On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam in Johnstown, Pennsylvania failed, killing 2,200 people and leaving thousands homeless. The Johnstown disaster was the worst dam failure before and since 1889 in the United States in terms of lives lost and injuries.

This year, FEMA’s National Dam Safety Program recognized today, May 31, 2012 as National Dam Safety Awareness Day, in commemoration of the devastation of 1889 and as a call to action. FEMA, along with various Federal, State and local stakeholders, attended the event this morning at the Lake Needwood Dam in Rockville, Maryland.

The National Dam Safety Program is a partnership between states, federal agencies, and other stakeholders led by FEMA, to encourage and promote best practices, individual and community responsibility for dam safety and prevention of future catastrophic dam failures.

Rockville, Md., May 30, 2012 -- Sandra Knight, Mitigation Deputy Associate Adminsitrator, speaks at the Dam Safety Awarenss Day ceremony at Lake Needwood Dam.

The Lake Needwood Dam served as the focal point for Dam Safety Awareness Day because of its urban setting and the successful emergency action planning that took place in response to a severe leakage incident that occurred on July 19, 2006. The planning and response of that incident by state and local officials symbolize exactly what FEMA and its partners strive to achieve through the National Dam Safety Program: a “whole community” approach to emergency management that keeps Americans, their property, and the environment safe from dam failure. National Dam Safety Awareness Day is a day to acknowledge the important work that is being accomplished at all levels of government, and to make a commitment to continue this work to help and create a culture of preparedness and safety in all communities.

Rockville, Md., May 30, 2012 -- Tim Manning, Deputy Administrator for Protection and National Preparedness, speaks about the National Dam Safety Program.

Today marks the close of Flood Safety Awareness Week -- during which, FEMA has worked to bring awareness of the risks flooding poses to many of our homes and communities. Floods are one of the most common hazards in the United States and no two flooding disasters are alike.

Some flooding events develop slowly, while others such as flash floods can develop in just a few minutes with little notice and without any visible signs of rain. Many disasters and emergencies share this characteristic – appearing dramatically with no warning signs much like tornadoes and earthquakes.

But there are meaningful and practical steps that you and your family can take to be prepared for all hazards, not just flooding, to stay safe and mitigate damage to property.

The first thing you can do is to be informed and know your risk; familiarize yourself with potential risk where you live and work. Knowing what to do before, during and after an emergency is a critical part of being prepared and may make all the difference when seconds count.

Here are some additional steps you can take now to ensure you’re prepared for potential future flooding:

• Making a Plan: Your family may not be together when a disaster strikes so it is important to plan in advance and create an emergency communications plan. Know how you will get to a safe place; how you will contact one another; how you will get back together.

• Building a Kit: Assemble the items you will need in advance of an emergency. You may be instructed to evacuate at a moment’s notice. Think about what you may need immediately after an emergency. This should include food, water and other supplies in sufficient quantity.

• Get Involved: There are many ways to get involved especially before a disaster occurs. Your whole community can participate in programs and activities to make your families, homes and communities safer from risks and threats. 

To learn more about flood risks in your area, visit www.floodsmart.gov.

For more information on all hazard preparedness and ways you can protect your family before, during and after an emergency or disaster visit www.ready.gov.

Flooding is the nation’s number one natural disaster, and it can occur inland, along the coast, and across every region of the country. Even though you may think your community has little or no risk of flooding, the reality is that anywhere it rains, it can flood. In fact, roughly 25 percent of all flood insurance claims are filed in low-to-moderate flood-risk areas. It is important to keep in mind that the risk of flooding isn’t based only on your community’s history, but on a variety of factors like rainfall, topography, river-flow and tidal-surge data, and changes resulting from new construction in your community. Those all play a part in what actual flood risk you face.

There are steps that you can take to prepare yourself and mitigate against damages. The first thing you can do is know your risk, and we have information on risk, including a One-Step Flood Risk Profile. Next, you should create an emergency communications plan and build an emergency kit to ensure you and your family are prepared for a flood. As part of having a plan, we also encourage you to consider your coverage. A flood insurance policy can protect your home, property, or business from the financial damages of flooding. Most homeowner’s insurance does not cover damage from flooding, so visit FloodSmart.gov to learn more.

In addition to these steps, there are also small flood proofing measures that you can take to help prevent, or minimize the impact of flooding to your home and its contents. A few examples include:

• Elevate your furnace, water heater and electric panel in your home, if you live in a high flood risk area.

• Install "check valves" to prevent flood water from backing up into the drains of your home.

