Community Based Flood Early Warning System

Organized by Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), World Wide Fund for Nature Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan), and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

About the training

This year, in collaboration with WWF-Pakistan and Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), we are organizing a national-level, four-day hands-on training on Community Based Flood Early Warning System (CBFEWS) in Islamabad, Pakistan. The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) and the Gilgit Baltistan Disaster Management Authority (GBDMA), and Buraq Integrated Solutions (BIS) will be providing support for the training.

The training aims to support vulnerable communities by providing guidance on installing and operating early warning systems. It will also assist participants in assessing the risk and vulnerability of communities, and in developing reliable and efficient communication networks of caretakers, concerned agencies, and communities to disseminate flood warning efficiently. The course follows the concept of “learning by doing”, enabling participants to practically deal with the instruments individually and learning and practicing how to install, operate and maintain it. Participants who have completed previous trainings and have successfully implemented CBFEWS in the field as well as our local manufacturing partner, BIS, will be the resource persons for this training.

Objectives

Provide comprehensive technical and theoretical knowledge about CBFEWS planning, installation, implementation, and sustainability.

Expected outcomes

By the end of the training, participants will be able to conduct necessary surveys and install the EWS instrument independently on the ground

Expected participants

This hands-on training is targeted to those who are directly involved in CBFEWS implementation on the ground, which include:

• System caretakers, who have not received any training
• Immediate recipients of the information in vulnerable communities
• Representatives of local government line agencies directly involved in disaster management
• Representatives from local partner organization
• Relevant government organizations who could potentially scale out this approach to other disaster-prone areas in Pakistan

We encourage participants with a basic knowledge of handling electrical and electronic equipment.

Background

The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) is vulnerable to climate-related natural hazards such as floods and flash floods, which threaten the lives and livelihoods of communities, particularly during the monsoon season. Climate change is projected to exacerbate these risks. To address flood hazards and improve the resilience of vulnerable communities, we piloted the Community Based Flood Early Warning System (CBFEWS) in different river tributaries in Afghanistan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, for which we were awarded UNFCCC’s “Momentum for Change: 2014 Lighthouse Activity Award“. CBFEWS is a set of simple instruments installed upstream to detect floods and generates flood signals, which are communicated to downstream communities. As the information is near real-time, it increases lead time to prepare for effective flood response and evacuation.

Agenda