Citing the urgent need to spend half of a billion flood-mitigation dollars quickly, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) has made a common-sense suggestion to streamline flood mitigation in Harris County. It recommended making Harris County Flood Control District a “direct recipient” (rather than a “sub-recipient”) of the half billion dollars carved out of $750 […]
Long after floods recede, the residue of toxic chemicals carried by the water can leave a lasting legacy of loss. It can remain in homes and yards, affecting the health of both homeowners and neighborhoods. During Hurricane Harvey, for instance, sewage contaminated the cleanups of both Kingwood College and Kingwood High School. Decontamination, cleanup and […]
New Montgomery County Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray addressed a breakfast meeting of the Kingwood Executive Group today. Gray, who comes from the oil-and-gas industry, has a background in managing large maintenance/construction projects. Just six months into his new job, he has wasted no time in applying that expertise to Montgomery County. The no-nonsense, get-it-done […]
Harris County has put 37 of 93 subdivision drainage projects associated with the $2.5 billion 2018 Flood Bond on hold. Reasons include: Of the 37 projects whose funding was cut, 24 were in Precinct 3 – a whopping 65 percent. Technically, the projects have not been “cancelled.” The county has just run out of money […]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has clouded the future of dozens of Texas flood-mitigation projects worth billions of dollars. HUD has alleged racial discrimination by the Texas General Land Office (GLO), which distributes HUD money in Texas. HUD based its finding of discrimination on complaints by two advocacy groups. The complaints […]
NOAA’s National Hurricane Center issues a monthly Atlantic Tropical Weather Summary during hurricane season. For June 2023, it shows above normal tropical cyclone activity and and above normal accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) for the North Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. #4 for Year and Counting Three named tropical storms (Arlene, Bret, and Cindy) formed […]
The 2023 legislature scorecard, just five years after Hurricane Harvey, shows that flooding is fast becoming forgotten in Texas. Of the seven issues I tracked, the Lake Houston Area had two wins, four losses, and one that could be ruled a coin toss depending on your point of view. In the Win Column Let’s look […]
At the end of June, stormwater detention basin excavation on Harris County Flood Control District’s (HCFCD) Woodridge Village property reached 92% of Atlas-14 requirements. When HCFCD bought the property from Perry Homes in 2021, it had only 70% of the required detention capacity under Atlas 14. Atlas-14 defines the current standard for safely containing a […]
Go to almost any news source you can name and you will likely find an article about climate change. They generally manage to turn a local event into an international crisis. The articles report on the latest freeze, heat wave, drought or flood somewhere in the world and tie that into similar stories affecting other […]
On 6/28/23, civic leaders from all levels of government gathered to celebrate the acquisition of enough funding to finally begin renovating Poor-Farm Ditch. Poor-Farm Ditch runs from Greenway Plaza on the north to Brays Bayou on the south between West University Place and South Side Place. Harris County Flood Control District started studying ditch improvements […]