TAMU Information System Making Texas More Disaster Resilient
The Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas (IDRT), part of Texas A&M University (TAMU) has launched the Texas Disaster Information System (TDIS), a program funded by the Texas General Land Office. Their goal: to enhance disaster resilience throughout the state by bridging the gap between research and decision making.
TDIS’s vision is to ingest, store, and manage all disaster-related data for the State of Texas. According to team member and research scientist Dr. Andrew Juan, TDIS currently consists of several tools, applications and dashboards that help Texas communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters more effectively. To list just three examples:
- Buyers Aware provides property-specific disaster risk information for potential homebuyers. It lets you see a property’s hazard risk, learn how that risk is calculated, download a detailed report, and explore mitigation strategies.
- The Risk-Assessment-Mapping Portal enables planners to create maps and charts, and download data for local hazard-mitigation planning.
See sample screen captures below.
Matching Mitigation Projects with Funding
Other tools developed for related audiences and purposes can be found at this portal.
For instance, a Data and Models Query Tool gives planners and engineers the ability to search, discover, and reuse hydrologic/hydraulic models stored on TDIS.
Another tool helps community leaders seeking flood-mitigation assistance discover funding options and craft applications. It helps match projects on the drawing boards with likely funding opportunities. And its database already contains more than 6,000 funded or proposed structural and non-structural flood-mitigation projects across Texas.
Individuals or organizations with ideas for new applications or who want to contribute their local datasets are encouraged to submit a request to the TDIS Working Committee for review and further consideration.
TDIS Funded Through 2027
According to Dr. Juan, the Texas Disaster Information System Program is funded through 2027. I hope it survives long past that.
The data and systems that they have made available in the last two years have already made a valuable contribution. You would expect nothing less from a world-class academic institution, such as Texas A&M.
Even though some of the maps may look close to those you’ve seen elsewhere, for instance Flood Insurance Rate Maps, they contain valuable information that make them more useful to more people.
And these tools will get even better with time.
Posted By Bob Rehak on 12/3/2025
3016 Days since Hurricane Harvey
