A device that helps monitor flooding was stolen from Delco June 2.
The Flood Information Management (FIMAN) gauge at Livingston Creek and N.C. 87 was discovered missing June 2, the sheriff’s office reported. The unit is part of a network maintained by N.C. Emergency Management in cooperation with N.C. Dept. of Transportation.
The apparatus was discovered missing when an NCEM worker went to check on its status. The system was in place last month, according to the sheriff’s report. The original report referred to the device as a “radar monitoring device.”
State workers went to the sheriff’s office East End Satellite Station to file the report.
Brian Haines, senior External Affairs Specialist with state Emergency Management, said the Delco gauge was the third stolen this year. A total of seven in the statewide network were damaged or stolen last year. Thieves sometimes take the entire unit, while some just take the solar panel.
“It’s important to note that not only do the thefts come with a cost to replace,” Haines said, “but they also endanger the public as it eliminates a source of information that informs evacuation and emergency planning.”
FIMAN gauges are placed in strategic spots throughout the state to provide live updates on water levels. Similar gauges are at Soles Swamp in downtown Whiteville and elsewhere in the county. Anyone with a computer or smartphone can check the level at any gauge at any time, as FIMAN systems upload new data to a searchable website. The website also allows users to set up scenarios based on rainfall and flooding to get a satellite view of flood impacts.
FIMAN is available to citizens, but it is an important tool for emergency management planning, as water levels are constantly measured and recorded.
The cost of the unit was not immediately available. The sheriffs’ office is investigating.
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