The Total Flood Warning System - Concept and Practice

Keys, C. (1997) in Handmer, J.W. (ed), Flood Hazards Research Centre, Middlesex University, 13-22

In most countries, flood warning systems are incomplete and fragmented and, tend to function sub-optimally. The full complexity of the ideal system is not widely recognised, and severe flood events in particular illustrate flaws in system operation which are serious and potentially dangerous when viewed from the perspective of the flood liable community. This paper attempts to sketch the elements of an ideal 'Total Flood Warning System' and offers some suggestions as to how such a system might be constructed. The history and experience underlying it is Australian, but most of the principles adduced are likely to have general application to the problem of warning communities about impending riverine flooding.

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