Houston strengthens flood resilience with real-time monitoring and early warning

Utilities can get ahead of flooding before it becomes a public safety emergency by using real-time monitoring and early warning systems that detect rising water before roads become dangerous. With earlier visibility into changing conditions, utilities can respond faster, better protect residents and strengthen community resilience during extreme weather events.

For utilities responsible for protecting public safety, flooding is one of the most difficult operational challenges to manage. Water levels can rise quickly, conditions can change within minutes and critical decisions often need to be made before crews can verify what's happening in the field. In my work with utilities, I've seen a growing shift from reactive flood response toward proactive resilience, driven by the need for greater visibility into emerging risks.

Few cities understand the consequences of flooding more deeply than Houston, where Hurricane Harvey exposed the devastating impact that delayed visibility and response can have on communities. That experience reinforced the importance of giving officials earlier insight into changing conditions before flooding becomes a public safety emergency.

Houston Public Works provides a compelling example of what that transition can look like. By deploying water level sensors and telemetry units at 97 flood-prone locations across Houston, the city has gained earlier visibility into rising water levels, helping officials identify hazards sooner and respond more quickly during severe weather events. The system immediately notifies utility personnel when rising water is detected at any monitored site.

The city oversees infrastructure across a vast, flat landscape where heavy rainfall can quickly overwhelm roads, underpasses and neighborhoods. Historically, officials often relied on reports from residents to identify emerging flooding concerns. But as weather patterns become more unpredictable and communities demand faster response, utilities need better ways to understand conditions in real time.

Why reactive flood response creates unnecessary risk

One of the biggest challenges with traditional flood response is that utilities often learn about dangerous conditions only after they begin affecting residents.

Houston Public Works Director Randy Macchi has witnessed the consequences firsthand. "There are too many very sad stories of folks driving into an underpass and not realizing the water is as deep as it is."¹

His observation underscores an important reality for utilities: public safety depends on awareness. The sooner officials can identify changing conditions, the more time they have to close roads, deploy resources and communicate with residents before situations become dangerous.

Today, utilities face growing pressures beyond flooding alone. Workforce shortages, aging infrastructure and constrained budgets make it increasingly difficult to respond to emergencies as they occur. At the same time, climate variability is creating more frequent and unpredictable weather events.

As NOAA National Weather Service Director Ken Graham has noted, "We've got to figure out how to do things differently than we've done it in the past."¹

For many utilities, strengthening resilience begins with improving visibility into what's happening across their systems before an emergency unfolds.

Creating visibility before roads become hazardous

For Houston, improving resilience began with a simple objective: gaining earlier visibility into emerging flood risks to avoid unnecessary tragedies.

To achieve that goal, Houston Public Works focused on improving awareness of changing conditions in the locations most vulnerable to flooding. The city deployed monitoring technology in storm drains and underpasses where rising water levels often appear first.

Using connected level sensors, telemetry and real-time monitoring capabilities, officials can track conditions across flood-prone locations and receive alerts as water levels approach predefined thresholds. The information integrates into existing operational systems, helping teams incorporate new insights without disrupting established workflows.

When conditions begin to deteriorate, officials can identify where flooding is developing, assess risk levels and prioritize response activities. This enables faster road closures, more targeted deployment of field crews, stronger coordination with emergency management teams, and earlier communications with residents before conditions become hazardous.

As a result, Houston now monitors more than 97 flood-prone locations in real time, giving officials earlier insight into rising water levels and emerging flood risks across the city.

Turning real-time data into better decisions

Flood resilience is ultimately about decision-making.

Utilities cannot control when extreme weather occurs, but they can improve how quickly they recognize risks and respond to them. Access to timely information helps utilities prioritize resources, coordinate emergency response activities and communicate more effectively with the communities they serve.

Real-time data from the field creates a clearer picture of evolving conditions, allowing utilities to make decisions based on current information rather than delayed reports. Xylem’s digital solution, Xylem Vue, helps Houston bring that intelligence together by connecting monitoring, analytics and operational data into a more complete view of system conditions.

For Houston, that means moving beyond reactive flood reporting toward a more proactive approach built around awareness, preparedness and public safety.

What Houston's experience teaches us about building climate resilience

What stands out to me about Houston's deployment is not the technology itself. It's the broader shift in mindset.

Utilities everywhere are being asked to do more with limited resources while managing increasingly complex weather conditions. Building resilience requires the ability to anticipate challenges earlier, understand risks more clearly and respond with confidence.

Houston's experience demonstrates how real-time monitoring can help utilities create that visibility. By detecting changing conditions sooner, cities can better protect residents, support emergency response efforts and improve preparedness for whatever comes next.

For me, the key takeaway is simple: resilience begins before the emergency.

Houston's experience shows that flood resilience is not simply about responding faster once flooding occurs. It's about creating the visibility needed to recognize risk earlier and act before conditions become dangerous.

For utilities facing increasingly volatile weather patterns, real-time monitoring can provide a practical path to strengthening public safety, improving operational readiness and making more informed infrastructure decisions. The ability to see changing conditions sooner may be one of the most valuable resilience investments a utility can make.

¹_{Source: Wall Street Journal Pro Sustainable Business, "Flood-Prone Houston Tries New Tech to Track Rising Water" by Clara Hudson, June 23, 2026}