Colony Ridge taught the world about karma on Thursday, October 5, 2023. The development’s main entrance flooded during a meeting of legislators. The purpose of the meeting: to convince legislators that the development wasn’t as bad as media reports. In eastern religions, karma is when a person’s actions decide his/her future. Think of cause and […]
Dana Kennedy of the New York Post published a 2,500-word exposé on Colony Ridge titled “Murders, cartels, squalor: Inside ‘colony’ near Houston accused of being ‘haven for illegal aliens.’” Kennedy spent weeks researching and writing the article. She interviewed the developer as well as residents, neighbors, local officials and law enforcement. Her story includes 27 […]
During September, Sprint Sand & Clay excavated another 5,698 cubic yards of material from Woodridge Village, down slightly from the previous month. However, that brought the total to date up to 150,724 cubic yards – a nice milestone. Attempted development of the property contributed to the flooding of neighboring properties twice in 2019 during May […]
October 2, 2023 – Contractors finished clearing the north side of Kingwood’s Northpark entry last week. Now they have shifted their focus to the south side to make room for two stormwater retention basins that will double as decorative lakes. TxDoT requires the basins to catch extra runoff caused by widening of the road. Photos […]
A letter dated September 30, 2023, and signed by all 25 members of the Texas Republican Congressional delegation urged Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate numerous allegations related to Colony Ridge in an upcoming special session of the Texas Legislature. The Colony Ridge developer has already launched a charm offensive designed […]
An analysis of Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) and partner spending since 2000 reveals striking contrasts between watersheds in terms of where flood-mitigation dollars have gone. Watersheds vary as much as 130 to 1 since 2000 and almost as much since Harvey. Most watersheds remained relatively constant in the rankings during the different time […]
Weather buffs could soon be treated to a rare event: the Fujiwhara Effect. That’s when one tropical storm collides with another. Topical Storm Philippe is being overtaken by the newly formed Tropical Storm Rina. See the satellite image below taken around 12:30 PM CDT. Will They Merge? I asked Harris County Meteorologist Jeff Lindner what […]
When I say “dig a little deeper” to improve flood mitigation, I’m speaking metaphorically, of course. On September 17, 2023, Jim Blackburn, a lawyer and professor of environmental law in the Rice University engineering department, published an article in the Houston Chronicle. He titled it, “What Houston’s next mayor needs to do about flooding.” Both Prof. Blackburn and […]
9/25/23 – Approximately 425,000 people live in the 204 square mile Cypress Creek watershed which has severe repetitive flooding. At a press conference this morning, County, State and Federal officials announced $50 million in funding for a massive complex of stormwater detention basins on Cypress Creek at T.C. Jester Blvd. to help protect those people. […]
The World Bank recently published the 177-page Urban Flood Risk Handbook: Assessing and Identifying Interventions by Scott Ferguson, Mathijs van Ledden, Steven Rubinyi, Ana Campos, and Tess Doeffinger. The book is primarily targeted to flood-project managers and city officials. However, the informative illustrations and easy-to-understand writing make it a useful primer for anyone who wants […]