You can't prevent a flood but you can prevent the loss of life and property. That's the goal of the statewide Flood Warning System.

U.S. Senator Robert Byrd announced last week that at least $1.5 million in federal funding would be used to get the system up and running in West Virginia.

The National Weather Service and the state Office of Emergency Services currently monitor more than 100 rain gauges on waterways across the Mountain State, but Randy Campbell, a civil engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, says not all gauges are created equal.

"Some are very modern, report to satellites and have radio and phone back-ups and some are phone only,” Campbell said. “So it's a method of standardizing all the gauges."

Campbell says the $1.5 million will go towards updating all the gauges. It's a 75-25 match between the federal government and the state. But the state's portion won't cost a penny in dollars, just labor.

"[The state] won't have to actually outlay any cash but that will be their staff time” Campbell said. “They install the gauges and that will count toward the non-federal share."

The Corps is currently working with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to have that agency become the project sponsor.

Campbell says if all goes according to plan, they can order the parts and begin installing the gauges this coming summer. The goal is to finish up within one to two years.

Campbell forecasts a great benefit. "The more warning you have of an impending flood, the more you can mitigate the damages by removing things such as your TVs, your cars and that sort of thing, out of flood prone areas,” he said.

Once the Flood Warning System is operating, it will be up to the state to maintain and replace the gauges when necessary.