MA. CORAZON G.

FERNANDO et al: IHANDA: A MOBILE APPLICATION FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

iHanda: A Mobile Application for Disaster Preparedness

Ma. Corazon G. Fernando, Maria Vicky S. Solomo, Ace C. Lagman

FEU Institute of Technology, P. Paredes St. Sampaloc, Manila, Philippines.

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Abstract - The application name as iHanda which means “I’am prepared”. This project is a type of mobile application for disaster
preparedness that will raise awareness for the Manila inhabitants on what to do during emergencies like earthquake, floods, fire,
typhoons and how to prepare the emergency kit. The mobile application has three tabs: iHanda, iAlam, and iListo. The iHanda tab
provides information on weather forecast, disaster preparedness infographics, and vulnerability map and disaster emergency
hotlines. The iAlam tab is for the users to know the latest announcements of Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). The iListo tab was named as such since it means “Quickly know where to go”
and this tab provides map to locate government offices, hospitals, and evacuation centers within Manila. Furthermore, the system
notifies the users through SMS messaging whenever there are new announcements posted on the application.

Keywords - Android Mobile Application; Disaster Preparation; Weather Forecast; Maps; SMS Notification; Typhoons; Earthquake

I. INTRODUCTION means ensuring that enough families take simple steps to

look after themselves.
Due to the Philippines geographical location, natural In this project, the proponents aim to develop an android
disasters are a common incidence. [1] The Philippines is one mobile application that will help the Filipinos for disaster
of the most high-risk countries in the world for experiencing preparedness. The target beneficiary of this application are
natural disasters. The list of possible natural disasters the people of Manila. After all, we need the entire
includes earthquakes, floods, mudslides, typhoons, and Philippines to be prepared. This is true but we live in Manila
volcanic eruptions. [2] The Philippines is considered to be and can’t really speak about the needs of other cities. While
one of the most storm exposed countries on Earth. On much of the information here can be applied anywhere, the
average, 18 to 20 tropical storms enter Philippine waters idea behind the site is to have as much local information as
each year, with 8 or 9 of those storms making landfall. possible. It is a disaster mobile application that will raise
Ref. [3] Based on the World Risk Index 2012, the awareness on what to do during emergencies like typhoons,
Philippines is the third among 173 countries most vulnerable floods, fire and earthquakes. It will also provide information
to disaster risk and natural hazards; we experience an on the telephone/mobile numbers to contact in case of
average of 20 tropical cyclones each year and other climatic emergencies and disasters; and maps for the active faults
and extreme weather aberrations such as the El Niño and trenches in the Philippines. This app is not the one that
phenomenon. These disasters strain government funds, with you’ll use every day. However, it’s a good idea to have it in
an average of P15 billion in annual direct damages. More your mobile phone for when the unexpected disaster
adversely, this hampers the government’s poverty reduction happens and so you can meet any emergency situation with
efforts. confidence.
Ref. [4] Situated on the Ring of Fire, the Philippines has
a number of active volcanoes which periodically threaten II. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
their immediate vicinities. In the event of major volcanic
activity, you should follow the advice of local authorities The proponents primarily chose this topic in order to
and monitor warnings issued by the Philippine Institute of disseminate information regarding the possible calamities
Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). that citizen of Metro Manila may encounter. The project that
While the principles of preparedness are independent of will be created aims to inform, to prepare and to help the
location and scenario, the proponents thought it would be citizens of Metro Manila when calamities strike. No one can
useful to have some information set in a context for the really predict when a disaster will hit the region or even the
specific needs of Metro Manila inhabitants. The aim of the city, for that matter. But with early preparations, not only by
iHanda app is to fill that gap. We may hear that Manila is the government, but by the public and private sector as well,
not prepared to handle a major disaster but there are many its effects could be minimized, according to experts.
things we can do to minimize the impact to our own Ref. [5] According to Philippine Senate, considerable
families. Preparedness begins at home and preparing Manila amount of lives, homes, livelihood and services were lost
due to natural disasters. They also result in injuries, health

