NORMAN, Okla. - A FEMA grant that was cut by the federal government earlier this year has put an automated flood warning system in Norman on hold.

City leaders say that the planned new system was dependent on a $313,000 federal grant from FEMA, and those funds are no longer available. The FEMA cuts were made in April of this year by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security which rescinded millions of dollars in grant money the Department believed was “wasteful and ineffective.”

The automated system in Norman was planned to include a network of sensors which would provide alerts and early warnings to areas considered vulnerable to flash flooding.

City leaders say that they would still like to move forward with the project, but they will have to find a way to fund it without federal dollars.