diff --git a/get_ee_from_region.py b/get_ee_from_region.py
index 7a84a2f..16b7798 100755
--- a/get_ee_from_region.py
+++ b/get_ee_from_region.py
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ import logging
 import stat
 import os
 from os.path import exists
+import requests
+import shutil
+from PIL import Image
+from io import BytesIO
 
 import ee
 import sys
@@ -16,6 +20,35 @@ from country_iso2ify import get_resolver
 
 resolver = get_resolver()
 
+def create_elevation_file_from_region_name(target_region_name, target_filename):
+    ee.Initialize(project="arizona-topo")
+    elv = ee.Image('USGS/SRTMGL1_003')
+    region_of_interest = ee.Geometry.BBox(b_list[0],
+                                          b_list[1],
+                                          b_list[2],
+                                          b_list[3])
+    countries = ee.FeatureCollection('FAO/GAUL/2015/level1').select('ADM0_NAME')
+    # logging.debug("Countries are [{}]".format(countries))
+    states = ee.FeatureCollection('FAO/GAUL/2015/level1').select('ADM1_NAME')
+
+    target_boundary = countries.filter(ee.Filter.eq('ADM0_NAME', target_region_name))
+    # logging.debug("target_boundary is [{}]".format(target_boundary))
+
+    elevation_image = elv.updateMask(elv.gt(0))
+    elevation_clip = elevation_image.clip(target_boundary)
+    url = elevation_clip.getThumbUrl({
+        'min': -300, 'max': 8500, 'region': region_of_interest, 'dimensions': 1024,
+        'crs': 'EPSG:4326',
+        'fileFormat': 'GeoTIFF',
+    })
+    logging.debug("url is [{}]".format(url))
+    print("Downloading image from [{}]".format(url))
+    response = requests.get(url, stream=True)
+    with open(target_filename, 'wb') as out_file:
+        shutil.copyfileobj(response.raw, out_file)
+    del response
+
+
 def list_subunits_and_exit(country_name):
     iso_code = resolver.resolve(country_name)
     countries = country_subunits_by_iso_code(iso_code)
@@ -114,7 +147,7 @@ parser.add_argument(
     action='count',
     default=0,
     required=False,
-    help="will not refetch an existing file unless this option is specified")
+    help="will not refetch an existing elevation image file unless this option is specified")
 
 parser.add_argument(
     "-c",
@@ -185,33 +218,11 @@ target_filename = target_region_name + ".png"
 if os.path.exists(target_filename):
     logging.debug("The file [{}] already exists.".format(target_filename))
     if args.override_existing == 0:
-        print("The file [{}] already exists. -O flag not specified. Exiting.".format(target_filename))
-        sys.exit(5)
+        print("The file [{}] already exists. -O flag not specified. Using existing file.".format(target_filename))
 else:
     logging.debug("The file [{}] does not exist.".format(target_filename))
-logging.debug("Creating file [{}]".format(target_filename))
-with open(target_filename, 'w') as f:
-    pass
+    create_elevation_file_from_region_name(target_region_name, target_filename)
 
-ee.Initialize(project="arizona-topo")
-elv = ee.Image('USGS/SRTMGL1_003')
-region_of_interest = ee.Geometry.BBox(b_list[0],
-                                      b_list[1],
-                                      b_list[2],
-                                      b_list[3])
-countries = ee.FeatureCollection('FAO/GAUL/2015/level1').select('ADM0_NAME')
-#logging.debug("Countries are [{}]".format(countries))
-states = ee.FeatureCollection('FAO/GAUL/2015/level1').select('ADM1_NAME')
 
-target_boundary = countries.filter(ee.Filter.eq('ADM0_NAME', args.country))
-#logging.debug("target_boundary is [{}]".format(target_boundary))
+pil_image = Image.open(target_filename)
 
-elevation_image = elv.updateMask(elv.gt(0))
-elevation_clip = elevation_image.clip(target_boundary)
-url = elevation_clip.getThumbUrl({
-    'min': -300, 'max': 8500, 'region': region_of_interest, 'dimensions': 1024,
-    'crs': 'EPSG:4326',
-    'fileFormat': 'GeoTIFF',
-    })
-logging.debug("url is [{}]".format(url))
-print("url is [{}]".format(url))
\ No newline at end of file