The flood warning system has proved its worth
The flood warning system is a good investment
Testimonials from river basin officials

The flood warning system has proved its worth

Officials agree that the loss of $600 million in property and 14 lives in the January 1996 flood could have been much greater without the Susquehanna River Basin Flood Forecast and Warning System.

Earlier warning, the better
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"The earlier the warning, the sooner you have a heads-up, the sooner you can take preventive action to minimize your losses. And you're not only minimizing losses for you, as an individual property owner, by moving your possessions to higher level. You're also minimizing loss to your own municipality. And to all taxpayers around you, who help pay for the mitigation, and recovery." -Kay Packer, Resident of the Susquehanna River Basin

Let people know what is going on
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"Adequate flood forecasting is a crucial element in emergency management, and operations of all of the systems around flood forecasting that the flood forecasting actually deals with. Being able to give information on what's going on, and provide an adequate warning time to all of the public and emergency responders. To be able to have them get out of harms way. Be able to remove themselves without putting themselves in greater jeopardy." -Mike Sprague, Director, Steuben County Emergency Services

The flood warning system is a good investment
It's estimated that for every dollar spent on the Flood Forecast and Warning System saves or prevents $20 in damages.

Billions of dollars are saved
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"I've been able to enjoy the beauty of the Susquehanna, to canoe upon it, and to just watch the wildlife. But I've also seen the torrent that it can unleash, and the terrible devastation. We all do remember 1972 and Agnes, the damage that was caused. Three billion dollars then, ten billion dollars by today's standards. Any efforts that we can put forward to having an early warning system, to having flood prevention, is well worthwhile. The bottom line is it's cost effective." -Representative Patricia Vance, PA House of Representatives, District 87

$20 saved for every $1 invested
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"In fact this is a very cost effective investment of funds, on the part of the Federal Government. For every dollar that is spent for the Flood Forecasting Warning Program, an estimated 20 dollars of damages are avoided." -Paul Swartz, Executive Director, Susquehanna River Basin Commission

Testimonials from river basin oficials
Hear what people have to say about the benefits of the forecast and warning system:

Even minutes count when a flood is coming
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"Every minute, every hour that folks have to get out of harm's way is critical. As bad as this flood of January 1996 was, it could have been much worse--and would have been much worse--if people hadn't had as much advance lead time as they did." - Paul Swartz, Executive Director, Susquehanna River Basin Commission

Being familiar with who is involved allows for better coordination
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"I think one of the biggest benefits of having a flood forecasting system, especially a self-help group is in order to do that, to sit down and even think about putting one together, you have to bring all the agencies together. And, you know, right from the grass roots, the villages, the cities, they all have to work together to create something like this. And in the process of creating something like this, you wind up with much better coordination. Even if it doesn't necessarily turn into a large, full-scale system. The coordination, the one-on-one, discussions, and the memorandums of understanding that get generated--it's a tremendous benefit, (and it can't be...) you can't even put a price tag on it. Because, once you get into a flood situation, everybody's familiar with each other. They know how the systems are supposed to interrelate. And everything goes much smoother." -Mike Sprague, Director, Steuben County Emergency Services

The mayor of Harrisburg has seen the value of flood warning firsthand
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"Those of us who are in the emergency management field know very well the critical importance of early warning. The earlier and more accurate the warning, the better we are able to move people and property away from projected areas of flooding." -Mayor Stephen Reed, City of Harrisburg.

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