9/29/26 – The remnants of Pacific Hurricane Polo will bring heavy rain to Texas in the next four days and produce a slight-to-moderate risk of flash flooding. The heaviest rainfall will likely focus on areas to the west of Houston. However, Houston area residents should remain alert for changes in the forecast.
Current Location and Conditions
Earlier today, Polo made landfall in western Mexico in Sonora.
National Weather Service predicts Polo will dump 4-6 inches of rain across a broad area in southwest Mexico.
The National Hurricane Center says that heavy rainfall associated with Polo will impact the southern and central portions of Sonora today. This rainfall will likely produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain.
Moisture from Polo will support heavy rainfall and flooding potential across the Southwest U.S. into the Southern High Plains today into early Wednesday.
While the storm is currently headed more toward New Mexico and far west Texas, forecasters predict it will angle towards central Texas in coming days and combine with an area of low pressure predicted to form in the Gulf later this week.
Pivotal Weather shows a wide swath of 5-6 inches of rainfall across areas west of Houston in the next 5 days. Some areas could experience intense rainfall at high hourly rates that produces flash flooding.
The Houston/Galveston office of the National Weather Service predicts the probability of excessive rainfall leading to flash flooding in the Houston area in the next three days is marginal (at least 5%) to slight (at least 15%).
Four days from now, they show the Houston area in the marginal category. All of the “slight risk” has shifted west toward San Antonio.
Much Needed Rainfall
Jeff Lindner, Harris County’s meteorologist, says the rain should hit this area later this week and possibly into the weekend. He also characterized it as “much needed.”
The U.S. Drought Monitor currently shows much of the Houston area as abnormally dry with parts of the region slipping into moderate drought.
As Polo moves inland, it will pull tropical moisture off the western Gulf which will combine with a mid- and high-level moisture from the Pacific.
Lindner says that a second tropical system (Rachel) forming off the southwest coast of Mexico will also shed moisture into a trough forming over the southern plains late this week and this weekend. See this revealing IR Satellite Loop for Atlantic/EPAC Combo on Tropical Tidbits.
Lindner predicts a swath of very heavy to excessive rainfall from generally near or west of the I-35 corridor. Rainfall rates of several inches per hour may induce rapid onset flash flooding in this area even with very dry ground conditions and dry creeks/rivers.
“Locally, moisture from the Gulf will help produce scattered showers and thunderstorms as early as Wednesday with increasing chances into late week.”
Jeff Lindner, Harris County Meteorologist
Lindner also worries that steering currents over central Texas could force the axis of heavier rains closer or into our area, where a low pressure trough expected to form off our coast this weekend may result in another rainfall maximum near and offshore.
Any flood potential with the current forecasted amounts would be street flooding, according to Lindner.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/29/2026
3318 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Pivotal-Polo-Rainfall-Forecast.png?fit=1119%2C863&ssl=18631119adminadmin2026-09-29 15:53:562026-09-29 18:10:33Remnants of Hurricane Polo Bringing Heavy Rains to Texas
9/28/26 – This morning, Dr. Dawn Buckingham, Texas General Land Office (GLO) Commissioner, announced a one-year deadline extension to finish projects that use Community Development Block Grant Funds for Disaster Recovery and Mitigation (CDBG-DR and -MIT) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The GLO administers HUD grants in Texas. And the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) was in danger of losing hundreds of millions of dollars because of delays on CDBG-DR projects, which had a rapidly approaching February 28, 2027, deadline.
Potential Loss of Funding Led to Shake-up at HCFCD
Because of those delays, former HCFCD executive director Dr. Tina Petersen resigned under pressure after the June 11, 2026, Harris County Commissioners Court Meeting. At that meeting, Commissioners discussed her continued employment in executive session.
Commissioners then appointed a new HCFCD executive director, Marcus Stuckett on 6/25/26 to replace Petersen. Stuckett previously worked at HCFCD as Director of Engineering. So, he was familiar with projects in the 2018 flood bond. And ever since, he has reportedly been scrambling to accelerate CDBG work, so he can bill as much as possible and minimize or eliminate the potential loss of funds.
The HUD/GLO extension will help Stuckett complete projects without resorting to a complicated billing plan hatched by his predecessor.
Ditching a Complicated “Swap Billing” Plan
Petersen’s plan involved applying CDBG monies for completed Mitigation projects to meet CDBG-DR billing requirements, and thereby minimize the loss of funding.
