Entries by admin
A Quick Way to Assess Flood Risk In Your Neighborhood During Storms
For decades, weather services have forecasted flood warnings, watches and alerts for general areas, such as the Houston region. But what is the risk to your particular neighborhood? Web-based, interactive tools now make it possible to forecast flood risk near you. However, they require some “do-it-yourself” interpretation. Hence, this post. YESTERDAY morning (TUESDAY 6/19), I […]
IH-69 Repairs Finish Sooner than Expected; Traffic Returning to Normal Soon
The lengthy delays crossing the San Jacinto River on Interstate Highway 69 at rush hour are almost over. TxDOT originally expected repairs could take until September, but is now saying traffic will return to normal by early July. That’s the good news. However, between now and then, the concrete spaghetti bowl over the river will […]
Lowering Lake Conroe Temporarily Could Be Blessing in Disguise for Lakefront Property Owners
The Lake Conroe Association, which fought the temporary lowering of Lake Conroe, may find that it’s a blessing in disguise. The TCEQ decided to allow the San Jacinto River Authority and City of Houston to lower Lake Conroe for six weeks by up to two feet during the peak of hurricane season. The SJRA will […]
TCEQ Approves SJRA and City Plan to Temporarily Lower Lake Conroe
This morning, I received a press release announcing that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) had approved the joint decision by the City of Houston and the San Jacinto River Authority to temporarily lower the level of Lake Conroe during the peak of hurricane season. The lake will be lowered by two feet from […]
New Flood Gages Fully Installed and Operational
Last month, I posted about Harris County Flood Control District’s plans to install additional new and upgraded flood gages. The goal: to give scientists more and better information with which they can create more accurate river forecasts. New Gage Locations According to Jeff Lindner, Director Hydrologic Operations Division/Meteorologist, at the Flood Control District, additional new gages […]
More About Sand Mining than You Ever Wanted to Know
Regular readers of this site will notice something new today – a top-level page that contains links to information about sand mining best practices. The page features four categories of information about sand mining: Best management practices from other states and countries Academic articles and case studies Texas laws and regulations Observations The material within […]
Update on County Flood Bond Status and Some Proposed Projects
The fast-approaching Harris County Flood Bond referendum scheduled for August 25 is forcing people to focus on their top mitigation priorities. The Flood Control District is actively soliciting community input on projects that we think are needed in this watershed. Harris County includes 22 different watersheds within 1,756 square miles. Each watershed has its own independent flooding problems […]
Just In Time for Tropical Wave: Harris County Flood Control Announces Near-Real-Time Inundation Mapping
Approaching Storm Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has introduced a new, near-real-time, inundation mapping tool – just in time for a tropical disturbance predicted to affect the Houston area from this Saturday through Monday. The NOAA map below (created 6/13/18) shows expected rainfall totals associated with the disturbance which is currently centered just south […]