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600-Series
- 610: Flood Warning & Response
- 620: Levees
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Activity 620: Levees

The objective of this activity is to encourage communities to properly inspect and maintain levees and to timely identify impending levee failures, disseminate warnings to appropriate floodplain occupants, and coordinate emergency response activities to reduce the threat to life and property. By answering the following questions, you should be able to document, gather and prepare the information needed for credit under the 2012 Manual’s Activity 610.

Step 1 of 6

16%

Credit for this activity is based on levee systems that are needed to control flood waters. A community must have proper maintenance of its levees, a system to advise local emergency managers of a potential levee failure or overtopping, a warning system for people on the landward side of the levee, and a plan of action to minimize the threat to life and property during a flood. The community must obtain some credit in all four levee failure warning and response elements to receive credit for its local levee failure and response planning.
Was the levee system(s) that you are requesting credit for designed and constructed as a levee?
- Yes
- No
Is the levee system(s) operated and maintained by a public agency?
- Yes
- No
Can your community provide a map showing the location of each levee and the areas flooded if the levee were to overtop and an inventory of the buildings and critical facilities that would be flooded upon overtopping?
- Yes
- No
Can your community submit a map of the area inundated by a flood that overtops the levee(s)?
- Yes
- No
Does a list of addresses of all improved properties in the inundation areas exist?
- Yes
- No
Can the list be used for the required outreach project and the impact adjustment needed for this activity?
- Yes
- No
Can your community produce a list of the critical facilities that would be flooded or otherwise affected by a failure or overtopping for the levee?
- Yes
- No
Is a levee maintenance plan, which includes annual inspections and an emergency action plan for the levee system(s) available for submission to the ISO Specialist? (This must be available for all levees, even though accredited levees and levees owned and operated by a federal agency do not receive levee maintenance credit points in Activity 620.)
- Yes
- No
Has your community implemented one or more annual outreach projects to the residents and businesses in the area(s) which can be inundated by an overtopped levee?
The project(s) must tell people of their risk to flooding, how they will be warned of a levee failure, the safety measures they should take during a flood, and the benefits of purchasing flood insurance.
- Yes
- No
Has your community adopted a levee failure flood warning and response plan?
- Yes
- No
Does your community conduct at least one exercise and an after action report/evaluation of the flood warning and response plan each year? (This exercise can be for flood, levee failure, dam failure, or hurricane.)
- Yes
- No

Levee Maintenance
This credit is provided for the maintenance of non-accredited levees that are not owned or operated by a federal agency and for emergency action plans for the levee system. Credit is not provided if levee maintenance procedures are not compliant with applicable federal laws and executive orders. (Your community must qualify for some LM 1 and LM 2 credit to receive any LM credit or to qualify for any Activity 620 credit.)
Can your community provide documentation of the annual inspection and maintenance of the levee system(s) which identifies and corrects problems as is required in the maintenance plan? (Levee Maintenance 1 credit)
- Yes
- No
Does your community have an emergency action plan which describes the procedures (taken by the agency which owns a levee) of what must be done when a flood occurs? (Levee Maintenance 2 credit)
- Yes
- No
Levee Maintenance 1
To qualify for LM 1 credit, your community’s levee system maintenance must have the following:
Can your community provide written operations and maintenance procedures that include and stipulate: an annual inspections of the condition of the levee(s), that maintenance activities are performed, the frequency of their performance, and the person responsible for their performance (by name or title).
- Yes
- No
Does your community perform and document annual inspections and needed maintenance of levees and floodwalls, and also pumps, interior drainage systems, closures, penetrations and transitions that provide for system integrity?
- Yes
- No
Levee Maintenance 2
To qualify for LM 2 credit, the EAP must have a written operations plan or manual that describes what must be done when a flood occurs by the agency that owns the levee(s). The following is required:
Does your community have a list of all actions that need to be taken at different flood levels?
- Yes
- No
Are procedures in place to notify the local emergency managers of a potential problem?
- Yes
- No
Does your community’s list of all actions includes all openings and closures that need to be closed and the location of the equipment and materials to affect the closure?
- Yes
- No
Does your community perform and document periodic patrols of the levee to detect problems, such as erosion and seepage?
- Yes
- No
Is the person or office responsible for the inspections identified by name or title?
- Yes
- No
Are annual inspections of all equipment and material needed for the plan, such as vehicles and stockpiled sandbags conducted?
- Yes
- No
Are annual tests of all closures, pumps, and other equipment needed to implement the emergency action plan conducted?
- Yes
- No
DOCUMENTATION
The following documentation must be provided to the technical reviewer by the community. This can be accomplished by giving it to the ISO Specialist.
Can you provide a map and inventory of buildings and critical facilities that can be flooded by a levee overtopping?
- Yes
- No
Can you provide a copy of the levee maintenance plan(s)?
- Yes
- No
Can you provide a copy of your community’s emergency action plan?
- Yes
- No
Can you provide a completed CRS Environmental Compliance Activity Worksheet for Activity 540 (Drainage System Maintenance/Activity 620 (Levees)?
- Yes
- No
Can you provide documentation that all levees to be credited have been inspected during the previous year and are being maintained in accordance with the procedures and standards of the levee maintenance plan?
- Yes
- No
Are records available which show the most recent annual inspection of all equipment and material needed in your community’s emergency action plan?
- Yes
- No
Are records available which show the most recent annual test of all closures, pumps, and other equipment needed to implement your community’s emergency action plan?
- Yes
- No
Can you provide a copy of your community’s outreach material used to advise people of the levee failure hazard and ways to protect themselves from flooding?
- Yes
- No

