Excavation Continues along Upper Ben’s Branch while HCFCD Gets Ready to Begin on Lower Portion

In response to citizen requests after the May 7th flood, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has been excavating the portion of Ben’s Branch near North Park Drive and Woodland Hills Drive in Kingwood. The St. Martha Catholic school on the south side of the creek and Kids in Action on the north side both flooded during that event.

Infrequent Maintenance and Upstream Development Took Their Toll

The ditch had become badly filled in due to infrequent maintenance and upstream development. This project, covered by HCFCD’s maintenance budget began last month.

Thomas Blailock, a reader, has been sending in these pictures showing the progress.

Much of the creek has been cleared already. And just in time for Hurricane Barry! I’m sure all the merchants along North Park are breathing a sigh of relief.

Next Up: Lower Portion of Ben’s Branch

This project is separate from the excavation that will soon begin on Ben’s Branch south of Kingwood Drive. We should soon see about 8,000 truckloads of dirt coming out of that reach of the stream.

Twelve senior residents of Kingwood Village Estates died near that area after Harvey. They passed as a result of injuries suffered during the evacuation or the stress of losing their homes.

Taylor Gulley for an Encore

Next up: the upper portion of Taylor Gulley…followed by additional clearing of debris in the lower portion later this summer. Approximately 200 homes flooded adjacent to Taylor Gully in the March 7th storm, due in part to upstream development which has deposited sediment at higher than normal rates in the channel.

A shout out to Barbara Hilburn of Kingwood Lakes who raised awareness about internal drainage issues after Harvey. She has worked long and hard to jumpstart these clean outs.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/10/2019

680 Days since Hurricane Harvey