Cameras to keep an eye on road flooding are coming to 16 locations across Raleigh. The city will install them in areas where heavy rains and flooding have closed roads in the past.
Stormwater Administrator Scott Bryant says the cameras will serve dual purposes, monitoring traffic and flooding.
“The idea came about that there may be some locations where we can partner with our transportation department to install cameras that would [help] us keep track of flood prone areas, as well as areas of traffic,” he said.
The cameras will be installed along Crabtree and Walnut Creeks, which are the two major streams that run through Raleigh.
The equipment will cost the city roughly $46,000. Bryant noted video from each camera will be streamed live for monitoring purposes only, and will not be recorded or archived.
The city’s flood monitoring program will also include nine new flood warning signs with sensors to detect rising water.
Bryant says those signs would use flashing lights to warn motorists.
“The flashers would come on ahead of flooding conditions,” he said. “The thought there is that would provide some advance warning for folks in those highly flood-prone areas.”
Raleigh officials hope to roll out an advance warning system that uses radar rainfall data to predict where flooding could occur ahead of bad weather.
Residents can keep an eye on stream gauges and flood conditions online through the city of Raleigh's website.