Levee Failure threat Recognition System
This credit is provided for the monitoring of flood conditions near the levee. There are two credit criteria, LFR 1 which is concerned with monitoring flood conditions and LFR 2 which is concerned with monitoring levee conditions. To receive LFR credit, your community must obtain some points in both LFR 1 and LFR 2.
Does your community and the levee owner have a flood threat recognition system that monitors conditions and provides early notification of rising waters that may threaten the levee’s integrity?
- Yes
- No
Is there a redundant or backup monitoring system along the levee(s) that send a signal to the emergency manager if water is rising on the landward side of the levee(s)?
- Yes
- No
Do you test the equipment that is used for flood monitoring at least annually?
- Yes
- No
Does your community and/or the levee owner initiate levee conditions monitoring when certain, pre-defined flood conditions are present?
- Yes
- No
Are the following monitoring procedures covered?
- levee patrol staffing and assigned sections of the levee system,
- how and when the patrol teams are activated,
- what the patrols are to look for in the different sections,
- methods and frequency for reporting, and
- how your community’s emergency managers are kept posted on the situation.
- Yes
- No
Are the levee conditions monitoring procedures exercised at least once each year?
- Yes
- No
DOCUMENTATION
The following LFR documentation must be provided to the technical reviewer by your community. This can be accomplished by giving it to the ISO Specialist.
Can you provide a copy of your community’s levee failure warning and response plan that is marked to show where the LFR credited items appear in the plan?
- Yes
- No
Can you provide an impact adjustment map which shows the areas) affected by each element and documentation showing how the numbers of buildings used in the calculations were determined?
- Yes
- No
Can you provide an impact adjustment map which shows the area9s) affected by each element and documentation showing how the numbers of buildings used in the calculations were determined?
- Yes
- No
Can you provide a copy of the records showing the most recent test of all equipment and material needed for the system?
- Yes
- No
Can you provide a description of the exercise, drill, or response to an actual emergency or disaster response conducted during the previous year that included the procedures for monitoring levee conditions?
- Yes
- No

