Author: City Administrator

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is pleased to announce the development and launch of the first phase of TexasFlood.org. The website will serve as a centralized location for flood-related data and information on what to do before, during, and after a flooding event.

TexasFlood.org will serve as a one-stop shop for statewide stream gage, weather, radar, and precipitation data. The data is featured on an interactive map, making access to data on rising rivers, streams, and reservoirs more easily accessible to Texans.

TexasFlood.org also features weather information that will help the National Weather Service in its flood forecasting. In addition, the TWDB made enhancements to the Water Data for Texas website by adding river or stream flood stage information to the lake levels page.

TexasFlood.org is mobile friendly and can be viewed on mobile phones or handheld tablets. The TWDB will continue to add more data to the website in the coming months, so check back often to see the additional enhancements at www.TexasFlood.org.

Hays County Courthouse, San Marcos, TX – Hays County is participating in WarnCentralTexas.org, a new web portal created by a partnership of cities, counties and the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) which allows residents to register to receive emergency alerts by text, email or phone calls about specific neighborhoods.

“If you’ve previously signed up for emergency alerts with CAPCOG through its Code Red portal, you’re still signed up since it is the same provider,” said Hays County Emergency Services Director Kharley Smith. “But this new portal makes it even easier to sign up, change or check your registered cell phone numbers or emails. Ensuring that emergency personnel and government officials can contact our residents and visitors who may be affected by a serious threat is important to us.”

Because the counties and cities in the 10-county CAPCOG region use the same regional notification system, residents can register their email and cell numbers to multiple locations in the region. This allows them to get alerts about their or their loved ones’ homes, offices and vacation homes. WarnCentralTexas.org serves Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Llano, Travis and Williamson counties. Landlines are automatically signed up, but with more and more households going “all-mobile” it is important to have cell phones or emails registered as well.

This service allows officials to communicate important and vital information to the people who will be most at risk or affected by the event, such as:

• If or when residents need to evacuate their homes during floods and fires,
• If or when residents should take shelter during inclement or severe weather,
• What areas residents should avoid if a nearby hazardous materials spills occurs,
• What residents should do during a police manhunt, or
• How to take health precautions during a boil water notice or prolonged power outage.

Remember: Stay informed — Register to get emergency warnings in your neighborhood by text, email or phone at WarnCentralTexas.org.