• When practical, homeowners can construct barriers (such as sandbagging) to stop floodwater from entering your home.

• Seal walls in your basement with waterproofing compounds.

Homeowners around the nation have taken proactive measures, like these, to reduce their risk of damage from flooding. Proactive communities work on mitigating strategies through a combination of flood control projects and good floodplain management activities. In addition, FEMA hazard mitigation grants across the country have helped homeowners and communities affected by flooding, prevent future damages. Here are a few examples of how grants have helped protect properties from subsequent flooding.

In New Jersey, a homeowner elevated her home after flooding from severe storms in Spring 2007, protecting her from flooding during the storm surge resulting from Hurricane Irene in August 2011.

In Washington, a homeowner elevated his home after flooding in 2006 with the help of federal and county funding, and was able to avoid damages from flooding that occurred in 2009 when a nearby river surged and floodwaters went under the elevated home.

An inland community in North Carolina that was affected by storms in 1996 used state and federal funding to improve the town’s stormwater management system, which included piping improvements and installation of floodgates and retention ponds. In 2011, when Hurricane Irene brought massive downpours and strong winds, town officials were able to open the floodgates and allow the water to flow as it rushed through the town.

The photo below shows how a hospital in Binghamton, New York, averted major storm damage from flooding in 2011 because of a floodwall and other mitigation measures that were implemented with hazard mitigation grants following 2006 flooding.

To learn about flood risks in your area and for information on flood insurance, visit www.floodsmart.gov. For more information on flood preparedness tips and ways you can protect your family before, during and after a flood visit www.ready.gov/floods.

This week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and FEMA are once again partnering for National Flood Safety Awareness Week.  Each day of National Flood Safety Awareness week, we will provide key information related to flood hazards, and ways to protect yourself and your property.

The influences of weather, water and climate on our daily lives and economic well being are manifold, and at times profound. A fact highlighted by the devastating and heartrending events of the past few years.

NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) provides weather, water, and climate forecasts and warnings to protect life and property and enhance the national economy.  To fulfill this important mission, skilled NWS meteorologists and hydrologists use state-of-the-art science and technology to monitor and predict weather, water and climate impacts for our nation and its citizens 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Floods are our nation’s most costly natural disaster and, on average, is the leading cause of severe weather-related deaths.  Floods have claimed an average of 94 lives a year and $10.2 billion in economic damages in the decade 2001-2010 alone. Watch The Water’s Fury (Quicktime file) to see the power of water.

While floods are not preventable, the loss of life and property can be reduced significantly with more timely and accurate forecasts and warnings.  An important means by which the NWS produces and distributes flood and water resource forecasts and information is through the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, known as AHPS (pronounced A-Haps).

AHPS is an ongoing effort by the NWS to continue modernizing its hydrologic services and provides new information and products through the infusion of new science and technology.  It is a web-based suite of accurate and information-rich forecast products in graphical form that enables government agencies, private institutions, and individuals to make more informed, risk-based decisions to mitigate the dangers posed by floods and droughts.

Some examples of the products and information from AHPS include: hydrographs combining current water level observations from the U.S. Geological Survey with NWS river forecasts; extended range (i.e., 90-day) probabilistic forecasts conveying the chance a river will exceed minor, moderate, or major flood levels; inundation maps for water levels from flood stage through the flood of record, depicting where and how deep the flood waters will be in a neighborhood or community thereby enabling emergency managers and other decision makers to preposition people and resources to most effectively mitigate the impacts of a flood; historical floods impacts, and much more.

The broad reach of AHPS extends the range of forecasts from short-term (up to 6 hours) to long-term (out to weeks and months) and provides the public with more detailed and accurate answers to the following questions:

• How high will the river rise?
• When will the river reach its peak?
• Where will the flooding occur?
• How long will the flood last?
• How long will the drought continue? and
• How certain is the forecast?

AHPS forecast products and information support decisions regarding the operation and management of flood-control structures.  Emergency management officials at the Federal, state, territorial, tribal and local and state levels use these forecasts to fight floods, evacuate residents, and to take other measures to mitigate the impact of flooding.  Also, these products are used by a wide range of people, such as barge and dam operators, power companies and municipal water supply officials, recreational users, farmers, households, businesses, and environmentalists. Anyone and everyone who makes water-based decisions benefits from AHPS.

Get ready, be prepared and be FloodSmart before the flood starts.

Stay current with flood risk in your area with the latest official watches and warnings at weather.gov. For detailed hydrologic conditions and forecasts, click the "water" tab.