EARLY WARNING


FLOOD MONITORING NETWORK

The Flood Operations Center is the heart of the monitoring
network. The network is an integrated system of:

• Computerized river/stream telemetry
• Pumping station telemetry
• Satellite reception of weather and river forecast data
• Hurricane tracking
• River Ice observation and reporting
• Field monitoring by personnel

The network provides system operators with reliable real-time
information to assist with critical operational decisions during
an emergency.

The Operations Center, a self-sufficient center, has been
designed to ensure network stability while providing system
operators with uninterrupted communications and the timely
dissemination of collected data.




GOES Satellite Program

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite
Program (GOES) is a joint effort of NASA and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). GOES
is a complex system of weather satellites that provide
critical and timely information to emergency management
agencies - graphically displaying the intensity, path, and
size of storms.

In 1999, the Sunbury Municipal Authority Flood Control
department purchased the equipment to receive forecast
data transmitted via the GOES network.
Through the Emergency Managers Weather Information
Network (EMWIN), GOES provides the Flood Control
Department with an uninterrupted stream of nearly 40,000
pages of critical weather and river forecast data daily
alerting of emerging severe weather patterns, storms and
hurricane.




HURREVAC

HURREVAC stands for HURRicane EVACuation program. The
program was developed for the US government in 1988 in response
to a need for computer based management of data produced by
various federal Hurricane Evacuation Studies. HURREVAC is
designed to assist emergency managers in making decisions for
communities under a hurricane threat.

HURREVAC tracks hurricanes on computer plot maps using
information from the National Hurricane Center (National Weather
Service, NOAA). Marine advisories on tropical storms are issued by
the National Hurricane Center which contain information on present
and forecast position, intensity, size, and movement. HURREVAC
also estimates when various evacuation decisions should be made.
HURREVAC is an essential forecast tool utilized by Operations
Center personnel to monitor the path and intensity of an impending
flood threat from a hurricane or tropical storm.

River and Stream Telemetry

The Operations Center is linked, via phone and
wireless transmission, to three computerized telemetry
stations located on Shamokin Creek, Spring Run and
the Susquehanna River.

The telemetry stations provide 24-hour computerized
monitoring of river and stream elevations. Elevation
data is transmitted real-time to the Flood Operations
Center.

Received data allows system operators to calculate
exactly when to activate pumping stations, close
hydraulic gates and install closures structures.
The system also has the capability of contacting
system operators during the evening and on weekends
to warn of unexpected rises in river elevations and ice
jams.