Caribbean researchers roll out new flood early warning system
By Radiojamaica.com
Fri, 30 Mar 2007, 17:15
Source: http://www.radiojamaica.com/news/story.php?category=6&story=34351
Caribbean researchers are now rolling out, as a pilot project, new flood early warning systems ahead of the upcoming hurricane season.
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency in Barbados has worked along experts at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad to develop the systems.
They will be tested in flood-prone Windward island communities to help residents prepare for early evacuation if necessary.
Researchers from the Engineering Institute of the University of the West Indies have developed a new flood early warning system.
With the official start of the hurricane system just over two months away Grenada, Dominica and St. Lucia will in the next couple of weeks start testing the flood early warning systems in communities that are prone to flooding before the system is rolled out to other countries in the region.
The systems will be installed in higher ground to monitor rainfall and inform responsible agencies of the potential for flooding in the lower catchment areas.
According to the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) in St. Lucia the early warning system will become one more component which will form part of evacuation planning.
NEMO Planning Director, Dawn French, said it will also help empower communities affected by flooding.
