Iowa Flood Center shows off flood forecasting technology - KWWL - Eastern Iowa Breaking News, Weather, Closings

The Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa showed off it's 'Iowa Flood Information System' today which helps predict flooding. 

They say Iowa has a flooding problem and the state has had nearly 1,000 flood-related disaster declarations over the last 30 years. 

The Iowa Flood Center formed after the flood of 2008. 

An online system called IFIS or the 'Iowa Flood Information System' provides real-time access to your local flood information such as rainfall and melting snow levels. 

Inundation maps help predict how your home or business will be impacted. 

You can even zoom into your exact property and check the predicted water depth and get a damage estimate. 

They have placed various sensors across the state for example, to help measure moisture in the soil. 

The sensors help predict floods. 

Flood predictions can be helpful to you even when it's not flooding, like while you're house hunting. 

"If you're buying a home that happens to reside in the 1% annual chance flood plain and you have a 30 year mortgage then you have a 26% chance of experiencing a flood event during the lifetime of your mortgage," says Nathan Young, Associate Director of the Iowa Flood Center. 

While the peak of flood season is said to be April through July, there has been flooding in the state other times of year. 

"That event that happened in September in 2016 was highly unusual," says Witold Krajewski, Director of the Iowa Flood Center. 

Money for the Iowa Flood Center comes from the legislature. 

If you want to check out the IFIS visit: click here.