The Flood Early Warning Early Action System

Half of Indonesia’s population of approximately 141 million people lives on the island of Java. It is the most populous island on Earth. Java is home to several river systems, of which the most significant are the Citarum river and the Bengawan Solo. Due to changing climate and environmental conditions, these river systems are prone to flooding, with huge implications for the lives of the millions of people who live along them. The Community Flood Resilience (CFR) programme is a collaboration between the Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah Indonesia, PMI), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and Zurich Insurance. To assist communities to protect themselves against floods, CFR, along with other government and non-government partners, joined up with Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), a local academic institution, to develop a Flood Early Warning Early Action System (FEWEAS) to predict and monitor rainfall and flooding. Due to its relevance, accuracy, and ease of use, the FEWEAS is now widely used by local governments, policy makers and water authorities as well as PMI staff and volunteers and people living near the Bengawan Solo and Citarum river basins