5/17/2024 – The Hallett sand mine on the San Jacinto West Fork appears to have dug a trench across the maintenance road of its settling pond to lower the pond’s level. Murky wastewater is draining into the West Fork while the SJRA is currently releasing 10,875 cubic feet per second (CFS) from Lake Conroe in […]
4:30 PM May 16, 2024 – The National Weather Service has issued a trio of alerts that affect the Lake Houston Area. A tornado watch, flood warning, and flood watch are all simultaneously in effect. Tornado Watch The three include a tornado watch until 10 PM tonight. The watch includes all counties in the Houston […]
A report issued by Harris County’s Meteorologist Jeff Lindner puts the May 2024 flood into historical perspective. Significant flooding occurred along the West and East Forks of the San Jacinto River as well as the lower San Jacinto River below Lake Houston. While rainfall occurred over a 7-day period, the most intense rainfall in Harris […]
After the floods of early May 2024 and as we got yet another flood warning (East Fork at FM1485), people are asking once again, “What can we do to reduce our flood risk?” Ironically, with a few exceptions, the answers are the same as those identified after Harvey. We just need to implement them. Few of […]
Correction: This sand pit in this post was sold by Hallett to Riverwalk Porter LLC on January 23, 2024. Last week, the West Fork San Jacinto rerouted itself through a mile-long sand pit at the five-square mile Hallett Mine in Porter. Some people reported problems understanding how all the images in that post related to […]
Does a wetter-than-normal spring say anything about Houston’s chances for a busier-than-normal hurricane season? According to Jeff Linder, Harris County’s meteorologist, the two correlate poorly. In the process of exploring that, I discovered some surprising facts about the intensity and seasonality of rainfall in the region. So Far, Not So Much Wetter than Normal “Harris […]
Correction: This sand pit in this post was sold by Hallett to Riverwalk Porter LLC on January 23, 2024. The San Jacinto West Fork has become totally blocked by sediment at the Hallett Mine in Porter and rerouted itself through the giant sand mine. The old river channel has been sealed off by sediment. And […]
May 10, 2024 – The floodwaters have finally receded. The sun has come out. And the debris piles are ba-aack. People who flooded during the storms last week are taking advantage of the break in weather to muck out their homes, toss wallboard, and cart waterlogged furniture to the curb. Nowhere in Kingwood was the […]
Construction is always the riskiest period during a development project. Especially when you clearcut 533 acres and get 17 inches of rain … in a week. However, thanks to best practices and luck, most people surrounding the Sila development in Huffman narrowly escaped what could have become a major disaster. As the people in Woodridge […]
Photos taken during last week’s flood raise disturbing questions all over again about sand mining so close to the San Jacinto. Are: Can: Will: The sand mining photos below show dramatically that the river breached dikes, flowed through pits, stirred up sediment and carried it downriver. I have hundreds more, but these make the point. […]