Tag Archive for: TAMU

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.

Buyers Aware aims to make potential home buyers more aware of their risk.
The risk assessment mapping portal also visualizes risk, but lets users toggle layers showing how that risk affects fire stations, schools, police stations, hospitals, bridges, shelters, etc.

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.

Sample MATCH Screen (Mitigation Assistance for Tailoring Choices).

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

Lessons from A&M Community Health and Resource Management Workshop for East Montgomery County

On July 23rd, the Texas A&M Agrilife Extenstion, FEMA and Texas Community Watershed Partners held a Community Health and Resource Management workshop. Attendees included 29 officials, municipal staff, and stakeholders from Conroe, Patton Village, Montgomery County, Harris County Flood Control District, SJRA, Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, the Bayou Land Conservance, Red Cross, United Way and more.

Community Health and Resources Management Workshop in action.

Protecting Growth from Flooding

Organizers dedicated the majority of the workshop to using a GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping platform, developed by AgriLife Extension’s Texas Community Watershed Partners. The platform allows communities to digitally draw different growth and development scenarios on a map of their community. Then they can see the implications, in real time. Which scenarios will increase or decrease disaster risk? 

The organizers challenged participants to double growth without increasing flood risk. The outcomes of the workshop have real-life implications for urban planning, building codes, flood mitigation and disaster recovery.

Here is the entire presentation of outcomes from the workshop.

Strategies Explored by Participants

The teams in the workshop explored strategies, such as:

  • Creation of more detention areas 
  • Public Education 
  • Flood Planning with community leaders 
  • Filling 
  • Public Involvement 
  • Education on flood insurance 
  • Messaging on flood risk
  • Buyouts 
  • Apply for HUD Community Development Block Grants 
  • Implementing higher standards 
  • Changes in Building Codes 
  • Collaboration with agencies, organizations 
  • Buyouts 
  • Future studies 
  • And more

This presentation provides an excellent demonstration of the linkage between planning, land use and long-term-risk.

External Links in Presentation Lead to Valuable Tools

One of the most valuable parts of the presentation: links to related resources from participants and planners.

For instance, this base-flood elevation viewer contained information that FEMA’s national flood hazard layer viewer did not. Using the former tool, I was able to look up Woodridge Village in Montgomery County. I found that much of it was in the high risk 1-percent flood plain. That explains why the developer is raising it so much.

All in all, if you have five minutes to explore this presentation, it could help you connect some dots.

Posted by Bob Rehak with thanks to Paul Crowson and Bob Bagley

733 Days since Hurricane Harvey