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 MA. CORAZON G. FERNANDO et al: IHANDA: A MOBILE APPLICATION FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

problems, property damage, and social and economic publicly accessible global database on disasters and their
disruption. From 2000 to 2012, natural disasters in the impacts, EM-DAT, uses an absolute definition which is
Philippines caused the death of 12,899 people and injury to statistically convenient but inevitably arbitrary. Scale needs
138,116 persons. These disasters also affected more than 71 to be seen in relation to the population and economic size of
million individuals and rendered almost 375,000 persons an impacted country for meaningful international
homeless. comparisons to be made. A disaster with major sub-national
Ref. [6] One of the key findings of a qualitative study impacts may appear relatively unimportant at national or
completed recently by the Institute of Philippine Culture international level. Scale is particularly important for small
(IPC) based at the Ateneo de Manila University stated that island developing states (Prevention Web, 2012).
many residents in poor communities that were heavily Ref. [9] The Dominican Republic occupies two-thirds of
affected by Typhoons Ondoy and 61 Pepeng in 2009 are still the Island of Hispaniola in the Major Antilles below the
struggling to recover due to lack of assets and working Tropic of Cancer in the Caribbean Region. Covering an area
capital to restore their livelihood lost to the floods. Using of 48,670 square kilometers and including the islands of
focus group discussions and key informants interviews, the Saona, Beata, Catalina and other smaller islands, the Island
study titled “The Social Impact of Tropical Storm Ondoy is shared with the Republic of Haiti with a 383 kilometers
and Typhoon” probes into the long-term effects of the twin “porous” border to the west. A tropical country, it has eight
disasters that hit the country in 2009. The study was extensive rugged mountain ranges that span the country,
supported by a trust fund from the Australian Agency for separated by relatively fertile valleys, sierras and limestone
International Development (AusAID) administered by the regions. With an average precipitation of around 1,500 mm,
World Bank. The study says that since 2009, these the country has large bodies of subterranean water, fourteen
communities reported overall reduction in incomes due to principal river basins, over 400 rivers systems and streams
loss of assets and working capital. that feed the country’s reservoirs, power hydroelectric plants
Ref. [7] Magunda M. K. (PhD) published a study on and feed extensive irrigation systems. The Dominican
August 2010 entitled “Study on Disaster Risk Management Republic is subject to a number of different hazards
and Environment for the Karamoja Subregion.” The study including hydro meteorological events such as tropical
focused on: 74 - Assessment of environmental change as a storms, depressions and hurricanes, floods, landslides and
parameter of disaster risk in the Karamoja region - droughts, as well as seismic events including earthquakes
Assessment of environmental causes and the associated and tsunamis, and finally diseases including dengue, malaria
consequences - Assessment of the dynamics between and most recently an outbreak of cholera crossing the
disaster, environmental impacts and the needs of the Haitian border into Dominican territory in late 2010. EM-
communities in Karamoja Koos van Zyl (2006), meanwhile, DAT registers 47 natural events during 1980-2011, of which
discussed in his [8] “A Study on a Disaster Risk 21 were caused by storms, followed by 18 floods, five
Management Plan for the South African Agricultural epidemics and one earthquake. Jointly these events have
Sector” the dependent factors of flood hazard such as the caused the death of 1,486 and affected 2.7 million people,
depth and velocity of the water, duration of the flood and the whilst causing close to US$ 2.61 billion in economic
load carried such as the sediment, salts, sewage and damages. Statistics from the 2009 Global Assessment
chemicals. He added that flood events and impacts appear to Report on Disaster Risk Reduction indicate that, in terms of
be increasing on a global scale. severe exposure, 6.3 per cent of the population is located in
A problem with conceiving of disaster in this way is that high-risk earthquake hazard zones subject to significant loss,
it becomes too easy to imagine disaster events as isolated followed by 5.9 per cent in hurricane zones and 5.4 per cent
moments or periods lying outside the influence of in drought zones. Additional estimates indicate that up to 80
development planning. It is argued here that disasters are, on per cent of the population may be at risk of suffering both
the contrary, an outcome of processes of risk accumulation directly and indirectly from one or more disasters. Notably,
deeply embedded in contemporary and historical the Dominican Republic has the highest number of deaths
development decisions. Disaster risk results from a per million inhabitants and highest mortality risk to disaster
combination of hazards (potentially damaging events or in the Caribbean after Haiti, placing it high on regional
processes) and people’s vulnerability to those hazards. Both rankings for total disaster losses (International Federation of
hazards and vulnerability are to varying extents products of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2011).
development processes. A further common perception is that
disasters are usually large-scale events involving a single III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
hazard, such as a flood or an earthquake. As far as scale is
concerned, there is at present no agreed threshold at which The proponents will be using Scrum methodology. [10]
point a collection of discrete losses or disruptions can reach Scrum methodology is commonly used for software
disaster status. Political spin can either exaggerate or play projects, for it lets the team adapt to changes and problems
down the scale of a disaster, with an eye respectively on that the team could encounter during the development.
donor aid or on private sector investment flows. The sole Development happens during a sprint that commonly lasts

