” he said.
An American company introduced flood-sensor chipsto the city, but they were too expensive to install, costing hundreds ofmillions of Dong at each hotspot.
After Sai Gon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) manufacturedsensor chips, the Urban Drainage Company redesigned them to detect changes inwater levels in the sewage system.
As results are sent to the company, it can confirmwhether particular sewage pipes would be able to hold increasing amounts ofwater caused by heavy rains, tides.
Recently, the company also collaborated with theHydro-Meteorological Forecasting Centre to forecast potential rains three hoursin advance.
Rain measurements, together with water-levelforecasts, sent from sensor chips placed at sewage pipes will help the companyefficiently predict where and how floods are going to arise.
Truong said the company has been working on amobile application that uses data from chips to inform residents in advanceabout potential flooding in their areas.
“Thu Duc Market is prone to floods. Now thatlocals are aware of potential floods, they can vacate or take away their goodsfrom their stalls before they are submerged in water,” he said.
Flood-sensor chips also benefit authorities whocan more easily allocate manpower, water pumps and other items needed to combatflooding, he added.
Many streets in HCM City, including Go VapDistrict’s Phan Huy Ich Street, Binh Tan District’s Ho Hoc Lam Street andDistrict 5’s Duong Tu Giang Street, on May 15 were submerged in water after atwo-hour heavy rain.
Drivers of motorbikes that lost power in the rainhad to get off and push their bikes on water-clogged streets.
The city plans to resolve problems at more than200 flood hotspots from now until 2020. — VNA
VNA