However, putting everything in one big, billing bucket and swapping funds between programs created a compliance-tracking nightmare. The extension will let HCFCD finish projects and let GLO close out them out in a more orderly manner. The plan to “swap” billing is now dead.
Harris County must now finish the projects according to the original, contractual plan.
No More Extensions
The deadline extension also comes with a warning to Harris County. No more extensions will be forthcoming. A GLO spokesperson emphasized, “People MUST cross the finish line with these projects before the deadline. There will be NO MORE EXTENSIONS.”
The extension also requires sub-recipients such as HCFCD with multiple projects to document the need for a deadline extension on each.
“Failure to comply with all regulations and deadlines can result in remaining funding being withheld. It could also result in expended funding being recaptured.”
GLO Press Release
HUD approved this deadline extension based on the GLO’s strong track record of managing DR funds.
This one-time extension will apply to more than $1.1 billion in disaster recovery and mitigation project funding allocated to Harris County, but…
Buckingham’s Warning to Harris County: “Grave Concerns”
“As I’ve said before, Harris County needs shovels, not scapegoats.”
GLO Commissioner Dawn Buckingham in letter to Harris County Officials
Separately, in a video released today, Buckingham said, “The GLO has committed millions of our own agency funds, along with nearly a thousand meetings and countless hours of staff time to support the Harris County Flood Control District.
“Flood Control proposed a complicated and administratively burdensome plan in May. The GLO has done everything in our power to make this plan work. Unfortunately, more than four months later, Harris County has failed to provide the information necessary for HUD’s approval and almost no additional progress has been made on these time sensitive projects.
“With the additional year now available, the projects will proceed under their original proposals using the disaster recovery funds I allocated to Harris County more than three years ago.
“The county now has one additional year to complete the projects, I pray the projects get completed, because if they do not the Harris County flood victims are the ones who suffer. If Harris County fails to meet the new benchmarks, the GLO will be forced to swiftly reallocate the unused balance to shovel-ready projects. Our priority will remain benefiting Harris County residents.”
Extension Requirements
This deadline extension applies to all CDBG programs in all parts of the state. Here’s how it affects three Harris County programs.
Harris County Housing & Community Development CDBG-MIT
From August 31, 2027, to August 31, 2028.
Harris County Flood Control District CDBG-MIT
From March 31, 2028, to March 31, 2029.
Harris County Flood Control District CDBG-DR
From February 28, 2027, to February 28, 2028.
The deadline extension will also be available for existing 2017 Hurricane Harvey Local Buyout and Acquisition Program contracts as well as existing mitigation contracts (2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 funded).
The County will need to submit requests documenting the need for more time and that the additional time will be sufficient to complete the projects. To remain compliant with federal regulations, timelines, and the terms of the GLO’s grant agreement with HUD.
The extension also does not include additional administrative funding. Nor does it allow the addition of “new work.” Adding to project scope will not be allowed when the funding was awarded through a competitive process as it changes the application under which it was scored and awarded.
For More Information
To learn more about the GLO’s disaster recovery and mitigation grants, visit recovery.texas.gov.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/28/2027
3317 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Buckingham-Video-Screen-Capture.jpg?fit=1100%2C625&ssl=16251100adminadmin2026-09-28 13:54:102026-09-28 13:58:44GLO Grants Harris County 1-Year Deadline Extension on All Harvey Grants
9/27/26 – Harris County just passed the largest tax increase in its history. But it provides very little transparency in how it spends taxpayer money. For example, try digging into how the county spends money from its 2022 Bond Program.
What Voters Approved in 2022
In November 2022, voters approved Harris County Engineering’s three-part $1.2 billion bond program. It included:
Proposition
Purpose
Authorized
A
Public Safety Facilities
$100 million
B
Roads, Bridges, Transportation
$900 million
C
Parks and Trails
$200 million
Total
$1.200 billion
No Spending Data on Engineering Department Website
Yet, I can find no discussion of bond expenditures on the Engineering Department’s website. It contains only one mention of dollars “committed” (see below). ALTOGETHER, the county has so far committed $242 million. But Engineering doesn’t tell us what for.
Breakdowns of spending among Public Safety, Roads and Parks
Project lists
Spending by precinct
Explanation for the sudden drop-off in spending for 2026.
I had to look elsewhere, without much luck, for that information.
