As of 11 a.m. Friday morning, we have Tropical Depression 14 and Tropical Storm Laura poised to enter the Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters predict both could intensify into Category 1 hurricanes. Not many living people can remember the last time we had two hurricanes in the Gulf at the same time. Jeff Lindner, Harris County’s […]
Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin announced today that FEMA will fund the dredging of an additional million cubic yards of sediment from the area around the San Jacinto West Fork Mouth Bar. The giant sand bar partially blocked the mouth of the West Fork during Harvey and backed water up. It contributed to the […]
Tropical depression #14 has formed in the northwestern Caribbean Sea and is turning northwest into the Gulf of Mexico. NHC predicts the storm will move into the south-central Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm on Sunday. The National Hurricane Center predicts arrival time of tropical storm force winds along the Texas Coast on Monday […]
Today, readers sent me links to two more websites that help you understand drainage and flood risk. The first by Texas Parks & Wildlife is called the Texas Watershed Viewer. The second is a FEMA site that estimates base flood elevations based on USGS data. FEMA defines base flood elevation as “The elevation of surface […]
“Living with Flooding” by Jim Blackburn, J.D., answers many of the questions ordinary people have about flooding in Harris County. For instance: What are the different causes of flooding? What should I look for when buying a home? How much of the county is really in a flood zone? Do I need flood insurance? How […]
Three lawsuits representing a total of approximately 1700 plaintiffs against more than 50 San-Jacinto-River-Basin sand mines have been joined in Multi-District Litigation (MDL). The lawsuits each arose out of flooding during Hurricane Harvey. Particulars of each suit vary slightly, but they all have common elements. Basis for Lawsuits At a high level, plaintiffs allege that […]
On August 12, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Commissioners voted unanimously to initiate a rule-making process that would establish best management practices for commercial sand mining in the San Jacinto River watershed. Joint TACA/Lake Houston Area Request In June, 2020, both TACA and the Lake Houston Area Grassroots Flood Prevention Initiative presented petitions to […]
In June, the Lake Conroe Association (LCA) filed a 102-page complaint to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) through Austin attorneys about the San Jacinto River Authority’s (SJRA) policy of seasonally lowering Lake Conroe. The SJRA’s purpose for the lowering: to lower flood risk for downstream residents. To download the complete complaint by Birch, […]
Clarification: General plans, as described below, are primarily about street layouts. However, many people have been trying to raise awareness at the Planning Commission that street patterns are affected to a significant degree by the volume and and layout of drainage and detention features. And, of course with Atlas 14 that is more true than […]
I can’t urge you enough to watch the San Jacinto Watershed Master Drainage Plan Meeting tonight at 6:30. Updating of River Models Leads to New Insights I previewed the presentation this morning and was extremely impressed. The study partners have updated or created hydraulic and hydrologic models for 535 miles of major streams in the […]