A Flood of Information at Your Fingertips

Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) is one of those unsung government agencies that too few in Harris County know about. And yet, if it didn’t exist, the citizens of Houston and neighboring counties might be in a world of hurt when flooding the likes of Tropical Storm Allison hits. Their mission is to reduce the risk of damage due to flooding. The projects include keeping bayous clear, building stormwater detention basins, shoring up bridges, and in the midst of all that, restoring vegetation.

It’s not often we can talk specifically about the work we do at HCFCD since nearly all of it is for internal software applications or processes. But we did get to work with the award-winning Communications Department at HCFCD on the latest public site: Harris County Flood Education Mapping Tool (FEMT). This new site replaces the Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project (TSARP) site. The FEMT allows users to quickly search for an address and see it in relation to newly-mapped floodplains. What’s more, it even allows users to see where stormwater tends to pond, and answers frequently asked questions about flooding, flood insurance and more.

Our contribution was a small one—we worked closely with the Communications Department to put together the map Help content. But what an honor to be part of a great project with a fantastic organization doing important work!