Time lapse video showing the substantial rise of the Brays Bayou during the flooding rains of October 24-25, 2015 in Houston, Texas.
We placed an unmanned camera system down inside the flood-way along Brays Bayou near Hwy 288 and MacGregor, near the Texas Medical Center.
Over the course of several hours, the watershed filled with rain water as the remnants of hurricane Patricia moved over the region. The flood-way soon filled with rushing water and debris (mostly Styrofoam cups and other trash).
We also placed our own high-water marker on the opposite concrete column to visually determine how high, and how fast, the water was rising. The marker was no match for the breezy conditions and began to detach from the column. However, the zip tie at the 5-feet point remained clearly visible and we watched in amazement as the water rose and eventually submerged the camera.
As noted in the video, the camera streams using a mobile hot spot and as such, once the water reached the camera case and submerged it, the data transmission was no longer possible. Basically the same principle behind why your cell phone will not work too well, if at all, even if sealed in a water-proof case, deep inside a pool.
The entire event gave us an opportunity to test the technology that we plan to use one day during hurricane storm surge events along the U.S. coastline. We consider the test 100% successful which included retrieving the case 30 hours after we deployed it - everything remaining completely intact.