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 MA. CORAZON G. FERNANDO et al: IHANDA: A MOBILE APPLICATION FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

for a week. There are also sprint meetings every day, a short The system was developed in Android platform for
meeting, commonly 5 – 10 minutes, where the team could mobile phone application development and uses the current
talk about the project. This software cycle will repeat until Android SDK Developer Tools, provided in an embedded
the development comes to a conclusion. Eclipse compiler. For the knowledge base, the researchers
[11]The researcher will also be using Black Box as a used the provided Android SQLite, which supports a faster
method for testing the software. It is the most used method appending and reading of the information from the stored
for testing software where the functionality is the priority in repository. The system also requires to have a stable
testing rather than the inside workings of the software. connection and an enable GPS for accurate reading of user’s
location.
IV. THE DEVELOPED SYSTEM The iHanda: A Mobile Application for Disaster
Preparedness consists of the following main modules: 1)
-A. Software Design iHanda, 2) iAlam, and 3) iListo shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. iHanda Module. Figure 2. Weather Forecast. Figure 3. Infographics Module.

The (1) iHanda module is intended to make the users be Figure 3 shows the infographics for disaster
ready for disasters. It has 4 sub-modules under it: i) Weather preparedness which includes the emergency situations like
Forecast, ii) Disaster Preparedness Infographics, iii) earthquake, flood, typhoon, fire and a guide on how to
Vulnerability Map and (d) Disaster Emergency Hotlines. create an emergency kit. You can still view the infographics
Figure 2 shows the Weather Forecast which is to inform even when you’re offline. The infographics used were from
the users to of the weather conditions of the country. safesteps.com.

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 MA. CORAZON G. FERNANDO et al: IHANDA: A MOBILE APPLICATION FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Figure 4. Vunerability Map Figure 5. Emergency Hotlines. Figure 6. SMS Notification.

Figure 4 shows the Vulnerability page. Its purpose is to it: i) Announcement and ii) Philippine Atmospheric,
show the map of the distribution of active faults and Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration
trenches in the Philippines. (PAGASA) tweets.
Figure 5 shows the emergency hotlines that the user can Figure6 shows the SMS notification feature of the
contact in case of emergency or for any disaster related system. Whenever there are new announcements posted, the
concerns. user will be notified with the announcement posted through
The (2) iAlam module is for the users to be in the know an SMS message. So, even though he’s offline, he can still
of the latest announcements. It has two sub-modules under receive and view the new announcement posted on the app.

Figure 7. PAGASA Tweet Page. Figure 8. Nearest Hopitals. Figure 9. Evacuation Centers

Figure 7 shows the PAGASA Tweets page. The tweets Figure 8 shows the Locate Hospitals page to where the
of PAGASA are posted in this page in real- time updates. users will be able to locate the hospitals within Manila with
And lastly the (3) iListo module shows the location of the help of the pins.
the: i) Government offices, ii) Hospitals and iii) Evacuation Figure 9 shows the evacuation centers that where the
centers within Manila. people can go in case of emergencies.

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 MA. CORAZON G. FERNANDO et al: IHANDA: A MOBILE APPLICATION FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

