The flood threat recognition system that is used by the City of Houston is regulated and maintained by the Harris County Office of Emergency Management (HCOEM). The HCOEM relies on the Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time (ALERT) technology that employs rain gages set in numerous locations around the county and in the city. The type of gage is a Model 8203 – DataWise Software – which is a wireless weather telemetry device that transmits the gage data to a microprocessor. There is one gage per key map page, for a total of 130 gages serving the network.

All of the buildings in the special flood hazard area or floodplain are covered by this system. The gages are tested three times a year via field maintenance checks. Records of these checks are maintained by the HCOEM and are available by request. Flood warnings are able to be received on a 24-hour basis, and reports can be provided in increments of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, one hour, three hours, six hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours.

Click on the following link to access Interactive Rainfall Maps on HCOEM’s website to track accumulated rainfall amounts for both present conditions and historical ones: http://www.hcoem.org/DrawMaps.php. Evacuation Zones & Routes and Evacuation Contraflow Routes are also available on the HCOEM site.

The City is notified of a flood threat in other ways that are explained in the adopted City of Houston Emergency Plan (revised 2005). The Plan specifies when and how a warning is issued and the kinds of messages that are conveyed in those warnings. Guidance on how quickly to issue the appropriate warnings can be found in Annex A of the plan. The following warning systems serve both the county and the city: Media Alerting and Notification System (MANS); Network Early Warning System (NEWS); Emergency Alert System (EAS); Cable TV Override; Joint Information Center (JIC); Internet www.houstontx.gov/oem; NOAA Weather Alert Radio broadcasts on 162.400 mhz; Door-to-Door notification; Dynamic Message Signs through TxDOT; Highway Advisory Radio; City of Houston Municipal Channel; and Houston Police/Fire Department public address systems. For more information regarding these flood warning systems, please visit the City of Houston Office of Emergency Management (COH OEM) website for The City of Houston Emergency Plan.

The COH OEM website also contains valuable information and resources for preparing for disasters such as assembling a Disaster Supplies Kit, how to create a Family Disaster Plan, a Special Needs Facility Disaster Plan Checklist, and access to the multi-lingual versions of the Disaster Preparedness Guide.