The County’s Universal Services Department contains a dashboard that includes Engineering expenses for FY2025. But I couldn’t find one for the current fiscal year.
And the County’s Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) “Open Budget Dashboard” hasn’t worked for months.
No data loads for any of the categories/groups nested on left.
The hunt was on. A 2023 presentation on the 2022 Bond by Dr. Milton Rahman, the County Engineer, showed that within the $900 million dollars designated for Roads, Bridges and Transportation, six sub-categories existed:
$200 million for neighborhood drainage
$100 million for Road Rehabilitation
$50 million for Multimodal Transportation
$50 million for Vision Zero
$200 million for Partnership Opportunities
$300 million for General Road improvements.
Falling into an Information Black Hole
So, what did that money buy and where? That’s even harder to determine. Of the $242 million supposedly “committed” to date from the 2022 Bond, I could find no detailed information on money actually spent. However, I did find high-level information in the County’s 531-page Proposed FY2027 budget about totals “encumbered” in the three main categories. Encumbered means purchase orders have been issued for projects; it does not mean work has been paid for.
The Proposed 2027 budget says that:
All of the $100 million in the Public Safety portion of the 2022 bond has been committed to eight projects (see page 81). But the budget provides no further breakdown.
Approximately a third of the 2022 Park bonds have been issued or encumbered, but we don’t know where or for what.
$45.3 million (5%) of the $900 million in Road bonds has been encumbered, leaving approximately $855 million remaining. NO bonds have been issued yet in this category, which includes $200 million for Drainage Improvements.
So, it would seem that Harris County is about to ask for more bond money to improve Road Drainage when it has only encumbered 5% ($45.3 million) of the money approved in 2022 for Road Bonds.
The budget contains no breakdown showing how much each of the six subcategories has received from Road Bonds to date. But even if all of the $45.3 million went to Drainage Improvements, the percentage encumbered to date would still only amount to 22.7% ($45.3 out of $200 million).
So where is all the money going? Why does Harris County need more?
In fairness, many drainage projects started to date may still be in the engineering phase. Construction comes last and is usually the most expensive phase of a project’s lifecycle. So the percentages cited above may climb.
Perpetual Tax Increases Thrive in Perpetual Darkness
But the point is that perpetual tax increases thrive in perpetual darkness.
I’m not implying fraud. But…
The absence of reliable information makes informed debate impossible. It also makes results impossible to track and accountability impossible to determine.
Harris County Engineering:
Provides no or little insight into how it spends taxpayer money
Against that backdrop, Harris County property taxes are going up by 7.6% next year – the largest increase in history.
For the record, Dr. Milton Rahman, executive director of Harris County Engineering, used to be Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia’s head engineer. Garcia voted FOR the massive tax increase and also proposed the 2022 Bond.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/27/26
3316 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2022-Bond-2026-09-27-at-11.20.33-AM.png?fit=1452%2C716&ssl=17161452adminadmin2026-09-27 19:12:182026-09-27 21:17:54As Harris County Increases Taxes, Spending Remains a Mystery
Remnants of Hurricane Polo Bringing Heavy Rains to Texas
9/29/26 – The remnants of Pacific Hurricane Polo will bring heavy rain to Texas in the next four days and produce a slight-to-moderate risk of flash flooding. The heaviest rainfall will likely focus on areas to the west of Houston. However, Houston area residents should remain alert for changes in the forecast.
Current Location and Conditions
Earlier today, Polo made landfall in western Mexico in Sonora.
National Weather Service predicts Polo will dump 4-6 inches of rain across a broad area in southwest Mexico.
The National Hurricane Center says that heavy rainfall associated with Polo will impact the southern and central portions of Sonora today. This rainfall will likely produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain.
Moisture from Polo will support heavy rainfall and flooding potential across the Southwest U.S. into the Southern High Plains today into early Wednesday.
Multiple news reports tonight warned of flash flooding and a possible dam failure in New Mexico that has already prompted evacuations.
Forecast
While the storm is currently headed more toward New Mexico and far west Texas, forecasters predict it will angle towards central Texas in coming days and combine with an area of low pressure predicted to form in the Gulf later this week.
Pivotal Weather shows a wide swath of 5-6 inches of rainfall across areas west of Houston in the next 5 days. Some areas could experience intense rainfall at high hourly rates that produces flash flooding.
