High water in Brush Creek, in Johnson County, Kansas, exceeds the capacity of the channel and flows onto heavily traveled roadways. This creates a serious hazard for motorists (as illustrate in the figure below). Historically, in the City of Mission Hills, emergency response personnel successfully barricaded the roadways when they saw the rising water. However, Mission Hills officials wanted a rigorous, systematic, automated procedure for protecting the public from hazardous conditions.
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We worked with residents of Mission Hills and a Kansas City engineering firm to design a complete flood warning system for Mission Hills. The proposed system includes water level sensors that continuously will monitor Brush Creek, notifying emergency response personnel of high stages. The system may also include automated warning lights and signs that will alert motorists to risks ahead on the roadway. The system is fully compatible with other systems in neighboring communities, thus enabling data sharing throughout Johnson County and the Kansas City area. The system design is also flexible, thus permitting expansion and inclusion of additional features in the future.
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