Hanoi Launches Real-Time Flood Map with Instant Alerts

Hanoi has significantly boosted its urban disaster preparedness with the launch of an innovative mini-app that provides real-time flood information and instant alerts. The new system extracts data directly from an automatic monitoring station network managed by Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Company Limited. Rainfall and floodwater depths are continuously updated in real-time, measured to the millimeter and meter respectively. A standard color scale offers a visual assessment of danger levels, allowing residents to gauge the risk within seconds. The mini-app is embedded within the iHanoi application, which boasts over 6.484 million registered accounts. This integration ensures users can access this critical information immediately without needing to install a separate application, saving device storage and reducing access time. Furthermore, the application can proactively send alerts directly to users' phones. When flooding or heavy rainfall occurs within a user's designated area, a detailed pop-up alert automatically appears, enabling residents to proactively change their routes. Users can set an alert radius from 1km to 100km and customize notification hours to suit their daily routines. The map is designed to assist office workers and students in selecting routes that avoid flooded areas before leaving home, help ride-hailing and delivery drivers protect their vehicles from damage, and enable residents in low-lying areas to move belongings and vehicles to safer locations. Hanoi authorities state that this technological deployment marks a new step forward in smart urban governance and disaster prevention, with the potential to transform how millions of residents respond to natural disasters.