SHAH ALAM: A new flood hazard system that can help predict a flooding disaster has been developed.

UiTM Shah Alam faculty of architecture, planning and surveying senior lecturer Prof Dr Nor Aizam Adnan said the system known as “Geoflood Information Visualisor (GFIV)” could provide accurate remote sensing information about floods.

This system would be able to allow authorities to prepare and respond immediately in an emergency.

“With enough information, we can predict up to six hours before a flooding disaster takes place in a certain area,” she said in an interview.

She said the current practice was manual water flow monitoring via rainfall and discharge gauge recording by the Drainage and Irrigation Department staff.

“The new system will assist in predicting the level of hazards within a certain period of time.

“We can even predict the land use activity of the whole area, flood depth, identify the river network, roads involved, nearest disaster centres, as well as how many people can be affected,” she said.

The new system, which is an integration between hydraulic modelling and geo-spatial data preparation, can provide an insightful framework during flood disasters that can be further developed as a tool for local authorities to measure the risk and impact in flood prone areas.

Dr Nor Aizam said that similar methods had been used by insurance companies in other countries to determine places that were prone to flooding.

“This should be used as a new guideline by our authorities for the betterment of public welfare,” she said.

The project, which was researched along with Dr Zaharah Mohd Yusoff, Ruzanna Ahmad Zahir and Abdul Rauf Abdul Rasam, won a gold medal at an Invention, Innovation and Design Exposition last year.

-thestar