The day after the catastrophic floods hit the Hill Country, the H2i Lab at the University of Texas at Arlington got to work. The team of engineers and scientists specializes in data and water, water hazards, and water security.

In less than an hour on July 5, the H2i recreated a map of the Kerr County floods, using data from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The maps show how high the water levels got at certain times during the morning of July Fourth. 

University of Texas at Arlington professor Adnan Rajib oversees the team.

"These buildings, camp buildings, are underwater. This is 45 feet," said Rajib. "We actually didn't have a lot of idea how devastating the situation was, until we overlaid on Google Art with all these buildings and stuff, then we realized that this is going to be much more significant than what we knew at that particular time."

The maps also show the number of structures that were inside the FEMA 100-year flood zone.

"It was a tsunami," Rajib said. "In our estimate, we found at least 1,800 building footprints within Hill Country's flood-affected areas, that's a lot."

The team believes their findings can also help recovery crews and authorities locate people's remains by targeting hotspots in the area.

"Imagine you're a first responder, this is a warning that our model generated, where you go… you know that this is the pocket, this is the hot spot, so you'll go there first," he said. "By recreating how the flood changed over time, we can find out… we can look at those moving hot spots, and probably track how the flood eventually moved along the river."  

Rajib said we need to focus not only on emergency alert systems, but also on a flood warning system that gives people real-time information of "risk" in a specific area. 

Based on past flooding events in Hill Country, the team said they are not surprised by what happened on July Fourth, but said it's important to pay attention to the data and learn from the past.

"Let's not lose our hopes, let's rise again, and see what we can do with all the smart technologies we have," he said.

The H2i Lab hopes to share its findings with officials in Kerr County.