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<br />7 <br /> <br />vendors played an active role at the 1996 Symposium, which would have been <br />nearly unimaginable in 1976 and 1986 <br />There are thousands of <br /> <br />Gruntfest <br /> <br />Web sites instantly available. The National <br />Weather Service reserves the legal obligation for forecasts, although oth <br />professionals and nonprofessionals now have many more options' for <br />obtaining weather information. <br />The Association of State Floodplain Managers, the Association of State <br />Dam Safety officials, Automated Local Emergency in Real Time (ALERT) <br />user groups, and numerous growing professional emergency management <br />organizations are the essential creative groups committed to flash flood <br />hazard mitigation. The partnerships between the ALERT users in many states <br />and flood control districts and government agencies are flourishing, with <br />excellent potential for improving the likelihood that timely warnings are <br />received. ALERT systems are also being used for air pollution monitoring, <br />fire weather forecasts, and water supply decision making. <br />Since the Big Thompson flood, the need for detection and warning <br />systems has been identified and acted upon. Twenty years ago, there were no <br />automated stream and rain gage networks. Now, there are thousands, and <br />they are not only accessible from central base stations at fire departments or <br />emergency management offices, but those of us with modems and computers <br />can keep abreast at home. Finally, in many cases, detection is being <br />combined with the crucial elements of response. The reduced expense of <br />personal computers and the increased speed of data transfer have radically <br />altered the availability of data on real time river basin and rainfall. <br />For example, in Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes Phoenix, <br />residents and flood control engineers have access to real time stream and <br />rain-gage data 24 hours a day (http://www.maricopa.gov/flood/fcd.html). <br />Individuals along many rivers in California can access Web sites that monitor <br />stream gages to determine whether or not to evacuate (http://wwwdrw. <br />water.ca.gov). Real-time radar access is also readily available. These sites <br />were well visited during 1995, 1996, and 1997 floods and increased use can <br />be expected as more people join the Web. <br />Local emergency managers report that the Web data serves a vital public <br />education purpose and significantly reduces phone traffic at emergency <br />operations centers. In addition, NOAA's Forecast Systems Laboratory has <br />developed a prototype where real time weather information is fully integrated <br />in a geographical information system (http://www-ad.fsl.noaa.gov/pddb/ <br />emwdp/emwdp.html). So far it is only available in Boulder. Colorado, but <br />has great promise for applications elsewhere <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />t <br />