Development of a Low Cost Community Based Real Time Flood Monitoring and Early Warning System

In most developing countries, flood monitoring and early warning systems are critical due to the devastating effects of flooding on lives and properties. Unfortunately, in developing countries a vast majority of citizens living in high risk flood zones do not have any flood monitoring/early warning system and in the eventuality of a flood, lives, properties and means of livelihood are greatly affected. This paper therefore proposes the development of a low cost, community based, real time flood monitoring and early warning system. A prototype was implemented to validate the proposed flood monitoring and early warning system using low cost of the shelf components. The proposed system employs the use of low cost Arduino Uno microcontrollers and other low cost devices to detect potential flood and alert the community in real time. Results obtained shows that the proposed system is robust and effective for flood monitoring and early warning.