Harris Co. Flood Control District's real-time maps help you decide to evacuate during 'next Harvey'

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Flash Flood Warning or Emergency is issued for your area.

What exactly does that mean for you? Can you stay in your house? Or, do you need to leave immediately to escape the flood waters?

The Harris County Flood Control District has come up with a new tool to help you decide. It's called an inundation map.

It uses real-time rain accumulation data, water levels in the bayous, creeks, and reservoirs, and sophisticated topographical maps to estimate water levels in a given area.

During the next major flood, just click on the inundation box to see how high the water has risen in your area.

You can check water levels all the way down to street level. You can even check your individual block for flooding. That makes it easy to plan or check your possible evacuation route, if life-threatening flooding is eminent.

There's another useful way to use the map. You can click on the historical tab, put in the date of one of our recent floods, and zoom in to your neighborhood to see if it flooded in that event.

It's a handy tool if you're looking to buy a house in a certain area and you want to know if it has flooded in the past.

You can access the Harris County Flood Countrol District inundation map here.