6/4/25 Update: Construction has not yet stopped and it may not. It continues as City and County Authorities try to set up a meeting to review drainage plans with engineers.
6/2/25 – Construction has stopped, at least temporarily, at the Enclave, a new 11-acre residential development adjacent to the Northpark expansion project in Montgomery County.
Both Montgomery County and the City of Houston have asked engineers to review the drainage plans, which showed the development’s detention basin overflowing into the only evacuation route for 78,000 people during extreme weather events.
HNTB, the engineer for the Northpark Expansion project, is going to conduct a peer review of EHRA plans for the Enclave’s drainage. They need to hurry.
Detention Basin Already Dug Out
Photographs taken between 5/31 and 6/2/25 show that construction crews have already excavated the proposed detention basin. And they are starting to install pipes and junction boxes for drainage.
Looking E. Northpark on left. Detention Basin, partially filled with water from last week’s rains, is already excavated.
However, I have received word that both the City and Montgomery County have asked for construction to be paused for a new independent peer review of the development’s drainage plans.
Partial Update to Outdated Drainage Plans
The new development is technically part of Kings Mill, which had its drainage plans approved in 2012. But after Harvey in 2018, Montgomery County and the City of Houston both adopted Atlas 14 rainfall probability statistics, which are 33% higher than those used to design virtually all of Kings Mill’s infrastructure.
That means Kings Mill – which is 20 times larger than the Northpark Enclave – funnels much more stormwater toward the Kingwood Diversion Ditch than it was designed to handle.
Yet Enclave engineers designed its detention basin to hold only the difference between the old and new rainfall statistics. And only for 11 acres, not all 240.
Concerns about Capacity, Its Impact and Inconsistencies
Several other things have happened since approval of the 2012 drainage study.
The Northpark Expansion project started. A major goal: to create an all-weather evacuation route when Hamblen Road, Kingwood Drive and Mills Branch Road are cut off by high water.
The developer’s plans raised concerns about where Enclave overflow will go during an extreme event. (See construction diagram above.)
Construction plans showed inconsistencies between the initial drainage impact analysis and today, including the size of the Enclave.
The developer claims it can build ten homes to the acre with only 55% impervious cover, an extremely ambitious goal.
Photos Show Drainage Route to Kingwood Diversion Ditch
Photos below show the new Northpark Enclave development and the path that stormwater will take on its way to the Kingwood Diversion Ditch, which already has capacity problems of its own.
Hundreds of homes have flooded because of the ditch’s diminishing capacity as insufficiently mitigated new subdivisions began draining into it.
Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has completed its preliminary engineering review of the Diversion Ditch. HCFCD is now in the process of selecting an engineering company to make final recommendations for improving the ditch. But it could take years to find the money to construct any recommendations that come out of the study.
So, MoCo and the City want to make sure they get this right. The photos below show how all the drainage will connect.
Looking SE over the intersection of Loop 494 and Northpark Drive at construction of the Northpark Enclave.Still looking SE. From the new development, stormwater will move to the giant detention basin in the upper center of frame.Contractors are already starting to install culverts that will carry runoff to the main Kings Mill Detention Basin.From the Kings Mill Detention Basin, stormwater will flow into the ditch that angles toward top and then makes a left turn toward Russell-Palmer Road in the upper left corner of the frame.Stormwater runoff goes a half mile east toward Russell-Palmer Road. Kings Mill’s drainage on left. Kings Manor’s on right.Looking S along Kingwood Diversion Ditch and Russell-Palmer Road. Kings Mill Ditch on lower right. Kings Manor Ditch above it. Both outfall under the road into the Diversion Ditch. Bridge at top of frame by water tower is Kingwood Drive.
Once contractors have drain pipes and culverts in the ground and start pouring concrete, it will be very difficult to make any changes. So, it’s good that construction has been paused now for peer review.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/2/2025
2834 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/2025/06/20250601-DJI_20250601114737_0637_D.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2025-06-02 19:50:342025-06-04 20:18:09Enclave Construction Stopped While Engineers Review Drainage
6/1/25 – Harris County Flood Control District has performed maintenance excavation and regrading of the Kings Crossing Ditch that runs from behind the Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center to Kingwood Drive.
See #9.
Here’s what that area looks like in a satellite view. Note the Kingwood Park N Ride at the top left and H-E-B below it. This short ditch drains more than 50 acres of concrete by my estimate.
