1 Flooding Turn Around, Don’t Drown Brian Koeneke WFO Jackson

2 National Flooding Statistics Turn Around, Don’t Drown

3 Mississippi Flooding Statistics Turn Around, Don’t Drown

4 Southeast Floods September 18-23, inches rainfall in less than 24 hours Sep Catastrophic flooding in AL, GA, SC and NC 11 fatalities $250 million damage in GA alone

5 Tennessee/Kentucky Floods May 1-4, inches rainfall May 1-3 Catastrophic river flooding in Nashville 26 fatalities ~$2 billion damage in Nashville

6 Easter Flood April, inches across Attalla, Winston, Noxubee Catastrophic river flooding in Jackson ~$800 million damage around Jackson (1979 dollars)

7 Easter Flood April, 1979 Over UMHC looking eastJackson Fairgrounds

Great Basin Key Findings People could not relate information in the flood warnings to their location Lack of SPECIFIC information Warning length made it difficult to find key information Forecasters, EMs, Public did not recognize severity of the flooding at the outset Lack of information relayed back to NWS Weekend event Figured the “usual areas” would flood

Great Basin Key Findings Few residents responded to mass communications (NWR, media) Reverse 911/Evacuation Notice better received Low tolerance for false alarms Many of the fatalities occurred at night All locations had an NWS warning in effect Over ½ of fatalities in TN/KY were over age 60 Weather education at night, no cell phones, no internet River gauges failing during significant flooding Lack of information relayed to NWS in these locales

Great Basin Our Plan of Action Utilize specific wording/locations in warning text Put into context of previous floods, if possible Multiple warning dissemination methods (iNWS(flash flood?), NWSChat, Graphicasts) Heighten awareness of night driving dangers in heavy rain 7 April Newton County

Great Basin Our Plan of Action Increase staffing during potential flood events Your phone call will be answered! Nights, weekends, holidays, it does not matter Conference calls, updated briefings Conduct flooding exercises on a routine basis Understand our partners needs during these events (USACE, USGS) Develop tools to help convey significant flooding information Use of Flash Flood Emergency similar to Tornado Emergency

But, We Need Your Help! We need to know what’s occurring in your communities Information then relayed in updated warnings Don’t wait for us to call you! Specific, Specific, Specific Neighborhoods, Road Names, Shopping Centers, etc. Anything residents in the area would recognize Residents must personally validate a threat before acting Especially during a large, multi-warning event

But, We Need Your Help! Let us know specific flood impacts in your communities beforehand Sunny day preparation! Specifics! (Roads, neighborhoods, bridges, businesses, etc) At River Flood Stage “X”, Impacts are “X” At “X” inches in 1 hour period, Impacts are “X” We need a 24 hour contact to get information

Dam Breaks and Heavy Rain NWS issues flash flood watches/warnings for dam/levee failures We need to know about possible problems and related specifics ASAP Pool heights, storage in the dam, etc. Flash Flood Watch needed downstream of the dam? Flash Flood Warning will be issued upon notification of failure/imminent failure Can occur on sunny days

Assessment Links Service Assessments can be found here: Don McKinnon – Jones County