In 2016, residents, the municipality and national agencies in Querecotillo mapped flood risk, trained response brigades and rehearsed an evacuation drill to prepare for river and stream floods.
Map
Building a Community Flood Early Warning System in Querecotillo
General Information
ISIG
A community flood early warning system was built in Querecotillo, Peru, in 2016, with residents mapping flood zones and rehearsing an evacuation drill. CIIFEN worked with the municipality, the civil defence institute INDECI and the weather service SENAMHI between January and September 2016.
Floods in the district come from river rises, the release of water from the upstream Poechos dam, and overflowing streams after heavy rain. Residents drew flood zones, evacuation routes and safe sites on maps based on satellite images, and the results were checked on foot with community members and municipal staff. Two groups of community brigade members were trained and equipped, sirens and megaphones were installed, and signs were placed along evacuation routes. A drill on 22 September 2016 in two flood-prone neighbourhoods tested the alert chain from SENAMHI to the neighbourhood committees.
Querecotillo is a district in Sullana province, Piura, in the Catamayo-Chira basin shared by Peru and Ecuador. For context, the district has about 26,000 inhabitants over 270 km², about 97 per km² (INEI 2021 estimate). Farming employs 59% of the working-age population, and the district faces river floods and flooding from streams after heavy rain. The Poechos dam regulates the Chira, but sediment has reduced its storage capacity since the 1982–83 and 1997–98 El Niño events, which raises flood risk downstream. The booklet reports about 50% poverty and notes that 63% of households lack a sewer connection and 59% lack public drinking water. CIIFEN applied its flood early warning method here as the second of four sites in the Andean region. The booklet was written to let other territories adapt the approach.
Hazard Type
Geographical Scope - Nuts
Population Size
Population Density
Needs Addressed
Floods threaten crops, homes and roads in Querecotillo, and they come from three directions: the Chira rising after heavy rain, controlled releases from the Poechos dam, and streams that overflow quickly and are not monitored. Poor housing, limited access to water and sanitation, and the dependence of most households on farming make the impacts harder to absorb. Before the project, the municipality had no tested way to receive an alert, pass it to residents and organise an evacuation.
The case reports that 40% of children under five suffer from malnutrition, 60% of the population has no health insurance, and 70% of homes are built with non-conventional materials. Farmers along the river and residents of the neighbourhoods by the streams are the most exposed.
Risk management is a municipal competence. The municipality’s risk management unit and its Civil Defence Platform (mayor, schools, police, army, fire brigade, hospitals and community) coordinate locally. INDECI leads the response protocol and training, SENAMHI and the Chira-Piura dam authority monitor rain and river flow, and the Piura regional emergency committee coordinates alerts and response at regional level.
The municipality had a Civil Defence Platform, a risk management unit and a contingency plan for El Niño 2015–16. It had no flood response protocol, and municipal technical staff were few. Organised response would overstate the position, because the drill showed the protocol and coordination still needed work.
The project added sirens, megaphones and signs, and installed a web platform (SAT-GEO) at SENAMHI Piura and Lima for the municipality’s technicians. The report notes that the streams have no monitoring and that the municipal internet connection is too slow to use the platform well.
To draw on residents’ and local institutions’ knowledge so that flood areas, evacuation routes and safe sites reflect local conditions, and so that people know the alert chain and their role in it.
Visits to authorities and community leaders, an introductory session on early warning and risk management, a workshop with local institutions and social organisations to map actors, and community workshops using talking maps on satellite images. The resulting map was validated by walking the flood boundaries and interviewing adult residents about past floods. Residents also joined the drill, a clean-up campaign with 50 women, and a publicity effort with banners and flyers.
Residents’ input defined the flood zones, evacuation routes, meeting points and safe sites on the local map. Brigade members from the community took part in the drill, and each brigade is led by a representative of the neighbourhood committees (JUVECOS). The sources show INDECI and the regional institutions deciding the alert chain, the protocol rules and the drill design.
INDECI technicians trained community members and municipal staff in risk management, and two groups of first-response brigade members were trained and equipped with helmets, vests, sirens and megaphones. Municipal technicians were trained to use SAT-GEO.
