The Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) will soon begin constructing its Lauder Basin Phase 2 in the Greens Bayou watershed. Scheduled for Fall 2022, Phase 2 is located east of Aldine Westfield Road in the area of the Castlewood Subdivision between Aldine Bender and Lauder Roads. Size and Scope This project help reduce existing […]
Since April 2022, I’ve documented the ever-widening clearing of the new Royal Pines subdivision at the north end of West Lake Houston Parkway. See what the development looked like in: April May June July At the end of August, it appeared as though the clearing was close to complete. Massive piles of dead trees remain […]
New Caney ISD’s new West Fork High School on Sorters-McClellan Road south of Kingwood Drive celebrated its grand opening on August 23, 2022. Here’s a video of the event. I’ve been following the construction of the school since early 2020. Construction is the riskiest period in a project as we saw with the aborted Woodridge […]
My weird nephew Izzy wants to rent one of those new 660-square-foot homelets going up in the Preserve at Woodridge. He came to me so excited the other day that he was gesturing wildly and sloshed beer all over his Mötley Crüe T-shirt. “Uncle Bob,” he enthused, “You gotta see these places! I can maybe […]
At the end of August, I checked with Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) to see how excavation of the new Woodridge Village detention pond was coming and what the next steps are. Before and After Photos The two photos below show the extent of excavation at the end of July and today. Eventually, the […]
Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) spending data on right-of-way acquisition and construction for the first half of 2022 shows that, once again, the San Jacinto watershed has been ignored. Thus, the largest watershed in the county received virtually no help in terms of flood-mitigation funding. Brays, where Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis lives, received […]
Ever wonder why so many hurricanes track like boomerangs? They don’t all follow this pattern, of course, but when you look at the 1370 hurricanes between 1851 and 2006, a pattern clearly emerges. Interaction of Complex Systems In my research, I found several possible explanations for the pattern above. Harris County Meteorologist Jeff Lindner provided […]
This Friday, September 2, 2022, I will give a talk at Lone Star College Kingwood. It will summarize what I have learned since Hurricane Harvey about flooding and flood mitigation while researching more than 2000 articles. The title of the talk: How Far We’ve Come, What We Still Need to Do. And it will focus […]
On the fifth Anniversary of Harvey, the law firm McGehee ☆ Chang, Landgraf, Feiler issued updates on both its upstream and downstream cases in the Addicks-Barker lawsuits against the Army Corps of Engineers. Final Arguments Scheduled in Upstream Case The upstream Addicks-Barker lawsuit is finally drawing to a close. Earlier, Judge Charles F. Lettow ruled that […]
Montgomery County (MoCo) Commissioners voted on 8/23/22 to update the County’s Drainage Criteria Manual and its Subdivision Rules and Regulations. Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley made the motion (item 16.C on the 8/23/22 Commissioners Court agenda). See the discussion in the MoCo Commissioner’s Court video. Select Item 16. The discussion starts at 3:12. The previous […]