12/1/24 – The 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season ended yesterday. The season predicted to be “extreme” turned out to be “above average,” according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The Atlantic basin, which includes the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, saw 18 named storms in 2024. Of the 18, 11 became hurricanes and five became major […]
11/30/24 – On November 26, 2024, the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas dismissed homeowners’ claims in the long-running SJRA Takings Case. The case arose from Hurricane Harvey flood damage. Downstream homeowners alleged that San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) releases from Lake Conroe significantly exacerbated their flooding. The resulting damage, they claimed, […]
11/27/24 – Montgomery County is operating off a 1989 Drainage Criteria Manual that received minor updates in 2019. MoCo still has not finalized its new drainage criteria manual, a process it began in August 2022. In February 2024, Montgomery County published a draft of a comprehensive new update to its drainage criteria manual. The draft brought the […]
11/26/24 – Flooding in Harris County could use more people like Judy Cox. I attended her memorial service this afternoon and my eyes misted up when hundreds of people sang, “Down By The Riverside.” I dedicate this post to Judy’s memory because of her leadership style. She had no real involvement in flood mitigation. But […]
11/25/24 – This flood digest contains brief summaries of five recent flood-related news items. GLO Launches Disaster Recovery Reallocation Program A month ago, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) announced the creation of a Disaster Recovery Reallocation Program (DRRP). The purpose: to utilize unused and de-obligated Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds […]
11/23/24 – Callan Marine now has a dredge in place to begin the City of Houston’s latest dredging operation. Last month, the City said it hoped its latest Lake Houston dredging program would start in December and now it looks like it will. Callan’s dredge, the General Pershing, is currently anchored on the West Fork […]
11/22/24 – FEMA has launched a new, online flood-insurance quote tool. You simply: The entire process took me less than two minutes. I found that I could get the maximum coverage ($250,000) with the minimum deductible for $887. How to Act on the Quote Of course, you don’t buy flood insurance directly from FEMA. You […]
11/21/24 – Last week, the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District published a request for qualifications (RFQ) for consultants interested in conducting an alternative water supply feasibility study for Northeast Harris County. Mike Turco, the District’s general manager, said he is specifically focused on the area east of Lake Houston, which is experiencing tremendous growth. The completion of […]
11/20/2024 – The Texas General Land Office (GLO) confirmed funding approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for seven Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) projects. In June of last year, HCFCD submitted two projects lists to GLO for $825 million in HUD Community Development Block Grant disaster relief (CDBG-DR) funding […]
11/19/2024 – The time to fully complete half of all FEMA-funded buyouts takes more than five years from disaster to closeout. The screen capture below was taken from a presentation earlier this month to the Harris County Community Flood Resilience Task Force by Thao Costis, head of Harris County’s Housing and Community Development Department. The […]