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When Clarity Was Needed Most

In early July 2025, severe flash flooding was unfolding across Texas Hill Country when FloodMapp was brought in to support response efforts.  

Background

Localized, intense rainfall triggered rapid flooding across more than 22 counties in Central Texas. Conditions escalated quickly, largely overnight, creating a complex, multi-day emergency that demanded constant coordination across state, local, and federal teams.  

The event ultimately led to tragic loss of life and widespread damage. For emergency managers, the priority was clear: maintain situational awareness, support local jurisdictions, and make timely decisions as conditions evolved.  

It was in this active response environment that FloodMapp was operationalized to support the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM).  

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Seeing the Full Picture

During fast-moving flood events, emergency managers must make decisions with incomplete and rapidly changing information, especially when impacts span many jurisdictions at once. 

During the July 2025 floods, this challenge was intensified by: 

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Flooding occurring simultaneously across more than 20 counties, requiring a statewide view rather than isolated, location-by-location assessments. 

Reliance on point-based observations, such as river gauges, that provided important signals but limited visibility into flood extent between stations. 

Limited availability of timely flood mapping during the peak of the event, as satellite and aerial imagery would not be available after waters receded.

High operational demand on GIS and operations staff, who were already supporting response coordination and had limited capacity for data assembly. 

Together, these factors made it difficult to establish a single, consistent view of where flooding was occurring and how conditions were evolving across the state in real time.  

The Challenge

The Approach

Real-Time Flood Impact Intel, Deployed Mid-Crisis

FloodMapp was integrated into TDEM’s workflows while response operations were already underway.  

Using forecasted rainfall and available stream gauge data, FloodMapp provided GIS-ready layers that aligned with existing tools and workflows: 

  • NowCast: Hourly flood inundation extent and depth 

  • PostCast: Rapid post-event flood reconstruction to support damage assessment 

 

These outputs and dashboards were shared with state, local, and federal partners immediately, helping teams align around a common operating picture without disrupting ongoing response efforts. 

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FloodMapp's NowCast (blue/white) accurately showing impacted roads in real-time, including depth and impact severity.

What This Enabled

With FloodMapp in place, TDEM and its partners were better positioned to: 

Maintain statewide situational awareness across more than 20 impacted counties 

Identify areas experiencing the most severe flooding as conditions evolved

Support coordination with search and rescue and transportation teams 

Communicate evolving conditions to leadership and external partners using a shared view 

Rather than replacing existing systems, FloodMapp functioned as a supporting operational tool, helping reduce manual data assembly and improve consistency during a rapidly evolving response.  

The Outcome

From Response to Recovery

As immediate life-safety operations continued, attention began to shift toward recovery planning. 

FloodMapp’s PostCast and Impact Analytics provided early insight into: 

  • Areas that have experienced the greatest impacts 

  • Affected roads, properties, and infrastructure 

  • Where follow-up recovery efforts will be needed once access is restored 

 

Having this information available early, rather than weeks later, helped teams begin planning recovery activities while response operations were still going.

FloodMapp's Impact Analytics Dashboard visualizes structural impacts and estimated damages, supporting scalable, street-level decision-making across response and recovery operations.

Why This Matters

 

The July 2025 Texas floods were a devastating event. While no technology can change that reality, the response highlighted the importance of having operational, impact-based flood intelligence that can be deployed at scale and under pressure.  

This experience demonstrates how real-time flood intelligence can: 

  • Support coordination across jurisdictions 

  • Reduce the burden of manual data compilation during response 

  • Improve consistency in situational awareness and communication 

  • Enable earlier, more informed recovery planning 

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Learn More

Download the full case study for a detailed look at how real-time flood impact intelligence supported statewide response and recovery during the July 2025 Texas floods. 

Request a demo to explore how impact-based flood intelligence can support confident, defensible decisions across planning, response, and recovery. 

Read more case studies here

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