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Crowdsourced project tracks Harvey
As rescue crews field thousands of calls from Texas residents asking for help as flood waters rise in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey, people are looking to help in whatever ways they can.
Residents of Houston and surrounding areas have been taking their boats out to assist in rescues, and businesses are opening their doors to people displaced by flooding. Others others are using social media to communicate with one another about who needs help and where.
Now, a new initiative called U-Flood uses the power of crowdsourcing to map flooded streets in Houston and other areas affected by the storm.
SEE ALSO: Tropical Storm Harvey is the strongest to hit the US in 12 years"The project provides a crowdsourced mapping platform for the Houston metro area, as well as the I-45 corridor, Galveston, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and New Orleans," Tailwind Labs and Marine Weather and Climate, the creators of the platform, said on the U-Flood website.
"Real-time mapping is crucial right now as first responders are still in rescue mode trying to locate and save flood victims."
U-Flood works using a simple map interface that a user can click on and mark a roadway as either "flooded" or cleared, creating an easy-to-read map of inundated roads.
Current estimates suggest that about 30 percent of Harris County -- which includes Houston -- is flooded, so figuring out exactly which roads are passable and which aren't is incredibly important for rescue workers and people who are trying to stay safe in the storm's aftermath.
Harvey brought over 50 inches of rain to some parts of Texas, setting a record for the most rainfall from any tropical storm or hurricane to hit the United States since record-keeping began.
At the moment, Harvey is turning its attention -- and flooding rains -- toward Louisiana. The storm made its second landfall Tuesday night, five days after the record-smashing storm hit neighboring Texas.
That said, Texas isn't out of the woods yet. Even though the rains have cleared, dangerous flooding continues as rivers rise to record levels and dams and levees are tested.
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Animals are being stranded by Tropical Storm Harvey
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