"We have layers and layers of data -- roads, railroads, traffic patterns, and then the flood plains are overlaid onto that. If a property owner or business owner wants to know if his or her business could be located in a possible flood area, or if a lending institution wants to know if an area is in a flooding area, they can check online and very quickly turn on and off the layers they want to see to view exactly what they want to find," explained Trimble.
He said the application was simple to operate.
"It's a simple checkbox that pretty much anybody could operate. My grandmother could operate it," Trimble said.
Before the tool's deployment, citizens had to meet with county inspectors and view maps at the assessor's office located in the Tulsa County Courthouse.
"Most people can't do it in a day. It's a several hours to even a half-day visit, so being able to do it online gets them to the information almost immediately," Trimble said.
The GIS Flood Map proved especially popular among local businesses that relied on flood plain data. Companies that paid employees to spend most of their time traveling downtown for property research have redeployed those workers to more useful tasks, said Trimble.
Tulsa County Courthouse employees showed productivity increases as well with fewer citizens arriving in-person for services.
"We're seeing a reduction in the turnaround for productivity in other areas we hadn't even considered prior to the project," Trimble said.