Council backs publishing Bryan's flood early-warning data to a public webpage

City staff and vendor representatives briefed council on the Bryan Flood Early Warning System, referred to in the transcript as bFuse. Paul Casper (speaker S7) introduced the proposal and Jacob Torres (speaker S8) outlined the system's capabilities: the platform shows 20 gauging stations, real-time rainfall and water-level measures, roadway-condition statuses and a live map. Torres said the system went into full operation in January 2023 and that the project was funded with a 2019 grant covering 60% of costs from the Texas Water Development Board; the city funded the remaining 40%.

Torres described user-facing features intended for the public map: color-coded station statuses (green = no flooding; yellow = use caution; orange = avoid if possible; red = turn around, don't drown), clickable gauges that reveal rainfall accumulation by time window, live radar and optional FEMA flood-hazard layers. He also described flasher beacon poles at crossings that automatically trigger in flooded conditions. Paul Casper told council the hosting option would be floodwatch.bryantx.gov (city-hosted URL) if council wanted the city to publish the page.

Council members responded positively and asked questions about mobile access, bilingual support and integration with existing alert systems. The workshop recorded council direction to proceed with making the public-facing map available on the city's website; staff will coordinate with the communications department to finalize hosting and linkages. No formal vote occurred in the workshop; the session recorded council direction to staff to go forward.