Â鶹ÊÓƵ

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Podcast: S8 Ep.12
Date: April 30, 2025
Title: Â鶹ÊÓƵ partners to implement community flood watch program
Host: John Rollins

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JOHN ROLLINS: Welcome to the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Moment, where we showcase all of the great things happening with Â鶹ÊÓƵ faculty, staff, students and alumni. I'm John Rollins, associate director of community relations and public affairs here at Â鶹ÊÓƵ, and I want to welcome you all to this week's show. Â鶹ÊÓƵ was recently featured on The Weather Channel for an innovative new flood monitoring program in partnership with the City of Orange. Today, we're sitting down with two faculty members from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr Liv Haselbach and Dr Nicholas Brake are joining me today on the podcast. Welcome to you both. So, this is essentially a community flood watch program. Let's hear more about the specifics of the program and how all of this works.

LIV HASELBACH: So, I have been talking for many years with Adam Jack, who's the city engineer there, and some people at the USGS of having a community with they call staff gauge flood watch program, where it's basically signs that are around that have a yardstick on the bottom, and then there's some way for people to take pictures and upload them to the decision makers, you know, the emergency managers, whatnot. We did not do that for a few years, because Dr. Brake here helped install over 80 Internet of Things flood sensors, and he can talk about that. And we've been very busy with that for the last four years, but it came up again, and the City of Orange is going to be the first trial place for it. So, we're super excited. What we're mainly doing is helping them with some of the costs for the supplies, so the post and the sign, and then working on keeping track of how hard it is to implement, because they're the test case, and if it works well here, we could do it other places. So, what happens is that in someone's neighborhood, not down in the rivers or things, because Dr. Brake’s sensor network handles those, but in your neighborhoods, or near a bayou, or where it's frequent title flooding and all, they can put up the sign, and it will have a QR code on it. And you take a picture, you include the ruler or the staff gauge that's on the bottom of it. And with your phone, it will have a date and a time stamp, and that will go to the city and they are working with others to get a website where it will be uploaded, and they'll know exactly which sign. Each sign will have its own code on it, and then they can use it to find out where it's going to flood, where they might have to shut down a street. Even more important is after the rain stops, and you want emergency managers to get in this way they can see is the water going down? How fast is it going down? So, they can plan and get in there to start recovery or help people out that are stuck there.

JOHN: Well, that's a really good point. I hadn't thought about after the fact, you know, you’ve got to know when you can get in and start helping people out. So that's a really good point.

HASELBACH: Yeah, so, so one of the reasons we have the more internet of things. One is from Texas Division of Emergency Management, and I can tell you Carmen Apple, she keeps saying they're ready. They're staged. They have the equipment. They know it's a storm, but they need to know when they can get in, and the more information they have, the better. So, we're hoping that this will really help.

JOHN: Dr. Brake, did you want to add on to that? That was a wonderful description of the program. Do you want to add on any more about maybe your inner workings or the internet part of this as well?

NICHOLAS BRAKE: Absolutely. So, the sensor network that Dr. Liv keeps on mentioning isn’t just “Dr. Brake,” it's really the Southeast Texas regional sensor network that I'm leading, or co-leading. And there's actually a lot of partners involved in the program, both local and regional partners. So, a lot of the flooding agencies, DD6 and DD7 and the counties, Jefferson County and Hardin County, Jasper, Newton, Chambers County, Orange County, that are all participating in this program and help secure these assets. So about four years ago, we got about 80 sensors from the department home security through the Texas Department of Emergency Management, and we installed them in about three months, which I think is a university record.

HASELBACH: It's a national record.