And the Administrator module can monitor can monitor the TABLE II. OVERALL RESULT OF IT RESPONDENTS
number of registered users of the app and the number of the Characte’ Mean Interpre’
Statement
ristics Response tation
announcements posted. In this page also, the admin can post -1. The application has suitable and
announcements. appropriate set of functions in 4.75 Excellent
accordance to its purpose
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION -2. The application provides Very
4.46
Functionality accurate result. Good
-3. How do you rate the
Testing plays an important role to the success of the 4.75 Excellent
functionalities / module of the app.
quality of a software. The purpose of the software testing is -4. Rate the application overall Very
4.33
to discover the defects, improve the quality, reliability and performance good
performance of the system and to ensure the software works -5. The application provides helpful
information for the needs of Metro
perfectly based on its functionalities. The proponents used Manila inhabitants for disaster 4.52 Excellent
Beta Testing to test the software. In Beta Testing, the preparedness, latest weather,
software is released to a group of people so that further Reliability announcement, etc.
testing can ensure the product has few faults or bugs. The -6. How helpful / useful do you Very
4.44
think the application is for you? Good
software was made available to the open public to know the -7. The application did not crash
feedback of the users. 4.69 Excellent
when in used?
The proponents used survey forms to perform the beta Usability -8. The app is easy to navigate. 4.58 Excellent
testing activity. The researcher used survey questionnaire to
-9. Rate the responsiveness of the
evaluate the system. Likert scale was used to address the Efficiency
application.
4.65 Excellent
measurement of the perception of the respondents shown in -10. The application can adopt to Very
Portability 4.37
Table I below. different android devices Good
Overall 4.54 Excellent
TABLE I. REPRESENTATION OF RATINGS
Rating Interpretation TABLE III. OVERALL RESULT OF IT RESPONDENTS
4.51 – 5.00 Excellent Charac’ Mean Interp’
Statement
teristics Response retation
3.51 – 4.50 Very Good -1. The application has suitable and
2.51 – 3.50 Good appropriate set of functions in 4.53 Excellent
accordance to its purpose
1.51 – 2.50 Fair -2. The application provides Very
4.30
Functionality accurate result. Good
1.00 – 1.50 Poor
-3. How do you rate the
4.66 Excellent
functionalities / module of the app.
We used random sampling technique. The respondents -4. Rate the application overall Very
4.27
performance good
of the survey consists of two categories: IT and Non-IT -5. The application provides helpful
respondents. information for the needs of Metro
Very
There were 20 IT respondents and 20 Non-IT Manila inhabitants for disaster 4.46
Good
respondents. The respondents should be an inhabitant of preparedness, latest weather,
Manila, regardless of their age and occupation. The Reliability announcement, etc.
-6. How helpful / useful do you Very
proponents used ISO/IEC 9126 software quality model that think the application is for you?
4.24
Good
categorizes software quality into six characteristics (factors) -7. The application did not crash
4.55 Excellent
for the questions on the survey form were it is grouped when in used?
based on the attributes of the software quality factors: Usability -8. The app is easy to navigate. 4.60 Excellent
Functionality, Reliability, Usability, Efficiency, -9. Rate the responsiveness of the
Efficiency 4.50 Excellent
Maintainability and Portability. application.
Table II shows the actual results of the number of IT -10. The application can adopt to Very
Portability 4.11
different android devices God
respondents. The following are revealed in the survey: for
Very
the functionality software factor, the mean response is 4.57; Overall 4.41
Good
for the software factor of reliability with the mean 4.55; for
the usability, with the mean of 4.58; for the efficiency, with Table III above shows the actual results of the survey for
the mean of 4.65; lastly, for the portability software factor, the Non-IT respondents. The following are revealed in the
with the mean of 4.37, with the overall mean of 4.54 which survey: for the functionality software factor, the mean
means Excellent. response is 4.44; for the software factor of reliability with
the mean 4.41; for the usability, with the mean of 4.60; for
the efficiency software factor, with the mean of 4.50; lastly,

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 MA. CORAZON G. FERNANDO et al: IHANDA: A MOBILE APPLICATION FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

for the portability software factor, with the mean of 4.11, to hardcore gamers and promote replayability (3) Research
with the overall mean of 4.41 which means Very Good. deeper as of why waste disposal continues to be a problem
It is important to formulate survey questions for a in the Philippines.
software testing based on the software factors which are the
functionality, reliability, usability and efficiency. Based on VI. CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION AND
the survey that has been conducted for the IT and non-IT FUTURE WORKS
respondents residing in Metro Manila, the iHanda mobile
app have a majority of rating scale of 4.47 for all the In the future we need to extend the study to make it a
software factors which includes application’s over-all cross platform application, which will be available for
performance, the app is easy to navigate and how helpful the Android and iOS users. In addition, when a new
app is for disaster preparedness. announcement was posted, the app will notify you in real-
The general objective of iHanda has been met which is time when your device is online. The application’s icon and
to develop a mobile application for disaster preparedness the announcement will appear in the status bar. Community
that will provide helpful information set in a context for the feedback will be also be helpful to know the other
specific needs of Metro Manila inhabitants. To ensure that information regarding disaster preparedness. And lastly for
the objectives of developing the software has been met, wider scope, the app will not only be limited to Manila
there is a need to conduct a beta testing through a survey. inhabitants only but to the whole country.
Because of the survey, the feedbacks/comments of the
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