North Carolina Emergency Management has been selected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate to help deploy and test three prototype, low-cost flood sensors designed to help bring early flood detection and warning to more communities at a reasonable cost.
Last month, NCEM deployed 75 of the early warning flood sensors. These prototype sensors have been designed and constructed by three different companies. Each sensor, depending on configuration, is expected to cost less than $1,000 – which is significantly less expensive than most of the 578 flood gauges that are currently part of North Carolina’s Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network (FIMAN).
“These new sensors hold great potential because their lower cost makes it more affordable for state and local governments to provide early flood warning to their communities,” said NC Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry. “We look forward to working with DHS to test these devices and learn more about their capabilities and how they can supplement the existing gauges in our FIMAN system.”
The low-cost flood gauges will be installed in the Winston-Salem, Goldsboro, Lumberton and Boone areas. The sensors will remain in place for 6 months while they are tested and evaluated.
