Flash Flood Early Warning Systems
Coming Soon
According to the World Meteorological Organization, flash floods are the most lethal form of natural hazard (based upon the ratio of fatalities to people affected), and cause millions of dollars in property damage every year. Yet despite their significance, only a few countries have implemented flash flood forecasting systems, in part due to technical complexity in predicting flash flood events. Recent technological advancements are making such systems increasingly affordable and effective. Now, flash-flood prone countries have a range of options to create local, regional and global systems capable of protecting vulnerable populations from flash floods.
The U.S. National Weather Service is currently developing a Flash Flood Early Warning Systems Reference Guide that will provide an authoritative set of guidelines for the design and operation of successful flash flood early warning systems. The Guide is intended to promote the implementation of flash flood early warning systems, based upon proven and effective methods already in use in flash-flood prone nations around the world. It will serve as a reference to both governmental and non-governmental decision makers uncertain of the process and components that constitute a robust, end-to-end flash flood early warning system. The guide will be available freely from this Website once completed.
In addition to providing an overview of the Concept of Operations for flash flood early warning system, the guide will include more detailed chapters on Data and Information Collection, Flash Flood Forecasting Methods, Computational Requirements, Warning Dissemination and Notification, and Community-based Disaster Management. A useful set of annotated links will also be provided.