Flood Safety Awareness Week

Despite a dry weekend, a Flood Warning remains in effect for the Housatonic River at the Stevenson Dam through this afternoon. The stage was 11.2 feet as of late last night, slightly above the 11-foot flood stage. The river is forecast to continue to fall to below flood stage as of this morning. More rain is expected by this Wednesday, though it shouldn't aggravate any current flooding problems. The remainder of the week and this weekend should be dry and milder.

The National Weather Service has designated this week as its annual Flood Safety Awareness Week. It floods someplace in the United States or its territories nearly every day of the year. In the past 30 years, floods have killed an average of 95 people a year and have caused an average of $7.5 billion dollars in damages annually.

Generally, March and April are the two months each year we experience severe flooding. The goals of Flood Safety Awareness Week are to heighten public awareness of the risks associated with floods and flash floods, inform the public about forecast and warning services, provide flood safety information, and empower citizens to take actions necessary to protect their lives and property.

Americans depend on river and flood forecasts issued by the NWS throughout the year. Each geographic region of the United States has one or more times of the year when flooding is an increased concern. In the late Fall and Winter, powerful Pacific storms can strike the West Coast, causing extensive flooding. From late Winter into Spring, people living across the northern third of the nation closely monitor the forecasts when snow and ice can melt quickly, resulting in river flooding.

In the Spring and Summer, the threat of a flash flood from a thunderstorm is always a possibility almost anywhere in the country. Each Summer and Fall, millions of people living near the Gulf and East coasts listen keenly to tropical weather reports to determine if their area will be impacted by a flood from a tropical storm or hurricane.

Gary Carter, Director of the NWS Office of Hydrologic Development, said, “Water resource issues, including floods, profoundly affect our nation’s economy, policies and regulatory frameworks. To address the growing water challenges and guide critical decisions, NOAA is leading an interagency consortium called Integrated Water Resources Science and Services (IWRSS), which consists initially of NOAA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Geological Survey."

This consortium will unify and leverage each agency’s water science, observation, and prediction capabilities to improve water resources forecasts, foster better communications, and provide the common operating picture required to mitigate the death and destruction caused by major floods, according to Carter.

The Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) is the National Weather Service's frontline solution for providing improved river and flood forecasting and water information across America. AHPS provides a suite of graphical and numeric products over the Internet to assist the public, community leaders, and emergency managers in making better life and cost saving decisions about evacuations and movement of property before flooding occurs.

Most flood-related deaths occur in motor vehicles when people attempt to drive through flooded roadways. Don’t underestimate the power of flowing water across a road. The National Weather Service developed the flood safety slogan: "Turn Around, Don’t Drown," and hopes people will remember these words when faced with a flooded roadway. Be especially cautious when driving at night when it is harder to recognize flood dangers.

Paul