The Houston/Galveston office of the National Weather Service predicts the probability of excessive rainfall leading to flash flooding in the Houston area in the next three days is marginal (at least 5%) to slight (at least 15%).
Four days from now, they show the Houston area in the marginal category. All of the “slight risk” has shifted west toward San Antonio.
Much Needed Rainfall
Jeff Lindner, Harris County’s meteorologist, says the rain should hit this area later this week and possibly into the weekend. He also characterized it as “much needed.”
The U.S. Drought Monitor currently shows much of the Houston area as abnormally dry with parts of the region slipping into moderate drought.
As Polo moves inland, it will pull tropical moisture off the western Gulf which will combine with a mid- and high-level moisture from the Pacific.
Lindner says that a second tropical system (Rachel) forming off the southwest coast of Mexico will also shed moisture into a trough forming over the southern plains late this week and this weekend. See this revealing IR Satellite Loop for Atlantic/EPAC Combo on Tropical Tidbits.
Lindner predicts a swath of very heavy to excessive rainfall from generally near or west of the I-35 corridor. Rainfall rates of several inches per hour may induce rapid onset flash flooding in this area even with very dry ground conditions and dry creeks/rivers.
Lindner also worries that steering currents over central Texas could force the axis of heavier rains closer or into our area, where a low pressure trough expected to form off our coast this weekend may result in another rainfall maximum near and offshore.
Any flood potential with the current forecasted amounts would be street flooding, according to Lindner.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/29/2026
3318 Days since Hurricane Harvey
GLO Grants Harris County 1-Year Deadline Extension on All Harvey Grants
9/28/26 – This morning, Dr. Dawn Buckingham, Texas General Land Office (GLO) Commissioner, announced a one-year deadline extension to finish projects that use Community Development Block Grant Funds for Disaster Recovery and Mitigation (CDBG-DR and -MIT) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The GLO administers HUD grants in Texas. And the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) was in danger of losing hundreds of millions of dollars because of delays on CDBG-DR projects, which had a rapidly approaching February 28, 2027, deadline.
Potential Loss of Funding Led to Shake-up at HCFCD
Because of those delays, former HCFCD executive director Dr. Tina Petersen resigned under pressure after the June 11, 2026, Harris County Commissioners Court Meeting. At that meeting, Commissioners discussed her continued employment in executive session.
Commissioners then appointed a new HCFCD executive director, Marcus Stuckett on 6/25/26 to replace Petersen. Stuckett previously worked at HCFCD as Director of Engineering. So, he was familiar with projects in the 2018 flood bond. And ever since, he has reportedly been scrambling to accelerate CDBG work, so he can bill as much as possible and minimize or eliminate the potential loss of funds.
The HUD/GLO extension will help Stuckett complete projects without resorting to a complicated billing plan hatched by his predecessor.
Ditching a Complicated “Swap Billing” Plan
Petersen’s plan involved applying CDBG monies for completed Mitigation projects to meet CDBG-DR billing requirements, and thereby minimize the loss of funding.
However, putting everything in one big, billing bucket and swapping funds between programs created a compliance-tracking nightmare. The extension will let HCFCD finish projects and let GLO close out them out in a more orderly manner. The plan to “swap” billing is now dead.
Harris County must now finish the projects according to the original, contractual plan.
No More Extensions
The deadline extension also comes with a warning to Harris County. No more extensions will be forthcoming. A GLO spokesperson emphasized, “People MUST cross the finish line with these projects before the deadline. There will be NO MORE EXTENSIONS.”
The extension also requires sub-recipients such as HCFCD with multiple projects to document the need for a deadline extension on each.
HUD approved this deadline extension based on the GLO’s strong track record of managing DR funds.
This one-time extension will apply to more than $1.1 billion in disaster recovery and mitigation project funding allocated to Harris County, but…
Buckingham’s Warning to Harris County: “Grave Concerns”
Commissioner Buckingham wrote a strongly worded letter to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and County Commissioners expressing grave concerns she had about the County’s performance with CDBG funds dating back to 2021.
Separately, in a video released today, Buckingham said, “The GLO has committed millions of our own agency funds, along with nearly a thousand meetings and countless hours of staff time to support the Harris County Flood Control District.
“Flood Control proposed a complicated and administratively burdensome plan in May. The GLO has done everything in our power to make this plan work. Unfortunately, more than four months later, Harris County has failed to provide the information necessary for HUD’s approval and almost no additional progress has been made on these time sensitive projects.
