Benefits of a Flood Warning Network to Findlay, Ohio Brian C. Hurt, P.E. – Former City Engineer Findlay, Ohio

 Located in Northwest Ohio 40 miles from Toledo  Population: 40,000  Contains Highest number of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies in the State of Ohio  Approximately 1,500 properties inside FEMA Flood Hazard Area

 Findlay has experienced 4 of its top 10 historical floods since August / ft. 1 Benchmark 03/ ft. 6 03/ ft. 9 02/ ft. 5 08/ ft. 2 06/ ft. 8 06/ ft. 3 02/ ft. 4 01/ ft. 7 12/ ft. 10 TOP 10 HISTORICAL CRESTS

 Addition of 4 new USGS Stream Gages (Oct. 2007)  All Gages have Precipitation Monitors  Inundation Mapping (Apr. 2009)

 Funded through a Partnership between City of Findlay and USGS  USGS office in Columbus, OH completed all technical aspects of the mapping  National Weather Service host maps on their River Forecast Site for the Blanchard River at Findlay

 August 2007 Flood River Crested within ½ inch of the highest crest ever recorded Flood Warning Network was NOT in place Only one USGS stream gage existed at this time which was located DOWNSTREAM of Findlay

 August 2007 Flood During the event there was no sure way to tell what the river was doing upstream NWS and Local officials did not have the information to properly predict an accurate crest

 March 2011 Flood Findlay experienced 6 th largest flood on Record 3 rd Major Flood that occurred after the installation of the Flood Warning Network NWS used historical Data from new stream gages to aid in their river crest predictions

 March 2011 Flood NWS predicted a 70% chance of major flooding 3 days before the event NWS predicted crest within 1 inch directly after the rain event Findlay Officials used a Reverse 911 system to notify residents of impending danger

 March 2011 Flood With early warning residents sandbagged or moved valuables to higher ground Inundation Maps were used by Findlay Officials to direct residents around flood waters during the event A meaningful 3 day warning of major flooding was unprecedented in Findlay

 Early Warning is the Most Effective way for Findlay to Limit Flood Damage Until a Corps of Engineers Flood Reduction Project is Implemented