Donna Dewhirst’s Harvey Experience

At its Feb. 20 board meeting, the San Jacinto River Authority will decide whether to continue lowering Lake Conroe temporarily until other flood mitigation measures can be put in place. Before then, Donna Dewhirst, a resident of Walden on Lake Houston, wanted to share some reminders of the damage that Harvey and the 80,000 CFS Lake Conroe release inflicted on the Lake Houston area.

A Horror Story in Pictures

Dewhirst’s outdoor kitchen took on knee-deep water. In the background, that’s the second story of her boat dock.
As water started to subside, Dewhirst found trees and other debris lodged in her dock. The flood destroyed her boat.
A 70-foot surprise became visible when floodwaters receded. The flood also destroyed Dewhirst’s boat.
The railroad bridge just down from her caught another boat swept away in the flood.

“The water reached my back porch at the foundation of my home, but amazingly my house and garage got no water in them,” said Dewhirst.

Dewhirst feels lucky.
Her neighbors less so.
As water receded, the extent of flooding became more apparent.

“It was horrific,” said Dewhirst. “But we were lucky compared to others. I planned returning to a flooded home, but God of Heaven spared me. My son in law had put Flex Seal on the back doors and taped it with duct tape a few feet up. I’m sure that helped. But honestly from the water line on the house, it truly was a sheer miracle we didn’t flood.”

Can It Be Averted In the Future?

Aerial view of Aquatic Drive on Walden on Lake Houston after the Conroe release. Dewhirst believes this photo came from Greg Toole. If not, please let me know. I will correct the credit or remove the image if the author wishes.

If lowering Lake Conroe temporarily until other flood mitigation measures can be put in place, such as additional flood gates on the Lake Houston dam, I’m all for it.

For more information about that program and how to make your voice heard, visit the Lake Lowering page on this web site.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/5/2020

890 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 15 days before the SJRA decision


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