Vulnerable Groups
Governance
Emergency Preparedness
Infrastructure Readiness
Engagement Level
Empowerment Level
Implementation
Community talking maps checked on foot with residents.
A single alert chain from the national weather service through the regional emergency committee to neighbourhood committees, sirens and brigades.
A methodical step-by-step approach written up so that other territories can adapt it.
Spanish
CIIFEN under the Andean regional programme PRASDES, with the Querecotillo municipality, INDECI and SENAMHI Piura.
CIIFEN applied the same method at four sites in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.
CIIFEN; the Municipality of Querecotillo and its risk management unit; Civil Defence Platform; neighbourhood committees (JUVECOS); the barrios Obdulio Rivera and Froilán Alama; schools; INDECI Piura; SENAMHI Piura; Piura Regional Emergency Operations Committee; Chira-Piura Special Project (dam operator); the regional agriculture directorate; the environmental oversight agency; police, fire brigade, health services and local security patrols.
- Visits to authorities and leaders, and an introductory session on early warning, between January and September 2016.
- Analysis of vulnerability and flood exposure, using census data, satellite images and national hazard maps, plus a workshop with regional experts in Piura.
- Selection of Querecotillo because of its high flood exposure and the willingness of INDECI and the mayor.
- Actor-mapping workshops at regional and local level.
- Community talking-map workshops, a high-resolution terrain model and field validation of the local flood risk map.
- Training of brigades and municipal staff, installation of signs, sirens and megaphones, and preparation of the drill script.
- The drill on 22 September 2016, followed by INDECI’s evaluation.
- Training of municipal technicians on SAT-GEO.
Programme funding and technical support from CIIFEN, trainers and procedures from INDECI, SENAMHI data and the municipality’s staff. Equipment included sirens, megaphones, helmets, vests, signs, banners and flyers, plus the SAT-GEO platform.
Implementation ran from January to September 2016 in five steps. The drill and its evaluation closed the process.
Experience of the Implementing Organisation in DRM
Target Audience
Resources Required
Timeframe & Phases
Participation Results
Involving SENAMHI directly let residents see its role. The participation of residents and municipal technicians helped them take ownership of local risk management, which the report links to the system’s sustainability. A drill exposed gaps that planning had not, including coordination and the missing protocol. The report calls for regular drills, formal status for the brigades, better internet access to SAT-GEO and sensors on the streams. The drill’s “regular” rating means the system was only partly ready.
The municipality had few technical staff, so INDECI recommended creating two groups of community brigade members. Floods in the district come from the river, dam releases and streams, so SENAMHI and the dam authority agreed to issue alerts jointly under the regional committee. The drill showed that communication between first-response bodies needed to improve and that the municipality still had no flood response protocol. The report also points to rubbish that blocks streams and channels, slow municipal internet that limits use of the platform, and the lack of sensors on streams.
The system was designed around local flood causes, such as dam releases and fast-rising streams, and followed INDECI’s rules. The report recommends water-level sensors on streams, regular drills, a municipal ordinance on solid waste and one formalising the brigades.
Risk & Mitigation Plan
Scalability and Sustainability
The municipality and INDECI committed to adopt the drill’s recommendations and write a response protocol. The brigades, the signs and the platform depend on municipal follow-through, and the report says an ordinance is needed to keep the brigades active.
The booklet is one of five in a series written so that other territories can adapt the method. CIIFEN used it at four sites in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. Local rules, such as INDECI’s norms on signs and protocols, and local hazards, such as dam releases, need adapting to each place.
The alert chain relied on email, phone calls, sirens and megaphones. The SAT-GEO web platform gave the municipality hydrometeorological maps, but the report says the municipal internet is too slow to use it fully and the streams have no sensors.
No public information on costs was found in the sources reviewed. Based on the available information, it can be inferred that direct costs covered workshops, trainers, sirens, megaphones, protective gear, signs and printed materials, and the platform installation.
No public information on recurring costs was found in the sources reviewed. Based on the available information, ongoing costs may include siren and equipment maintenance, brigade training and drills, municipal staff time and internet access.
Local ownership needs a formal base, such as an ordinance recognising the brigades, a written response protocol and periodic drills. Without them, a system built through a time-limited programme can lapse. The report also says municipal internet access must improve for the platform to be useful.