Levee Failure Warning
This credit is provided for disseminating warnings of a potential levee failure to the public. There are seven credit criteria in LFW. Draft messages should be coordinated with the messages and projects credited under flood response preparations (FRP) in Activity 330 (Outreach Projects).
Are your warning procedures found within the levee failure warning and response plan or a related document?
- Yes
- No
Does your warning(s) reach people in a timely manner, considering that there may not be much lead time between a sudden levee failure and when water reaches homes and businesses?
- Yes
- No
Are your warning systems equipment (such as sirens) and procedures tested at least annually?
- Yes
- No
Does your plan include pre-scripted messages and guidance for staff to quickly issue appropriate warnings keyed to specific triggers, such as when the river reaches a certain level or if any sand boils appear?
- Yes
- No
Do the public messages include information and instruction on the expected elevation of the flood waters and instructions on when to evacuate?
- Yes
- No
Does your community use an outdoor voice-sound system or fixed siren system?
- Yes
- No
Does your plan identify the primary and support agencies responsible for door-to-door or mobile public address warning?
- Yes
- No
Does your plan identify the routes, procedures, staff, and equipment necessary for door-to-door or mobile public address warning?
- Yes
- No
Is the Emergency Alert System used with pre-scripted draft messages?
- Yes
- No
Can a telephone warning system to residents and businesses be used by your community?
- Yes
- No
Do all schools, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, and similar facilities that need flood warning have NOAA weather radio receivers and at least one other automated backup system for receiving flood warnings, provided your community has coordinated with NOAA and there are arrangements for issuing warnings about levee failures?
- Yes
- No
DOCUMENTATION
The following LFW documentation must be provided to the technical reviewer by the community. This can be accomplished by giving it to the ISO Specialist.
Can your community provide a levee failure warning and response plan or related document that describes the emergency warning procedures, which is marked to show where the credited items appear?
- Yes
- No
Can you provide the records showing the most recent annual test of all equipment and material needed for the system?
- Yes
- No
Can you provide a description of the exercise, drill, or response to an actual emergency or disaster response conducted during the previous year that included the procedures for warning people?
- Yes
- No

Section Break
This credit is provided for the development of levee failure response operations that identify flood response scenarios, responsibilities, special need populations, and necessary resources. There are two types of operations that should be in the plan, 1) Levee protection operations and 2) Community protection operations.
Are your community’s levee failure response operations actions included in the levee failure warning and response plan or related document?
- Yes
- No
Are your levee protection operations actions closely coordinated with the levee emergency action plan?
- Yes
- No
Does your levee failure warning and response plan: describe the actions to be taken, identify the office or official responsible for the action, define the time needed to carry out the activity, and contain other critical information that tasked agencies and organizations need in order to perform their assigned responsibilities?
- Yes
- No
Does your community have a list of the personnel, equipment, facilities, supplies, and other resources needed to complete each task?
- Yes
- No
Has your community developed scenarios that review what could happen if the levee were to fail or be overtopped by a flood?
- Yes
- No
Does your plan identify response tasks and responsible community staff and other public and private organizations with responsibilities related to the response tasks?
- Yes
- No
Do you maintain a database of people with special needs that require evacuation assistance when a levee failure warning is issued and for having a plan to provide transportation to secure locations?
- Yes
- No
Does your plan include a summary of estimated staff, equipment, supplies, and time required for each response task?
- Yes
- No
Does your plan identify the sources of necessary resources?
- Yes
- No
DOCUMENTATION
The following documentation must be provided to the technical reviewer by the community. This can be accomplished by giving it to the ISO Specialist.
Can your community provide a levee failure warning and response plan or related document that describes the operations and actions credited in LFO, which is marked to show where the credited items appear?
- Yes
- No
Can your community provide a description of the exercise, drill, or response to an actual emergency or disaster during the previous year, which included the actions credited in LFO?
- Yes
- No

Levee failure Critical Facilities Planning
This credit and planning should be closely tied to the critical facilities coordination done in Activity 610 CFP.
Does your community’s levee failure response plan list the facilities considered critical in a levee failure emergency?
- Yes
- No
Has your community contacted the facilities to determine if they need any special warning arrangements? (Only those identified in the levee warning and response plan as needing one.)
- Yes
- No
Has your community included all critical facilities affected by a levee failure on its list?
- Yes
- No
Does your adopted plan include the names and phone numbers of the operators of all public and private critical facilities affected by levee failure?
- Yes
- No
Does your adopted plan include arrangements for special warnings or early notifications directly to those critical facilities that need advance warning?
- Yes
- No
Do the critical facilities listed in your plan have their own levee failure response plans that have been developed, reviewed, or accepted by your community?
- Yes
- No
DOCUMENTATION
The following documentation must be provided to the technical reviewer by the community. This can be accomplished by giving it to the ISO Specialist.
Can your community provide a list of all public and private critical facilities affected by levee failure or needed to be operational during a levee failure flood, with the contact and warning needs information?
- Yes
- No
Can your community provide a list of all critical facilities with levee failure warning and response plans that have been developed, reviewed, or accepted by your community?
- Yes
- No
Can your community provide samples of the plans to the ISO Specialist?
- Yes
- No

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