National Weather Service offices throughout the United States are conducting a Flood Safety Awareness Week from March 19 through 23, 2007. Flooding is the #2 weather killer in the United States, ahead of tornadoes and severe weather, and is the costliest weather-related disaster we face, with $4.3 billion in property damage annually. While much of the focus remains on thunderstorms and tornadoes, flooding can often be an underrated killer.

While 2005 and 2006 have been relatively quiet years--perhaps TOO quiet, since the area has experienced droughts--the Tennessee Valley has endured plenty of recent flooding events, such as:

• December 2004: An unusually wet pattern brought a series of heavy rain events to the Tennessee Valley, pushing many smaller creeks as well as major rivers out of their banks several times over. In fact, the Tennessee River at Florence remained in flood for 7 days in December!
• Hurricane Ivan, September 2004: The remnants of Hurricane Ivan drenched the area in mid-September 2004, dumping up to 8 inches of rain in just 24 hours on parts of DeKalb and Jackson County. It turned the West Fork Little River (in Little River Canyon) from a smaller stream into a raging river.
• May 2003: A record flooding event occurred in early May 2003, and it's one that people around the area still remember. It was the wettest month in a decade or more for many locations. Up to an inch of rain pounded a site in Huntsville in less than 5 minutes!

Each day during Flood Safety Awareness Week will be devoted to a different topic:

• NWS Huntsville Flood Safety Awareness Week Newsletter (2.5 megabyte PDF file) - A specialized newsletter just for the Tennessee Valley, including local flooding and hydrologic information.
  The newsletter is also available by individual pages:
  Page 1 (Title Page, 1.8 MB)
  Page 2 (Introduction, 630 kB)
  Page 3 (AHPS, 240 kB)
  Page 4 (Turn Around, Don't Drown, 700 kB)
  Page 5 (Tropical Cyclone Inland Flooding, 1.2 MB)
  Page 6 (Flood Insurance, 550 kB)
  Page 7 (Flood Safety, 720 kB)
  Page 8 (NWS Huntsville Flood Policies & Initiatives, 1.4 MB)
  Page 9 (More Flood Safety Tips, 380 kB)
  Page 10 (NOAA Weather Radio, 140 kB)
  
  
• National NWS Flood Safety Webpage - Links to many resources highlighting the dangers that flood waters present to your safety.
  
• AHPS Video (4 minutes, RealVideo) - A video clip describing the goals of the AHPS program and what to expect in the future.
  
• Turn Around, Don't Drown PSA's from Kyle Busch (AVI, MPEG, RealVideo, and WMV)
  
• National Flood Insurance Program
  
• Flash Floods and River Floods Brochure
  
• Inland Tropical Cyclone Flooding from the NWS Southern Region