Data obtained via a FOIA Request shows that the watersheds where three top Harris County Democrats live are consuming 25% of flood-bond funding. Meanwhile, those Democrats are starving their Republican opponents and supporters alike of flood-mitigation money. Harris County Flood Control’s website also shows there are currently no active capital-improvement construction projects in Kingwood, Humble, […]
Best-selling Florida author/journalist Craig Pittman penned a poignant post for the Florida Phoenix about the state’s problems evacuating coastal communities before hurricanes. While the article uses evacuation to make a point, it’s really about a political culture that permits developments that put people’s lives at risk. It’s a cautionary tale for Texas, especially Harris County where flooding […]
The Houston Chronicle has endorsed Republican Alexandra del Moral Mealer for County Judge over incumbent Democrat Lina Hidalgo. I won’t recap the lengthy Chronicle article here; you should read it firsthand. But I will expand on it, especially vis-a-vis flood control, which the Chronicle touched only lightly. Let me start by saying that after watching […]
Devastating flooding in Nigeria has killed 500, injured 1546, destroyed 272 square miles of farmland, and ruined 45,000 homes, according to the Washington Post. It sounds like another Harvey half a world away, except that these floods had nothing to do with a hurricane. Nigeria lies south of the Sahara desert in Western Africa. Global […]
On October 6, 2022, NPR published a fascinating story by Scott Neumann about a Florida development that survived Hurricane Ian “with barely a scratch.” The community, called Babcock Ranch, is just north of Fort Myers. It didn’t bear the full brunt of the Cat 4 storm, but it did weather 100-mph winds with barely any […]
A hot-spot analysis of subsidence in the Houston metro area during the period from 2016 to 2020 revealed total subsidence of up to 9 centimeters in some areas. Rates of subsidence approached 2 cm per year. (Two centimeters equals 0.8 inches. Nine centimeters = 3.54 inches.) The scientific study, named “Surface Deformation Analysis of the […]
Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) transmitted an update to Commissioners Court today that shows the progress of the flood bond through September 2022. The report shows slowing activity. Specifically: No new construction contracts or other agreements were awarded in the last month. Total spending increased only $21 million – from $1.104 billion to $1.125 […]
Splendora is exploding with growth. On FM2090 west of U.S.59 near the Splendora High School, two new developments have already cleared 598 acres and have another 611 to go. Together, they could easily quintuple the population of a rural town that only had 1900 residents in the last census. Development Well Underway I first covered […]
Construction has resumed on the San Jacinto Bayou Greenway along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River between Woodland Hills Drive and US59. Once fully complete the San Jacinto Bayou Greenway will stretch for approximately 2.5 miles and create one of the longest continuously connected urban trail networks in North America. Reason for Construction […]
Amendment 11 from the Texas Hurricane Harvey Action plan will let the Texas General Land Office (GLO) take over unused money from seven Houston disaster relief funds. The money will be reallocated to a state-run Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP) currently administered by the GLO on behalf of Houston residents. On 10/7/22, GLO posted Amendment 11 to the […]