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Summary

. This paper presents an overview of flood problems in the West Rapti River basin, causes and consequences of recent floods and the applicability and effectiveness of the community based approach to flood early warning in Nepal. A community based flood early warning system has been set up with a collaborative effort of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Practical Action, local government and non-governmental organisations. Community level disaster management committees have been formed in each of the disaster prone villages. These committees have been brought into a network of District Disaster Relief Committee, local media, the Red Cross, local police, the military units and the flood monitoring and forecasting station of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. The disaster management committees have been equipped and trained for warning dissemination, preparedness and immediate response.