Some brand-new technology is rolling out across Chicago to address flooding problems.

It's an early warning system using special flood sensors, and it's said it could make a difference.

Many of the flood sensors will be in the Chatham neighborhood, where CBS News Chicago has covered flooding issues for years.

"This sonar sensor here? That's how we track how far away the water is," Hyfi chief executive officer Brandon Wong said.

Hyfi is the company behind the 50 flood sensors being deployed across Chicago, in a partnership with Verizon.

"We hope to address this big data gap in know, where is the flooding happening, when, and how severely?" he said.

Ten of them are in Chatham. The sensors are meant to provide information in real-time.

"This device measures the flooding on the ground and then through Verizon's connectivity, it links up with all the other 50 sensors to help inform where to send of an alert in a given part of a neighborhood," Wong said. 

An official launch event was held that brought partners and city and state leaders together as the technology was officially deployed.

"It will be a proof of concept to really show local officials what it can do," said Verizon senior vice president Donna Epps.

The Greater Chatham Initiative works with Argonne National Labs and the University of Chicago to address their flooding issues over the years—especially with a changing climate bringing more extreme weather, and more rain.

"Eighty percent of the homes in Chatham, 80 percent, are likely to flood over a 10-year period," said Nedra Sims Fears of the Greater Chatham Initiative. 

Fears said the technology will make a difference.

"Knowledge is power. We have limited resources, and we want the monies to mitigate flooding to get our best bang for the buck," she said.

Eventually, residents will be able to access the sensor network.

"Ultimately, the goal is to have the information from the sensors show up on an app for residents so they're aware of the flooding, where is it going, so they can get ahead of the flood," Epps said. 

"This is where we put the finger in the dam, and we know that empirically, and that is going to work, and so it's informed information and not guesswork because we've had a lot of guesswork, and guess what? The guesswork has not worked," Fears said.