NE quadrant of Kingwood Town Center with Kings Crossing Ditch (G103-33-04-X007)highlighted.
A resident alerted me to the maintenance. He said, “The ditch was already in decent shape and depth, but this looks to have deepened the ditch and sharpened the toe.” He estimates HCFCD removed at least 15-20 cubic yards of sediment. Workers have already removed the sediment.
Not only does the bottom of the ditch collect silt, it is the first to fill and the last to drain. So keeping it clear and properly graded is critical to reducing flood risk.
Protecting the Commercial Center of Kingwood
The northeast quadrant of Kingwood Town Center contains numerous essential services from the area’s largest grocery store to 24-hour emergency room and advanced medical imaging services, not to mention more than a dozen restaurants.
Unfortunately, the area is low lying and prone to flooding. A flood in May of 2024 had the parking lots underwater. It also forced closure of the Memorial Hermann facility.
May 4, 2024, as floodwaters receded. High water had forced the cancellation of appointments at the Convenient Care Center in upper left.Note ditch in top center.Also note barricades by front door under canopy.
Pictures of Maintenance Repairs
I took the pictures below on May 31 and June 1, 2025. Here’s what the ditch looked like after the operation. First from high up.
Kings Crossing Ditch Maintenance. H-E-B at top of frame.Kings Crossing Ditch Maintenance. Memorial Hermann at top of this frame.
And then from a lower angle…
It wasn’t the largest HCFCD effort ever, but flooding is often a matter of inches. One inch in a building can mean major repair bills.
The merchants of Kings Crossing and all the people who depend on them appreciate the effort.
If you see other HCFCD operations in progress, please alert me through the contact form of this website so I can photograph them.
5/31/25 – The 2025 Hurricane Season starts tomorrow, 6/1/25. But ironically, despite predictions of an above-average season, the federal agencies that help forecast hurricanes, issue warnings, and provide disaster relief are struggling with significant funding, staff and program cuts.
Poignant Letter in New York Times
Michael Lowry, who served as a senior scientist at the National Hurricane Center (NHC), a planning chief at FEMA, and a hurricane expert at the Weather Channel, wrote a poignant letter published in the New York Times today under the headline “A Hurricane Season Like No Other.”
The letter began with an anecdote about data collection from inside Hurricane Milton last year by a Hurricane Hunter crew. The data they collected about “vortex alignment” heralded rapid intensification of the storm. Within 24 hours, it had become the strongest hurricane in 20 years with 180 MPH winds.
Milton as it began intensifying and heading toward the Florida Coast
But there was no surprise on the Florida coast. The forecasts gave “enough time for people in the highest-risk areas to safely evacuate and businesses to prepare for the worst.”
Lowry then segues to budget, staff and program cuts at FEMA, NOAA, NHC, the National Weather Service (NWS), Hurricane Hunters, and more. Some examples:
NWS offices that have lost 60 percent of their staff members, including entire management teams.
Nearly half of NWS local forecast offices are understaffed, with vacancy rates of 20 percent or higher.
Weather balloon launches are down 15 to 20 percent nationwide. The balloons increase forecast confidence and let evacuation orders be made sooner.
New budget documents released Friday propose eliminating NOAA’s research wing, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, which lends mission-critical support to the hurricane hunters.
Along the way, Lowry points out that “The National Weather Service costs the average American $4 per year in today’s inflated dollars — about the same as a gallon of milk — and offers an 8,000 percent annual return on investment, according to 2024 estimates.”
“Without the arsenal of tools from NOAA and its 6.3 billion observations sourced each day, the routinely detected hurricanes of today could become the deadly surprise hurricanes of tomorrow,” he says.
Bottom line: Lowry says we’re jeopardizing decades of progress that have increased forecast accuracy and warning times. And that will put more people at risk.
Dizzying Days for FEMA: Cuts and More Cuts
Andrew Rumbach, a Senior Fellow with the Urban Land Institute writes about policies for disaster risk reduction. He wrote a Substack post in early May called “100 Dizzying Days for FEMA.” It details the dismantling of disaster-relief and flood-mitigation capabilities including:
Disbanding key advisory councils that guide FEMA’s work, despite them being established in law. They include the National Advisory Council, the Technical Mapping Advisory Council, and the National Dam Safety Review Board.
A Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program for 2025-2026, another major source of funding, was removed.
The administration quietly stopped approving new allocations of funding from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).
