The island states of Kosrae, Pohnpei and Chuuk have been continuous protectorate islands of the United States since World War II. When the Federated States of Micronesia(FSM)was created it includes these island states and others and fell under the NOAA, NWS Pacific Region area of concern and the Hydrologic Service Area(HSA)of the Service Hydrologist in Honolulu. The Senior Service Hydrologist position was created in the early 1990's and the Alaska River Forecast Center was assigned the area of the Pacific Region in 1996 through the modernization efforts of the NWS. Records indicated that little or no formal hydrologic reconnaissance of flood prone areas had been performed in the Honolulu HSA beyond the state of Hawaii. Reports in early 1997 of serious floods and land slides with loss of life in these areas raised to the forefront the need for formal analysis of these areas to better provide recommendations for mitigation efforts.
In May of 1998 initial analysis of maps and historical information from this region indicated that travel and physical reconnaissances were necessary to further evaluate the flooding potential and related hazards of this region. FSM covers a large area of the Pacific (ie. 0 to 12 N and 135 to 165E) with a rural population on multiple islands with limited communications. The NWS maintains a presence there through NWS Weather Observatories in some locations and a few cooperative observers across the country. In this paper the available maps, climatology, physiography, data collection capabilities for this area and field reconnaissances will be analyzed and documented.