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e e e I. Introduction A. Purpose The purpose of this Guide is to assist community officials and planners to: 1, assess the adequacy of the community's existing flood warning system and prepared- ness plan; 2, decide what actions will be needed to B. Background write preparedness plans that have content and detail appropriate to the community's needs; and 3, develop an adequate flood preparedness plan, The escalating cost of flood control meas- ures and concern for their environmental impact has stimulated interest in the devel- opment of warning systems and prepared- ness plans to reduce flood losses, Many communities have established flood warning systems and preparedness plans, With limited available planning assistance some communities' plans have been inade- C.Scope quate and highly variable in their approach, emphasis and content, If communities are to place reliance on their plans. systematic guidance is neces- sary to assure that planning is effective and thorough, This Guide has been prepared by the National Weather Service to meet this need. The Guide is intended to assist develop- ment of flood preparedness plans at the community level. However, coordination with flood preparedness planning at the county and state level and more detailed flood pre- paredness planning for specific sites are necessary, Where flooding may occur as a resuit of hurricanes, dam failure, or other disasters, special attention must be given to insure the coordination between flood pre- paredness plans and the community's over- all disaster preparedness plans, Th13 planning tasks described cover river- D. Use of the Guide ine flooding and flooding due to urban storm water runoff, While much of the guidance provided is applicable to flooding from other less common sources, use of the Guide in these cases would omit consideration of important points. Flood warning systems and flood prepar- edness plans are essential parts of compre- hensive programs for flood plain manage- ment and disaster preparedness. However, the interrelationships of these programs can vary and are only treated in general terms in this Guide, The user should clearly recognize that the Guide does not contain nor constitute a model plan, It identifies the range of matters to be considered, suggests procedures and provides a planning aid. To use the Guide effectively, planners should be thoroughly familiar with the flood problem and the community's resources - available for planning and implementation, The analysis of the flood hazard should cover 1