FEMA has withdrawn its participation in the International Code Council (ICC) update process. It provided resources and expertise to help develop building codes that would better protect against floods.
An executive order titled “Achieving Efficiency Through State and Local Preparedness” describes a policy that “State and local governments and individuals play a more active and significant role in national resilience and preparedness.”
Could States Do What FEMA Does?
An article in the June 9 issue of Time Magazine addresses whether states could do what FEMA does. The consensus: it makes more sense to manage disaster response at the federal level. Why? It’s more efficient. If you spread disaster responsibilities among 50 states, you will have a lot of people sitting around a long time between disasters. FEMA can shift people from state to state, disaster to disaster, and keep them busier.
Experts cite the need for reform. But getting rid of the system without a meaningful replacement is likely to cause harm.
My takeaway from the article: Surgeons experience better outcomes with scalpels than cannons.
Erosion of Safety Margins
We live in a time of uncertainty. I’m not sure which is scarier: major hurricanes, a reduction in forecasting capabilities, or the loss of disaster-relief and flood-mitigation assistance.
These cuts will erode safety margins. Sixty million Americans reportedly live in areas regularly impacted by hurricanes.
If you haven’t already completed preparations for hurricane season, check out this NWS page on Hurricane Safety Tips and Preparations. Before someone takes it down to save a buck.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/31/25
2832 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Milton.jpg?fit=1000%2C740&ssl=17401000adminadmin2025-05-31 23:17:492025-06-01 10:17:28On Eve of Hurricane Season, NOAA, NWS, NHC, FEMA Struggle with Cuts
Enclave Construction Stopped While Engineers Review Drainage
6/4/25 Update: Construction has not yet stopped and it may not. It continues as City and County Authorities try to set up a meeting to review drainage plans with engineers.
6/2/25 – Construction has stopped, at least temporarily, at the Enclave, a new 11-acre residential development adjacent to the Northpark expansion project in Montgomery County.
Both Montgomery County and the City of Houston have asked engineers to review the drainage plans, which showed the development’s detention basin overflowing into the only evacuation route for 78,000 people during extreme weather events.
HNTB, the engineer for the Northpark Expansion project, is going to conduct a peer review of EHRA plans for the Enclave’s drainage. They need to hurry.
Detention Basin Already Dug Out
Photographs taken between 5/31 and 6/2/25 show that construction crews have already excavated the proposed detention basin. And they are starting to install pipes and junction boxes for drainage.
However, I have received word that both the City and Montgomery County have asked for construction to be paused for a new independent peer review of the development’s drainage plans.
Partial Update to Outdated Drainage Plans
The new development is technically part of Kings Mill, which had its drainage plans approved in 2012. But after Harvey in 2018, Montgomery County and the City of Houston both adopted Atlas 14 rainfall probability statistics, which are 33% higher than those used to design virtually all of Kings Mill’s infrastructure.
That means Kings Mill – which is 20 times larger than the Northpark Enclave – funnels much more stormwater toward the Kingwood Diversion Ditch than it was designed to handle.
Yet Enclave engineers designed its detention basin to hold only the difference between the old and new rainfall statistics. And only for 11 acres, not all 240.
Concerns about Capacity, Its Impact and Inconsistencies
Several other things have happened since approval of the 2012 drainage study.
Photos Show Drainage Route to Kingwood Diversion Ditch
Photos below show the new Northpark Enclave development and the path that stormwater will take on its way to the Kingwood Diversion Ditch, which already has capacity problems of its own.
Hundreds of homes have flooded because of the ditch’s diminishing capacity as insufficiently mitigated new subdivisions began draining into it.
Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has completed its preliminary engineering review of the Diversion Ditch. HCFCD is now in the process of selecting an engineering company to make final recommendations for improving the ditch. But it could take years to find the money to construct any recommendations that come out of the study.
So, MoCo and the City want to make sure they get this right. The photos below show how all the drainage will connect.
Once contractors have drain pipes and culverts in the ground and start pouring concrete, it will be very difficult to make any changes. So, it’s good that construction has been paused now for peer review.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/2/2025
2834 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.
HCFCD Regrades Kings Crossing Ditch
6/1/25 – Harris County Flood Control District has performed maintenance excavation and regrading of the Kings Crossing Ditch that runs from behind the Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center to Kingwood Drive.
Here’s what that area looks like in a satellite view. Note the Kingwood Park N Ride at the top left and H-E-B below it. This short ditch drains more than 50 acres of concrete by my estimate.
