BRYAN, Texas — The plans come from a Flood Infrastructure Grant approved in 2019, where the City of Bryan received $180,000 to help fund the $450,000 project.
- More information on the City of Bryan’s "Flood Early Warning System" can be found at this link here.
- The system's sensors help alert high floodwaters in 20 areas of the community.
- Construction began in 2021 and lasted until 2023.
- Bryan neighbor Gilbert Cobos details how this system has helped his neighborhood..
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“It’s going to cross the street right here, it crosses to the sidewalk probably about to this spot right here where I am standing,” Bryan neighbor and retired army veteran, Gilbert Cobos said.
He described just how bad flood waters have gotten in his neighborhood since moving in back in 2011.
“In the past, it’s rained up to five inches in one day, and where the creek across the street here has flowed over and come across the street, flooding a few houses down the road," Cobos said.
Cobos lives in the one of 20 flood-prone areas in Bryan.
And the city took notice.
“One day it was the pole, next day it was a couple of boxes and then the light fixtures,” Cobos said.
The City of Bryan installed “Turn around don’t drown” signs across the city as part of the ‘Flood Early Warning System’ in Fall 2021.
The $450,000 dollar project was approved back in 2019.
Cobos’ neighborhood had theirs installed last year and believes it’s a move in the right direction.
“This sign will help a lot of people who come down here and don’t know it’s flooded for them to turn around," he said.
Across town, Dary Dega, owner of Degallery, also has a sign nearby. While she told me the water levels can sometimes be alarming.
“Sometimes [waters in Burton Creek] can be very high, we have stairs here. It probably gets to the middle of stairs here, but it [flows quick]. Probably all [the] water [flows] to College Station," Dega said.
And Cobos told me while it’s just a sign, he wants drivers to take it seriously.
“It’ll help you, just make sure when it’s lit up, don’t go down that road… just turn around,” Cobos said.