Exploring the Use of Flood Early Warning Systems by Communities in England

Involving communities in flood early warning systems (FEWS) is increasingly recognised as an essential component of flood resilience. FEWS is considered to be integrated systems of flood forecasting and warnings, impact assessment, communication and preparedness which enable stakeholders to take appropriate actions to reduce the impacts of flooding. In the United Kingdom, voluntary, community-based flood groups can play an important role in local flood resilience, adding value to the work of Flood Risk Management Agencies including the Environment Agency, Local Authorities and Water Companies. However, little literature has examined how community-based flood groups use FEWS to help their local communities. In this paper we explore the use of FEWS by communities in the broadest sense, covering the use of any flood forecast or monitoring information and how this is used by flood groups to take action in the local community. We worked with 10 flood groups in England and found they used combinations of official and community-led information: (i) official information on flood warnings, weather forecasts, river-level observations and rain gauges and (ii) community-led bespoke warning systems at local hotspots including telemetry and video. Some of the Flood Groups were considerably advanced in how they analysed and presented this information, developing accessible dashboards and/or trigger points and alerts to support actions in the community. Five of the Flood Groups felt that their use of this information had recently prevented or reduced the impacts of flooding in their local community. However, the Flood Groups faced a range of challenges including technical and funding support for FEWS and wider governance challenges which should be addressed by State support. Support is particularly important in areas of significant flood risk and where community-led FEWS could complement and be integrated with state flood warnings. For example, where official flood warnings do not cover locations in sufficient detail or for key flood sources (e.g., surface water). In addition, the Flood Groups had mainly developed in affluent areas and appropriate interventions are also required in more disadvantaged communities. The study makes a strong case for State support for voluntary flood groups.