HAYS COUNTY, Texas - A new and improved emergency management website in Hays County is designed to keep you informed during flooding events.

Kyle Fire Chief Kyle Taylor remembers working the 2015 floods like they were yesterday.

"It got very busy, very quickly," recalled Taylor.

Emergency dispatchers answered call after call from people who were scared and trapped in low water crossings.

Justin McInnis with Hays County Emergency Management says this new and improved HaysInformed.com might have kept folks out of harm’s way.

"It monitors our low water crossing sites by letting us know when water is over the road," said McInnis.

State of the art technology collects data from the National Weather Service and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Colored dots mark low water crossings and indicate problem areas.

"This yellow one right here is one of our sites that continually has water over it, but a small amount so it's at a cautionary state," said McInnis.

It can also give minute-to-minute updates on river levels, and those minutes can save lives in Flash Flood Alley.

McInnis said his priority is always the safety of Hays County residents.

"The hope with this program and this system is to be able to easily inform our public in a very visual way," said McInnis.

Taylor believes this system could save the lives of residents and first responders.  

"Early notification. It's early notification for us, and it allows us to get the notification out to the residents quicker," said Taylor.

He says in a severe weather event, staying informed - before, during and after- can make all the difference.

Visit the updated website at HaysInformed.com.