Galveston County has installed new AI-powered flood sensors in Friendswood and League City that officials say could help residents track rising water levels in real time and better prepare for dangerous flooding conditions.
That’s the idea behind a new flood warning system now online in parts of Galveston County. The Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District has installed seven flood sensors in Friendswood and League City, part of a new system officials say could help residents track rising water levels in real time and better prepare for dangerous flooding conditions.
District leaders say six sensors are located in the Clear Creek watershed and one is in the Dickinson Bayou watershed.
“With no flood sensors at all in Galveston County, this was a very obvious step in the right direction,” said Jason Jones, secretary of the Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District board. According to the company, the system combines real-time sensor data with public information including rainfall totals, stream gauge readings, weather station data and soil saturation conditions. The platform then uses artificial intelligence tools to analyze the information and help predict how flood conditions could develop.
“The tool is trained on data, and the more data it ingests that’s appropriate and needed to help understand the water behavior all over Texas,” said Alison Reese, chief operating officer and co-founder of Simplicity Integration. Reese said the goal is to help communities prepare earlier and make better decisions before conditions become dangerous.
“If they can give that level of warning and that amount of lead time, then people can get themselves — and whatever people love that are in their houses — out of the way in plenty of time,” Reese said. Reese said the AI system studies historical flooding patterns, current rainfall, upstream water conditions and soil saturation levels to generate predictive insights. The technology can also analyze how conditions upstream could affect neighborhoods farther downstream.
Jones said the system could help residents make critical decisions during severe weather — including whether roads are still passable or whether it may be time to evacuate.
“For a person like me with a big truck, I’m worried about how can I get home,” Jones said. “But if you live in one of the lower areas, or if you’re in a car, you need to look to see your passable routes out of town. So that’s very crucial.
” The system also includes a public web portal where residents can monitor sensor locations in real time and sign up for alerts tied to specific creeks or monitoring points. Jones said the technology is especially meaningful in neighborhoods that still remember devastating floods from storms like Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Storm Allison.
“People come outside and look at the creek every day. It’s almost like PTSD from Harvey and other rain events,” Jones said.
“Now from their phone, they can be in their home or they could be anywhere in the world and access this data in real time. ” When to trim, when to remove: What Houston homeowners need to know about trees before hurricane season Right now, the sensors are only online in Friendswood and League City, but officials say they hope to eventually expand the technology into other parts of Galveston County.
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Galveston County Drainage Flood Sensor Alerts Predictive Flood Analytics Real-Time Flood Monitoring
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