“With the additional year now available, the projects will proceed under their original proposals using the disaster recovery funds I allocated to Harris County more than three years ago.
“The county now has one additional year to complete the projects, I pray the projects get completed, because if they do not the Harris County flood victims are the ones who suffer. If Harris County fails to meet the new benchmarks, the GLO will be forced to swiftly reallocate the unused balance to shovel-ready projects. Our priority will remain benefiting Harris County residents.”
Extension Requirements
This deadline extension applies to all CDBG programs in all parts of the state. Here’s how it affects three Harris County programs.
Harris County Housing & Community Development CDBG-MIT
From August 31, 2027, to August 31, 2028.
Harris County Flood Control District CDBG-MIT
From March 31, 2028, to March 31, 2029.
Harris County Flood Control District CDBG-DR
From February 28, 2027, to February 28, 2028.
The deadline extension will also be available for existing 2017 Hurricane Harvey Local Buyout and Acquisition Program contracts as well as existing mitigation contracts (2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 funded).
The County will need to submit requests documenting the need for more time and that the additional time will be sufficient to complete the projects. To remain compliant with federal regulations, timelines, and the terms of the GLO’s grant agreement with HUD.
The extension also does not include additional administrative funding. Nor does it allow the addition of “new work.” Adding to project scope will not be allowed when the funding was awarded through a competitive process as it changes the application under which it was scored and awarded.
For More Information
To learn more about the GLO’s disaster recovery and mitigation grants, visit recovery.texas.gov.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/28/2027
3317 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
As Harris County Increases Taxes, Spending Remains a Mystery
9/27/26 – Harris County just passed the largest tax increase in its history. But it provides very little transparency in how it spends taxpayer money. For example, try digging into how the county spends money from its 2022 Bond Program.
What Voters Approved in 2022
In November 2022, voters approved Harris County Engineering’s three-part $1.2 billion bond program. It included:
No Spending Data on Engineering Department Website
Yet, I can find no discussion of bond expenditures on the Engineering Department’s website. It contains only one mention of dollars “committed” (see below). ALTOGETHER, the county has so far committed $242 million. But Engineering doesn’t tell us what for.
After four years, Engineering’s website shows NO:
I had to look elsewhere, without much luck, for that information.
The County’s Universal Services Department contains a dashboard that includes Engineering expenses for FY2025. But I couldn’t find one for the current fiscal year.
And the County’s Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) “Open Budget Dashboard” hasn’t worked for months.
The hunt was on. A 2023 presentation on the 2022 Bond by Dr. Milton Rahman, the County Engineer, showed that within the $900 million dollars designated for Roads, Bridges and Transportation, six sub-categories existed:
Falling into an Information Black Hole
So, what did that money buy and where? That’s even harder to determine. Of the $242 million supposedly “committed” to date from the 2022 Bond, I could find no detailed information on money actually spent. However, I did find high-level information in the County’s 531-page Proposed FY2027 budget about totals “encumbered” in the three main categories. Encumbered means purchase orders have been issued for projects; it does not mean work has been paid for.
The Proposed 2027 budget says that:
And yet earlier this month, the Engineering Department indicated that it had no money identified for projects in its Master Drainage Plan and that it would likely have to pass a new bond to pay for them.
So, it would seem that Harris County is about to ask for more bond money to improve Road Drainage when it has only encumbered 5% ($45.3 million) of the money approved in 2022 for Road Bonds.
The budget contains no breakdown showing how much each of the six subcategories has received from Road Bonds to date. But even if all of the $45.3 million went to Drainage Improvements, the percentage encumbered to date would still only amount to 22.7% ($45.3 out of $200 million).
In fairness, many drainage projects started to date may still be in the engineering phase. Construction comes last and is usually the most expensive phase of a project’s lifecycle. So the percentages cited above may climb.
Perpetual Tax Increases Thrive in Perpetual Darkness
But the point is that perpetual tax increases thrive in perpetual darkness.
I’m not implying fraud. But…
Harris County Engineering:
Against that backdrop, Harris County property taxes are going up by 7.6% next year – the largest increase in history.
For the record, Dr. Milton Rahman, executive director of Harris County Engineering, used to be Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia’s head engineer. Garcia voted FOR the massive tax increase and also proposed the 2022 Bond.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/27/26
3316 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.