Flooding in small and medium rivers is often caused by factors like heavy rain and loose soil. While technology like the Internet of Things and big data has improved flood management in large river basins in China, predicting and warning about floods in smaller rivers is still not accurate enough. Real-time monitoring and timely data collection are challenging. To address this, better systems for predicting and warning about floods in small and medium rivers are needed. The article analyzes flood forecasting and early warning systems for these rivers and suggests ways to improve their effectiveness.