Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 1, 1991                   TAG: 9102010548
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FLOOD PLAN'S GAUGES INSTALLED

Rainfall and stream gauges have been installed for an early flood-warning system for Roanoke.

Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers and the city inspected the four gauges Thursday to make sure that a private contractor had installed them correctly and that they were operating properly.

John Peters, the city's project engineer for the river plan, said the instruments are connected to the city emergency-services operations center by radio signals.

One of the gauges is upstream in Montgomery County and another is in western Roanoke County. A third is on Tinker Creek near the Elizabeth Arden plant and the fourth is on Mill Mountain. The gauges measure rainfall and water flow in streams.

The warning system will provide additional information on flood forecasts after it is linked to the National Weather Service's computers, Peters said.

The system is designed to provide emergency-rescue personnel with several hours' warning about the threat of flooding, so residents can evacuate and move property to higher ground.

It is being financed with $200,000 in federal money that was approved last year. Congress appropriated an additional $2.3 million in the current fiscal year for the overall flood project.

The flood-reduction plan involves widening the river channel and constructing flood walls at several places along a 10-mile section of the river. It also includes a 4.6-mile bicycling and jogging trail.