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<br />Chapter II - Should Your Co....nity Have a Local Flood Warning and Response <br />Systea? <br /> <br />A. Introduction <br /> <br />Flooding is a natural hazard that can occur at any time. The frequency and <br /> <br />magnitude of flooding can vary from minor flooding causing only inconvenience, <br /> <br />to major flooding resulting in loss of life and extensive damage to <br /> <br />agriculture, industry, transportation, and commercial and residential segments <br /> <br />of society. If the threat from flooding is persistent or the potential losses <br /> <br />significant, community officials should take steps to reduce flood losses, A <br /> <br />local flood warning and response system is one possible step that can be taken <br /> <br />to mitigate flood losses. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />A local flood warning system is defined as a community or locally based system <br /> <br />consisting of volunteers; rainfall, river and other hydrologic gages; <br /> <br />hydrologic models or procedures; a communications network; and a community or <br /> <br />local flood coordinator responsible for issuing a flood warning. The purpose <br /> <br />of a local flood warning system, whether the most sophisticated automated <br /> <br />system or a simple manual system, is to provide responsible officials with <br /> <br />advance information that can be translated into response actions. <br /> <br />, 1 <br /> <br />According to recent studies (Carter, 1980) of human behavior during flood <br /> <br /> <br />disasters, the public does not respond directly to warnings. An appropriate <br /> <br /> <br />"response" refers to protective actions (i.e., evacuation, seeking shelter, <br /> <br />protecting property, etc.). The public typically responds to a warning <br />message by attempting to confirm the existence of a personal threat or risk: <br /> <br />tuning in broadcast media, comparing different stations to see if similar <br /> <br />9 <br />