BRAKE: Yeah, they were very they were shocked that we were able to get these things up and installed so quickly. And because of our partners of the city of Beaumont and the counties, we all got together, and we're able to deploy these things pretty quickly. Basically, the purpose of this network is to really fill in the gaps between the sensors that have been here historically, that are owned by DD 6 or Jefferson County drainage District Six, and the USGS gauges. So, in total, is about 280 different sensors scattered throughout this area, about 6,000 square miles, from East Chambers all the way to North Newton County. So, it's a pretty wide, pretty large area, but the basic idea was to really put these sensors in areas where there were large coverage gaps. So, where there's a USGS gauge that's like 20 miles away, 30 miles away, and there's folks in these towns that need more information. And not only the folks need more information, but the state agencies need more information. The national agencies need more information. So actually, the data that we're getting from these sensors are being sent or forwarded to TxDot. They’re ingesting it into their drivesafe.org network. So, whenever an event is triggered on our end, our water level exceeds a certain amount, or rain intensity exceeds a certain amount, this information gets pushed to the TxDot system, and it's actually populated in their system as well, in addition to the National Weather Service as well. So, we forward the information to them as well, and some of the alerts that they're pushing forward are coming directly from not only the sensors that are existing in this region, the DD 6, but actually ours as well. So, it's a huge partnership, and you know, basic vision is just to have a lot more data out there and available so emergency managers like Carmen Apple can make better decisions during a storm and after a storm.
HASELBACH: And just so you know, the sensor network Dr. Brake’s talking about has WiFi, so it's real time, and it also is on solar panels, so it can go into the remote areas, but it also has a lot of maintenance associated with it. We're hoping that between that network which can go into more of the bigger areas in the bayou, I mean, we have ones in the Neches River that are actually in the river. I'm hoping that the community ones can go places to fill in, where you have more people around that the community can get involved, but it also is a low maintenance option for those areas where people can have access to take the pictures. And the best part is to get the community involved. The more they know, the better it is, and the more we all work together.

JOHN: Well, it sounds like an amazing partnership, and especially in this area. You know, you spoke to the urgency. I think you said three months y'all had it up and ready to go, right? Yeah? Or the new sensors, but it's so needed around here. I think we do take it seriously, and we know how to, to your community point, kind of look out for each other and have an eye out for this. So, I think it's only going to do amazing things for Southeast Texas. So, thank you both for being a part of it from Lamar’s end. So, I do want to give you both a chance to introduce yourselves. You know, this chats about y'all, so go ahead. What are your roles here? How long have you been at Lamar? And what's some of your background?

HASELBACH: Okay, so I'm a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. I've been here eight and a half years. I used to be chair, but he's chair now. Anyway, I'm sort of the sustainable, environmental green professor in there, but I do have 20 year’s experience in construction, in the petroleum industry and whatnot, prior to going back and getting my doctorate. And then I've been teaching at universities for 23 years now. Started at Yale, just a lecturer. And then South University, South Carolina, Washington State University. And I was very lucky eight and a half years ago to get asked to come down here to Â鶹ÊÓƵ. And you, Nick?

BRAKE: I’m originally from Miami, Florida. I went to high school there, and then went to college in Michigan, at Michigan State. And from there came here in 2012 so I've been here for 13 years now. I'm currently interim department chair, and, you know, leading the department and our growth and focus a lot of administrative topics and issues now, in addition to managing this sensor network. So again, it's a big team that we're using to manage the sensor network. It's just, it's not just me, and my area of research is concrete. I study the concrete materials. So believe it or not, there are people that actually research this stuff. So you’re thinking okay hey, why aren’t the pavements better, right? But we're working on it, right? We're trying to find solutions and that would have pavement systems that can last hundreds of years, and actually like looking at some impacts that flooding caused to the infrastructure, damage to the infrastructure and concrete and stuff like that. Some side projects that we're working on in that space now, too. So, that’s a little bit about about me. I'm a concrete structural guy, and also now dealing with this asset management project, which includes a lot of maintenance stuff, and it's a lot of fun, because it really allows us to engage with industry, engage with these public agencies, and it's opened a lot of doors for them and also for us.

HASELBACH: So, he's not the only one who studies concrete. I might be an environmental engineer, but my lab specialty is pervious concrete that has holes in it. And by the way, we have two test beds at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ campus, one built by students for a senior design project several years ago, and the other one part of an EPA grant. It's the pavement that the water goes through, and you store it underground.

JOHN: Hey, the more you know I did not know that, this is awesome.

HASELBACH: The one you can go see. One's at the community garden. The other one is at this shipping and receiving facility, and both of them are censored with his sensors, so that we know how much water is going underground and how fast it goes in, and how much rain there is and everything else. It's pretty cool. They’re really the only two test beds here in Southeast Texas.

JOHN: Pardon the pun, but I feel like there's so many layers when it comes to this type of work. Work with concrete and the flooding, and it all kind of ties in with each other, and you are in the right area for what you do.

HASELBACH: For sure, absolutely, yeah, it rains a lot here.

