Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) , fully automated web-based tool was launched by The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) in association with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Guwahati, Assam.

Objective –

FEWS tool will alert the local authorities to predict flash floods and heavy rainfall in Guwahati, Assam.It will help the authorities to take timely and appropriate measures during natural disaster. The Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) project was developed under The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) project supported by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

Assam Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), Guwahati Municipal Corporation and North-Eastern Space Application Centre (NESAC), TERI School of Advanced Studies (TERI SAS) were also involved in developing the system for Guwahati.

Key Points:

i.FEWS will use IMD’s weather research forecast (WRF) model to predict the flash floods and heavy rainfalls.

ii.The FEWS system has been built with 10 metre spatial resolution.(spatial resolution describes how much detail in a photographic image is visible to the human eye, Spatial resolution of images acquired by satellite sensor systems is usually expressed in meters)

iii.It is also inbuilt with a drainage system to predict flood at street level accuracy and is capable of predicting flood at three days in advance.

iv.FEWS is also capable of visualizing flood levels and flood hotspots over google maps, which will be critical in

                            • Identifying the flooded areas

                            • Preparedness and management of issues such as Traffic disruption

                            • Providing relief and recovery

                            • In Stormwater management.

v.The tool uses weather forecasting data from IMD, it simulates the expected rainfall over the city and sends alert to officials, if rainfall or flood level crosses its threshold.

Note: Guwahati will be the third city after Chennai and Mumbai to have a Flood Warning system. The Early Warning Systems at Chennai and Mumbai with three to six hours’ immediate weather updates were developed jointly by institutions of the Union Ministry of Earth Science (MoES), which has plans to set up similar systems in Kolkata and Bengaluru by 2021.