Flood Control District Enhances Flood Warning System with Customizable Alerts

Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has enhanced its Flood Warning System at www.harriscountyfws.org.

Flood Warning System Enhancements

The system can now provide:

Residents of Harris AND surrounding counties…
The ability to receive CUSTOMIZED water level AND rainfall alerts…
From ANY gage or gages IN THE ENTIRE REGION…
Via TEXT message, EMAIL, or BOTH.

How to Sign Up for Warnings

Sign up for the new flood warning system at www.fwsalerts.org. Create your free account, then customize your preferences. You can request notifications from more than 250 gage locations across the region. Gages are located in or operated by:

Harris County
Brazoria County
Fort Bend County
Montgomery County
Galveston County
Waller County
City of Mont Belvieu
City of Sugar Land
The Woodlands
San Jacinto River Authority

Residents will need to create an account and can then choose which gages they want to receive information from, i.e., those nearest them and those upstream from them. You can create custom alerts for various water levels, channel depths, rainfall intensities, and so forth. You can also default to four standard alerts.

1 inch of rainfall in 15-minutes
4 inches of rainfall in 1 hour
Channel flooding is possible (3 ft below bankfull)
Channel flooding is likely (bankfull)

When defined rainfall or water level values are reached indicating a potential for flooding, the new flood warning system will begin sending alerts that match your preferences.

Response to Harvey

“One of the biggest takeaways from Hurricane Harvey was the need for automated notifications to be delivered in a timely manner. This enhancement will help do that,” stated Jeff Lindner, Director of Hydrologic Operations and Meteorologist for the Flood Control District.

“Residents can use the new alerts feature to make timely, informed decisions on how to protect themselves, their families, and property,” said Lindner.