Flood warning


A flood warning is closely linked to the task of flood forecasting. The distinction between the two is that the outcome of flood forecasting is a set of forecast time-profiles of channel flows or river levels at various locations, while "flood warning" is the task of making use of these forecasts to make decisions about whether warnings of floods should be issued to the general public or whether previous warnings should be rescinded or retracted.
The task of providing warning for floods is divided into two parts:
The decisions made by someone responsible for initiating flood warnings must be influenced by a number of factors, which include:
A computer system for flood warning will usually contain sub-systems for:
The type of flood warning service available varies greatly from country to country, and a location may receive warnings from more than one service.

United Kingdom

Arrangements for flood warnings vary across the United Kingdom with several agencies leading on warnings for emergency responders and the public. The Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and Scottish Environment Protection Agency all undertake location specific flood warning activities for communities at risk depending upon the scale of flood risk, technical challenges and investment needed to deliver a reliable service.
Prior to issuing a flood warning consideration is given to:
Dissemination of flood warnings has moved towards a service whereby those at risk can pre-register to receive warnings by phone, email or text message from an automatic system, Floodline. Both warnings and updates about current conditions are also carried by local radio stations. In addition, live updates are carried by the Environment Agency's website, showing which locations have flood warnings in place and the severity of these warnings.
There is currently no flood warning system in Northern Ireland, but the Met Office does issue weather warnings. Flood risk management is the responsibility of Rivers Agency in Northern Ireland. Consideration will be given to the introduction of a warning system as part of the implementation of the EU Floods directive.

United States

In the United States, the National Weather Service issues flood watches and warnings for large-scale, gradual river flooding. Watches are issued when flooding is possible or expected within 12–48 hours, and warnings are issued when flooding over a large area or river flooding is imminent or occurring. Both can be issued on a county-by-county basis or for specific rivers or points along a river. When rapid flooding from heavy rain or a dam failure is expected, flash flood watches and warnings are issued.
In the U.S. and Canada, dissemination of flood warnings is covered by Specific Area Message Encoding code FLW, which is used by the U.S. Emergency Alert System and NOAA Weather Radio network and in Canada's Weatheradio Canada network.
"Flood statements" are issued by the National Weather Service to inform the public of flooding along major streams in which there is not a serious threat to life or property. They may also follow a flood warning to give later information.

Example of a flood warning

The following is an example of a "Flood Warning." The South Chickamauga Creek is used as an example:

608 
WGUS44 KMRX 210433 CCA
FLWMRX
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN
1233 AM EDT MON SEP 21 2009
...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN, TN HAS ISSUED A FLOOD 
WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA IN GEORGIA...
TENNESSEE...
 SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK NEAR CHATTANOOGA TN AFFECTING CATOOSA AND 
HAMILTON COUNTIES
HEAVY RAINFALL SUNDAY EVENING OF AROUND 3 INCHES IN THE CHATTANOOGA 
AREA HAS CAUSED THE SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK TO RISE RAPIDLY.
GAC047-TNC065-211821-
/O.NEW.KMRX.FL.W.0013.090921T0433Z-090922T2200Z/
/CHKT1.1.ER.090921T0421Z.090922T0600Z.090922T1600Z.NO/
1233 AM EDT MON SEP 21 2009
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN, TN HAS ISSUED A 
  •  FLOOD WARNING FOR 
 THE SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK AT CHICKAMAUGA TN
  •  FROM THIS MORNING TO TUESDAY EVENING.
  •  AT 11:15 PM SUNDAY EVENING THE STAGE WAS 13.0 FEET.
  •  MINOR FLOODING IS FORECAST.
  •  FORECAST...THE RIVER WILL RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE AROUND 7 AM MONDAY
 AND CREST NEAR 19.0 FEET AROUND 2 AM TUESDAY. THE RIVER WILL FALL 
 BELOW FLOOD STAGE TUESDAY AFTERNOON.
  •  AT 19.0 FEET...WATER ACROSS MACK SMITH ROAD BEGINS TO IMPEDE 
 TRAFFIC. WEST CHICKAMAUGA CREEK OVERFLOWS ITS BANKS NEAR THE 
 GEORGIA STATE LINE AND INUNDATES SEVERAL ROADS AND PROPERTIES IN 
 THE AREA.
$$
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
MOST DEATHS IN FLOODS OCCUR IN CARS! IF YOU COME TO A CLOSED OR
FLOODED ROAD, TURN AROUND! DON'T DROWN! FOR MORE DETAILS, STAY TUNED 
TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION OR RADIO THAT CARRY 
WEATHER INFORMATION.
&&
$$
TD

Source:

Example of a flood statement


000
WGUS84 KMRX 221008
FLSMRX
FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN, TN 
608 AM EDT TUE SEP 22 2009
...THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS IN GEORGIA...
TENNESSEE...
 SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK @ CHICKAMAUGA TN AFFECTING CATOOSA AND
HAMILTON COUNTIES 
IN HAMILTON COUNTY...THERE ARE TOO MANY STREETS CLOSED TO MENTION.
IN SHORT...BE PREPARED FOR LONG DELAYS. ALSO...FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE
ARE TRYING TO DRIVE THROUGH FLOOD WATERS. THIS IS A GOOD WAY TO DIE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
MOST DEATHS IN FLOODS OCCUR IN CARS! IF YOU COME TO A CLOSED OR
FLOODED ROAD, TURN AROUND! DON'T DROWN! DRIVING INTO FLOODED ROADS
IS A GOOD WAY TO DIE. BETTER TO BE LATE THAN END UP ON THE NEWS.
&&
GAC047-TNC065-221608-
/O.CON.KMRX.FL.W.0013.000000T0000Z-090923T1942Z/
/CHKT1.2.ER.090921T0923Z.090922T1800Z.090923T1342Z.NO/
608 AM EDT TUE SEP 22 2009
THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR
 THE SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK @ CHICKAMAUGA TN
  •  UNTIL WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.
  •  AT 5:15 AM TUESDAY THE STAGE WAS 25.8 FEET.
  •  MODERATE FLOODING IS OCCURRING. THE FORECAST IS FOR MODERATE 
 FLOODING TO CONTINUE.
  •  FORECAST...THE RIVER WILL CONTINUE TO RISE AND CREST NEAR 26.5 FEET
 TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THE RIVER WILL FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE LATE
 WEDNESDAY MORNING.
  •  AT 27.0 FEET...HOMES ON ARLENA CIRCLE ARE 
 EVACUATED. EVACUATIONS ALSO TAKE PLACE AT THE FOUNTAINBLEAU 
 APARTMENTS ON SPRING CREEK ROAD IN EAST RIDGE.
$$
$$
BOYD

Source:

Iowa Flood Center

The Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa operates the largest real-time flood monitoring system of its kind in the world. It includes more than 200 real-time stream stage sensors that feed data into the Iowa Flood Information System where data can be viewed, online, by disaster management staff and the general public. The stream stage sensors, mounted on bridges and culverts, use ultrasonic sensors to monitor stream and river levels.