In this session it was discussed how existing Community Early Warning Systems and the FbF/AA approaches can strengthen the local and national risk management structures. The panel consisted of speakers from the Bangladesh Red Crescent and Indian Red Cross, as well as from Google.

Mohammad Shahjahan from BDRCS presented the Cyclone Preparedness Programm (CPP) network which is disseminating forecast information from the technical authorities (e.g. Meteorological Department) down to community level. In case of an activation community volunteers with a respective training on Cyclone preparedness are contacted and will provide evacuation support for people and livestock as well as First Aid.

Bindu Aggarwal from IRCS shared experiences from their flood EWS in cooperation with Google. IRCS has embarked a community-based flood EW alerting system in the Brahmaputra river basin and the Ganga basin based on scientific data from Google and the Central Water Commission (CWC). Flood alerts are given by Google publicly and in different languages. Community members and Red Crescent Volunteers are informed about these alerts and can start their response actions. Google provides real-time image representation of the flooding situation on google maps including an 48 hour forecast which is easily visualized. IRCS confirms that the alerts and forecasts were quite accurate and helpful for communities. However, it was highlighted that the best of technology is worthless if there is no trust for these technologies in the communities towards it. Luckily, accuracy of the last years alerts increased this trust. IRCS expects an improved preparedness for 2022 monsoon flood impact for hard-to-reach communities.