A resident alerted me to the maintenance. He said, “The ditch was already in decent shape and depth, but this looks to have deepened the ditch and sharpened the toe.” He estimates HCFCD removed at least 15-20 cubic yards of sediment. Workers have already removed the sediment.
Not only does the bottom of the ditch collect silt, it is the first to fill and the last to drain. So keeping it clear and properly graded is critical to reducing flood risk.
Protecting the Commercial Center of Kingwood
The northeast quadrant of Kingwood Town Center contains numerous essential services from the area’s largest grocery store to 24-hour emergency room and advanced medical imaging services, not to mention more than a dozen restaurants.
Unfortunately, the area is low lying and prone to flooding. A flood in May of 2024 had the parking lots underwater. It also forced closure of the Memorial Hermann facility.
Pictures of Maintenance Repairs
I took the pictures below on May 31 and June 1, 2025. Here’s what the ditch looked like after the operation. First from high up.
And then from a lower angle…
It wasn’t the largest HCFCD effort ever, but flooding is often a matter of inches. One inch in a building can mean major repair bills.
The merchants of Kings Crossing and all the people who depend on them appreciate the effort.
If you see other HCFCD operations in progress, please alert me through the contact form of this website so I can photograph them.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/1/2025
2833 Days since Hurricane Harvey
On Eve of Hurricane Season, NOAA, NWS, NHC, FEMA Struggle with Cuts
5/31/25 – The 2025 Hurricane Season starts tomorrow, 6/1/25. But ironically, despite predictions of an above-average season, the federal agencies that help forecast hurricanes, issue warnings, and provide disaster relief are struggling with significant funding, staff and program cuts.
Poignant Letter in New York Times
Michael Lowry, who served as a senior scientist at the National Hurricane Center (NHC), a planning chief at FEMA, and a hurricane expert at the Weather Channel, wrote a poignant letter published in the New York Times today under the headline “A Hurricane Season Like No Other.”
The letter began with an anecdote about data collection from inside Hurricane Milton last year by a Hurricane Hunter crew. The data they collected about “vortex alignment” heralded rapid intensification of the storm. Within 24 hours, it had become the strongest hurricane in 20 years with 180 MPH winds.
But there was no surprise on the Florida coast. The forecasts gave “enough time for people in the highest-risk areas to safely evacuate and businesses to prepare for the worst.”
Lowry then segues to budget, staff and program cuts at FEMA, NOAA, NHC, the National Weather Service (NWS), Hurricane Hunters, and more. Some examples:
Along the way, Lowry points out that “The National Weather Service costs the average American $4 per year in today’s inflated dollars — about the same as a gallon of milk — and offers an 8,000 percent annual return on investment, according to 2024 estimates.”
“Without the arsenal of tools from NOAA and its 6.3 billion observations sourced each day, the routinely detected hurricanes of today could become the deadly surprise hurricanes of tomorrow,” he says.
Bottom line: Lowry says we’re jeopardizing decades of progress that have increased forecast accuracy and warning times. And that will put more people at risk.
Dizzying Days for FEMA: Cuts and More Cuts
Andrew Rumbach, a Senior Fellow with the Urban Land Institute writes about policies for disaster risk reduction. He wrote a Substack post in early May called “100 Dizzying Days for FEMA.” It details the dismantling of disaster-relief and flood-mitigation capabilities including:
Could States Do What FEMA Does?
An article in the June 9 issue of Time Magazine addresses whether states could do what FEMA does. The consensus: it makes more sense to manage disaster response at the federal level. Why? It’s more efficient. If you spread disaster responsibilities among 50 states, you will have a lot of people sitting around a long time between disasters. FEMA can shift people from state to state, disaster to disaster, and keep them busier.
Experts cite the need for reform. But getting rid of the system without a meaningful replacement is likely to cause harm.
My takeaway from the article: Surgeons experience better outcomes with scalpels than cannons.
Erosion of Safety Margins
We live in a time of uncertainty. I’m not sure which is scarier: major hurricanes, a reduction in forecasting capabilities, or the loss of disaster-relief and flood-mitigation assistance.
These cuts will erode safety margins. Sixty million Americans reportedly live in areas regularly impacted by hurricanes.
If you haven’t already completed preparations for hurricane season, check out this NWS page on Hurricane Safety Tips and Preparations. Before someone takes it down to save a buck.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/31/25
2832 Days since Hurricane Harvey