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Bryan is like
a lot of cities in the state of Texas.

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We have creeks that run through our city.

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When we get heavy rainfall events,

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those creeks rise
and water does come over the road.

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There's a lag time sometimes between
when water goes over the road

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and when we can get a crew out there
to barricade the road.

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And in an emergency situation,
every minute is crucial.

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Unless that road is closed,
unless it's barricaded,

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you may find yourself
traveling through unsafe conditions.

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And so what we do is help
clients like the City of Bryan

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build creative flood
warning solutions that not only give them

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additional eyes and ears

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in the hard-to-see places with sensors
and online maps that update dynamically,

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we help the motorists stay informed
with automated flashing beacons,

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text message notifications.

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So, all in, it’s intended to keep you safe
while you're on the road.

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Our Bryan Flood Early Warning System,
or B-FEWS, is really a system

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to alert drivers
to high water over the road.

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That's very important
because most flood-related deaths occur

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because of people trying to drive
or walk through

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water of an unknown depth, flood water.

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A lot of times it's moving very fast.

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And so it's very important to alert people
as fast as we can.

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That delay from overtop to active decision
and closing a road—we’re

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trying to minimize
that delay to essentially zero, zero

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delay
whatsoever, because we're helping the city

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see it as it's about to happen at it's
impending moment of a road flooding.

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Folks that are traveling
within proximity to a crossing

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that's about to flood
are going to be informed through visual,

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automated flashing beacons
that are going to instruct them

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and guide them to turn around,
don’t drown.

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The Texas Water Development Board
has been a great partner in this project.

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We had the idea for the longest time.

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We just didn't have the funding mechanism.

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And so the FIF grant money
and the tutelage of the Texas

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Water Development Board
helped us push this project into reality.

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These kind of projects are not that
expensive as opposed to

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hardscape and,
you know, big capital projects.

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But these kind of projects save lives.

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And so “turn around, don't drown”
sounds great.

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But then, when you have the warning system
flashing and it's automated, that's

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a lot better than having to go out there
and put up barriers in the ground.

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Category Four Flood infrastructure
Fund projects mean a lot to me.

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I always say
that flood is intensely personal.

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I personally have had a friend
who lost four family members

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in the Wimberley floods

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and I had another friend
that barely escaped with her life

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in the Onion Creek floods.

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So without these gauges and without these
flashers, lives and property can be lost.

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And it was wonderful to see this immensely
important project

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come to the city of Bryan.

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Unfortunately,
Texas leads the nation in deaths

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from drownings, from low water crossings
and things like that.

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So, anytime we can help a city mitigate
that life and property damage,

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that’s a great thing to do.