By Mose Buchele
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Austin already has flood gauges, and a website to tell people about road closures. Now it plans to have cameras send pictures of flood prone intersections, updating every few minutes. They will be connected to a mobile friendly website so people can check flood conditions on their smartphones.
Matt Porcher, with Austin's Flood Early Warning Team, thinks people may be more easily convinced if they know ahead of time that a certain intersection is flooded.
"Rather than someone having to drive up to this low water crossing and try to make a decision there, 'Well, can I make it, it's only a couple inches of water,'" he says. The hope is they will check for water beforehand and decide, "'I am going to stay off the road today.'"
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Along with installing cameras, Austin is working on a way to alert people about specific crossings. Other flood-prone cities, including Miami, are developing similar ways to warn people.
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