Flood Information and
Notification System (FINS)
History, Current, and Future of the Flood
Information and Notification System (FINS)
of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Josh McSwain
Mecklenburg County
Storm Water Services
FINS History:
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Why is a flood warning system needed?
Bottom line, flooding is a threat to human life.
Flood warning became one part of the Strategic Floodplain
Guidance Document developed in the late 90’s.
David Ford Consulting Engineers was hired to study the
different methods of detecting possible floods (Ex.
Forecasting, Modeling, Real-time Analysis).
Our best option was Real-time Analysis
Flood System Requirements
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Real-time rain and stream data
Gages and instruments to measure data
Method to report the measured data
Maintenance of field equipment and computers
A plan to receive the data, monitor, and issue warnings
Funding
Staffing for a 24hr 7day system
Particular sites to protect (warning sites)
=
USGS Partnership
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Mecklenburg County has had a working relationship with the USGS
for 30+ years and rain and stream gages have been in place for 40+
years.
1960's
4
1970's
6
1980's
7
1990's
24
2000's
51
Currently Mecklenburg County pays approximately $260,000 as part
of the partnership to manage FINS. Overall operation budget of just
under $1 million (split between the city of Charlotte, Mecklenburg
County, and the USGS).
USGS maintains all gage equipment (installation and routine
maintenance) along with the radio equipment used to transmit and
receive the alert and polling data. Also, they capture, post process,
and store all of the alert and polling data within our network of gages.
Receive Alert Data
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Alert data is transmitted (from
the gage) using a protocol
called ALERT.
This data is recognized by our
radio equipment, decoded,
then passed to DIADvisor
where it is written to a
database.
DIADvisor then displays the
rain and stream data on a
static map.
Monitor Alert Data and send
out Warnings
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Threat recognition rules
developed for 10 vulnerable
sites in the county.
Each site has 3 levels of threat
status: alert, investigate,
emergency.
Total of 59 unique precipitation
and stage rules (some with as
many as 35 threats) also we
have 48 system component
rules. Precipitation and stage
threats are based on water
level, rate of rise, rainfall, and
mean areal precipitation
(MAP).
Example of Precipitation Rule
Gage Network
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51 Streamgages – 2.5 to 92 sq. mi.
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73 Raingages (1 per 7.5 sq. mi.)
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4 Base Stations Receiving Data
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Routine (Polling) Data - Fixed Interval (USGS)
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ALERT Data – True Real-Time, Event Driven
Basic
Components
Raingages
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Tipping Bucket Style
Routine (polling) data recorded in 5-minute intervals
ALERT Data based on pre-determined intensity and/or quantity
levels
Streamgages
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Pressure Transducers / Stilling Wells / Radars
Water Level Checked Every Minute (once threshold is exceeded)
Alert transmits every 5min
Routine (Polling) Data Recorded Every 15 Minutes
ALERT Data Based on Predetermined Water Level Threshold
and/or Rate of Change
Benefits of the System
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True Real-Time Data as Opposed to Near Real-Time
(Flood Warning vs. 911 call)
Two-Way Communication / Data Verification
Redundancy to Cover Catastrophic Failures
No Recurring Phone Charges ($50,000 / year)
Cooperation between Federal, County, and City
Governments, and the Private Sector
Timely Response by Emergency Managers
FINS
FINS Room = “War Room”
FINS I & FINS II
Cable TV to access local radar
FINS III Laptop for use by 24/7 on-call staff
FIRM panels
Profiles
FINS Standard Operating Guide
FINS Future Enhancements
No Active
Warnings
Web based system access
EMERG
Graph
Warnings
Historic Rainfall
EMERG
Details
INVES
ALERT
EMERG
INVES
ALERT
Advancements Will Allow…
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On-call staff and emergency service members to
access data from anywhere with an internet
connection
More than one user to access the data at anytime
User interaction with a GIS mapping application
Provide additional redundancy for system security
and reliability
Additional plans for the
Future of FINS
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Continue phases 2 and 3 of the GIS web project. (add
radar, rainfall overlay, graph/table wizard, etc.)
Study new methods for monitoring our alert data (multivariant regression equations, 1 hour precipitation forecast).
Add additional warning sites (3 planned for next year).
Explore the Alert2 protocol.
Rebuild our current setup at the new location for county
services!
All this while maintaining FINS current system.
Questions or comments?