An improved way of predicting and analyzing floods is coming to Fort Bend County.
In a nutshell
At a Sept. 24 drainage district meeting, Fort Bend County commissioners approved $50,000 in additional funding for a new flood dashboard.
The county previously allocated $200,000 for the agreement with Halff, an infrastructure consulting firm with experience in flood preparedness projects, Precinct 4 Chief of Staff Ali Hasanali said.
This brings the total cost of the project to under $300,000, which is all pulled from the flood bond contingency budget.
The details
The dashboard will pull together flood data into a user-friendly format that helps county staff respond to emergency events faster and better, Precinct 4 commissioner Dexter McCoy said.
“I am so proud of our drainage district and [information technology] department for collaborating on this very, very important improvement that will ultimately have a significant impact in saving lives,” McCoy said.
The county uses data from flood gauges distributed throughout the county to measure water levels, McCoy said. Currently, during a flooding event, the data is displayed on multiple screens in the Robert E. "Bob" Hebert Emergency Operations Center.
The new dashboard will consolidate the flood gauge data, along with floodplain maps and data from other districts, into one screen, which will make it easier and faster to analyze flood situations, McCoy said.
The dashboard will also “allow for real-time analysis of where water is flowing, how quickly, and then allow us to make real-time decisions on how we respond and evacuate people, or whether we need to deploy additional resources to prevent floodwaters from entering people's homes,” McCoy said.
County staff is developing the dashboard for internal use, but McCoy said they will try to make it available to the public after some testing.
What else?
The dashboard also has the potential to use artificial intelligence for predictive modeling and to speed up analyses, which would allow the county to be more ahead of the curve in responses.
Currently, the county predicts flooding but without the use of AI, McCoy said.
Looking back
In the past few years, the county has added more flood gauges in various areas to better analyze flooding, Community Impact reported.
New gauges allow the county to monitor its drainage criteria and see if it needs any improvements before starting new development, McCoy said.
Looking ahead
Commissioners approved funding for the project but will still need to approve a final scope of work that the county staff is working to create with a consultant, said Russ Poppe, first assistant engineer with the drainage district.
He said staff hopes to have that approval by the end of the year, and once the consultant starts work, it will take about six months to develop the dashboard. The goal is to have it functioning by the start of the 2027 hurricane season.