JOHN: Yeah, we get a lot of rain. It's raining today. So we've spoken about the department.  Dr. Brake, when I was doing my research, I did read, you know, you came in 2012. You have developed nine courses since joining Lamar, depending on when the website was updated, maybe more now, I'm not sure, and three of those courses were never offered before your arrival. Could you speak to as a faculty member to have that sort of freedom of experiment here at Lamar? Or, I should say, freedom to experiment, I guess? What does that mean to you as a faculty member?

BRAKE: I think at Lamar we came here, we have eight faculty members. Okay, so I came here and now I became the structural engineering professor, so that gave me a lot of flexibility to develop new classes and new topics at a bigger university. I may not have been able to, I wouldn't have been able to have that opportunity. Why? Because you're just going to be focused on a very, very specific area. Yeah, so what's great about Lamar is that we're student centered. Education is priority number one, and student engagement is so important and I love those things, so I was fortunate to come here because you have the opportunities to engage with our students, yeah, and engage with industry and the public agencies. So it's like, you have the best of both worlds. engage in the work. And it's really those two things, 50/50. It really gives you a lot of perspective, and I'm excited to come to work every single day. And our students are terrific. Our American Society of Civil Engineering student org went to the symposium this year and they competed in the steel bridge competition. It was the first time that they competed in a few years. And they have concrete canoe. They didn't compete this year in concrete canoe, but, but they did great in steel, and, you know, super excited that they won the “Best Up and Coming Student Organization” this year, and most improved student organization this year. So, they're really proud about that. So, yeah, I think Lamar offers the opportunity to really engage with our students and also engage with industry.

JOHN: And Dr Haselbach, something I found whenever I was researching you, thank you to y’all’s very awesome website in the engineering department, is that you're very involved with environmental sustainability. Would you like to touch on that a little? And also, we have a sustainability committee on campus that has been formed that works with recycling and other things, and we may need to recruit you, is what I'm gathering here.

HASELBACH: So, yeah, so I'm actually board certified in environmental sustainability. Yeah, that's my one board certification. So I have two signature graduate courses. One is green engineering, like the green building movement, and I actually wrote a book on it many years ago, based on the U.S. Green Building Council work. But my other signature course is environmental life cycle assessment. So that's when you for anything, whatever it is, what's the environmental impact of making new microphones for here, this one versus that one? You know? What's the impact of running a radio station, all those questions for us, what's the impact of different pavements and those things? And what's really fun about it? I have 25 students in the class, all graduate students. They all have different interests, and their projects are they range from shampoo to bio char to beef burgers versus veggie burgers, to different types of concrete, whatever they're interested in, so that they can answer the, well, what's the impact of that product or process you're going on? So it's really fun to do, and it keeps me involved in so many different projects. So I get to work with a lot of people.

JOHN: Yeah, that's an area that will keep you busy, for sure. So, I haven't asked you all this yet. When should we expect to see the flood monitoring program kind of up and running? Is it currently, or will it be ready for this upcoming hurricane season?

HASELBACH: Dr. Brake’s part is online already. It's been online for many years. The website is run by Sabine River Authority of Texas. It's a public dashboard, and people can follow it at all times. The other one, it's mainly up to the City of Orange, because they are the ones that will be installing the signs. That's not as difficult as getting the website up and then figuring out how to collate the data, keep the data, and then give the data to other agencies, just like Dr. Brake’s group has done with the Internet of Things. They’re hoping to have 20 signs installed by the end of the summer, as an example to them then work on it to again, get the data, get the community involved, teaching that and. Then go on from there and see how it's successful. So we're hoping end of August to have something.

JOHN: Okay, kind of like a soft launch, get it fine-tuned, and then hopefully later in the hurricane season, we'll have that to rely on here locally.

BRAKE: The website for the flood sensor network, if you wanted to get that data, is Southeast Texas rain. So, it’s setexasrain.onerain.com. Okay, so if you just type in Google “Southeast Texas one rain,” yeah, you'll be able to find it and then see all the data. Stay up to date with that, real time data that it's not only our sensors, but all of DD 6’s and USGS gauges are all there housed in one system.

JOHN: Absolutely, it's good to know. Yeah, good information. Well, thank you both again for joining today and for sharing this very important information. Excited to see this come to fruition for the betterment of our community. So thank you both. That’s a wrap on another episode. Please make sure to search Â鶹ÊÓƵ moment wherever you get your podcasts to keep up with the events, activities, programs and people right here at Â鶹ÊÓƵ. This is John Rollins your host. Thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.