Strengthening Namibia’s Flood Early Warning System through a Critical Gap Analysis

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Flash floods can cause local and regional disasters. Floods can cause material losses and even pose a threat to human and animal health and life. The authors characterized in detail the currently functioning flood risk warning system in Kabbe (Namibia). They assessed the effectiveness of its functioning. They proposed a number of recommendations, the implementation of which may result in a better functioning of the alert system.

Detailed comments:

1) The substantive value of the article would be increased by the presentation of flood warning systems that function well in other countries.

2) The authors focused on the flood risk management system and emergency response. In my opinion, the reviewed manuscript is in line with the scope of the "Safety" journal. I suggest you consider submitting the manuscript to "Safety" journal.

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/safety/about

 

Author Response

Please find the attachment below.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors have tried to address most important global issue. Following are the comments to improve.

1. In the Abstract authors should state the contributions of Precipitation, human activities, and other factors. The last line of the Abstract should be removed or it should be related to this study and must be justified.

2. The Introduction is not focused and it is not based on facts. Many studies have been performed on flood warning systems and hydrometeorological disasters. How this study is different from previous studies?

3. Why authors have selected Kabbe, Namibia as the study region?

4. The introduction part needs to point out the innovations of this article.

5. Line no. 103-105, it is mentioned that "Currently, a national FEWS, operated under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF), exists in addition to these indigenous systems" - how it is different then your work do justify & highlight it.

6. Figure 1 - Citation is missing.

7. How many flood events are considered in your study?

8. Have you calibrated and validated your work?

9. What are the remedial measures the author took for minimizing the flood effects in and around the Kabbe?

10. What is the significance of corroboration methods in flood warning systems?

11. The paper only lists the empirical results, and does not analyze why these results occur.

12. Figure quality should be improved.

13. Study area section, in my opinion, this section should be improved. Also figure 2 can be drawn in more detail about the study area.

14. The discussion section must be revised the literature cited in the Introduction is barely used for discussion.

15. Conclusion does not provide any novel findings please elaborate novelty of your work in the conclusions.

Author Response

Please find the attachment below.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Please correct the structure of manuscript as per attached file.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please find the attachment below.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Well-functioning flood warning systems are crucial in protecting human health and life. The research conducted by the authors indicates which elements of the Namibian flood warning system do not work properly and indicate how the system can be improved. I believe that the article can be published in its present form.

Reviewer 3 Report

No comments