In response to devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Floyd in 1999, North Carolina established the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program (NCFMP) to better identify, communicate, and manage risks from flooding within the State. One initiative in meeting the goal of the program was establishing the Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network (FIMAN) to provide real-time flood information throughout the State.
Since its inception 10 years ago, FIMAN has evolved from a network of gages that collect rain and stream flow information to a sophisticated system of nearly 550 gages and integrated technologies that collect, analyze, map, and communicate flood risk and potential damage in real-time through a powerful web interface.
fiman.nc.gov/fiman/
Whereas traditional floodplain maps are based on model simulations of probabilistic storm events (e.g. the “100-year storm event”), FIMAN provides actual storm-specific rainfall and stream/flood information based on a system of measurement stations (i.e. gages) located throughout the State. The goal of the FIMAN system is to reduce the loss of life and flood-related property damage by providing emergency managers and the public with more timely, detailed, and accurate information.
