Entries by admin

San Jacinto Flood Planning Group’s Proposed Minimum Floodplain Management Practices

11/11/25 – The San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group will consider adopting a set of proposed minimum floodplain management practices for the entire river basin at its meeting on November 13. The standards are part of a requirement by the Texas Water Development Board for the 2028 update of the state’s next flood plan. The […]

100-Year Floodplains Doubling in Size, But HCFCD Won’t Release New Maps

11/10/25 – The Texas Water Development Board’s San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group will meet on Thursday, November 13, to consider adopting a technical memorandum that shows the river basin’s 100-year floodplains more than doubling in size. However, even though the group acknowledges the superiority of Harris County Flood Control District’s (HCFCD) MAAPnext floodplain models, […]

New Feature on ReduceFlooding.com

11/9/2025 – In a continuing effort to make ReduceFlooding.com as useful to readers as possible, I have added a new tab on the Reports Page. It’s called Real-Time Conditions and Floodplain Extents. The information on this page comes from national, state and local sources. On one page, you can find numerous links to sources that […]

Why We Need FEMA

11/8/25 – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has not just battled nature’s extremes this year. It has also battled political superstorms that have left both employees and citizens exposed and uncertain. Disasters So Far in 2025 Despite a quieter than normal hurricane season so far this year, the U.S. has suffered: Political Crosswinds Create […]

Harris County Commissioners Court Agendas Reflect HCFCD Slowdown

11/7/2025 – Seven years into what was supposed to be a ten-year flood bond, less than 40% of the money has been spent. As a result of slower than expected project execution, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) is running out of time to complete projects associated with hundreds of millions of dollars in matching […]

Save the Date: Median Madness Round 4 Scheduled for November 15

11/6/25 – Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger has scheduled another round of Median Madness for November 15. The focus this time will be a stretch of Northpark near the Kroger at the intersection with West Lake Houston Parkway. Median Madness events not only beautify Kingwood medians, they improve traffic safety by improving visibility and […]

Northpark Update: Building Blocks Falling into Place

11/5/25 – From ground level, a driver may not see all the progress being made on the first all-weather evacuation route from Kingwood. But from the air, it’s unmistakable. One can clearly see the pieces of the final Northpark project coming together. In the last week, contractors have: Below are pictures taken on Monday, 11/3/25 […]

Floodplain Maps for 5,316 Acres West of Kingwood Contradict Developer’s Claim

11/4/2025 – FEMA floodplain maps contradict a claim made by Scarborough Development/San Jacinto Preserve in a presentation made to the City of Houston and Harris County officials on 10/29/25. The developer recently bought 5,316 acres, mostly in the floodplains and floodways of Spring and Cypress Creeks, and the San Jacinto West Fork. The land lies […]

How Could Hurricane Melissa Get So Strong So Late in the Season?

11/2/25 – Hurricane Melissa disappeared off the tracking charts yesterday. And when it did, one of the most powerful storms in recorded history went into the history books. Many things made Melissa unusual and stunned meteorologists. They included the storm’s deep pressure, high winds, rapid intensification, death toll, destruction, and its timing within the hurricane […]

Evolution of Harris County Flood-Project Prioritization

11/1/2025 – On 10/28/25, members of the Harris County Community Flood Resilience Task Force received a brief presentation about how flood-mitigation projects get prioritized by Harris County. Below are several key slides from “Overview & History of the 2018 Bond Program’s Prioritization Framework.” How Prioritization Started Before the 2018 bond election on the anniversary of […]