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 flooding worse than on Dunnam Road where Taylor Gully, Caney Creek, White Oak Creek, Peach Creek and the East Fork San Jacinto all come together. At least six homes and a business flooded. And badly.
Today, I visited the area again to survey the damage and talk to the survivors. For the people who live there, it was like the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
Photos Taken 5/10/24 on Dunnam Road
This isn’t the first time that Dunnam Road flooded. And it won’t be the last. Part of it is low and close to the river.
The flooding seemed especially poignant this time, however, because the heaviest rains fell more than 60 miles away and worked their way downstream over a period of several days.
The floodwater even peaked briefly and started to recede. This may have given many people false hope that they wouldn’t flood, despite the Harris County meteorologist’s warnings to evacuate.
West side of Dunnam is filled with debris piles.East side is also filled with debris piles. Note how force of water pushed fence in.Looking uphill toward higher ground.I think they’ll be needing more buckets and scrub brushes.This lady and her husband just moved here from El Paso by way of Tucson and LA. They wanted a place that wasn’t so dry and found Houston. She’s 5’6″ tall. So you can see how deeply their home flooded.Carrying all your belongings to the curb. Flooded closets and driers left people with only one option. The backyard fence.Previously flooded vacant home.This is a very patriotic community and many homes will need new flags.Oblivious to the tragedy and just happy to be in Grandma’s arms as she surveys neighbors’ damage.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/10/24
2446 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240510-RJR_3507.jpg?fit=1100%2C733&ssl=17331100adminadmin2024-05-10 17:54:392024-05-10 18:03:29Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Debris Piles are Ba-aack
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 Village learned repeatedly on far less rain, best practices can make all the difference. They lived near a development where stormwater detention basins were not built before the rain; the people near Sila did.
The new 553-acre Sila Project in Huffman on the East Fork of the San Jacinto seems to have had considerably less impact on neighbors. This is a story of people caught between a rising river and sheet flow coming down a slope.
Sila’s Similarities, Differences with Woodridge
Several similarities with the Woodridge project exist. Sila is big. Built on an identical slope. And clearcut. But after 17 inches of rain last week, the outcome was dramatically different.
Instead of flooding hundreds of homes below the development as Woodridge did, most residents near Sila only got water in their yards. One fish pond was ruined. At least two vehicles flooded. And at least one garage flooded.
The big differences between Sila and Woodridge?
Sila had already built stormwater detention basins. When the rain hit, a series of berms and ditches helped funnel runoff to the basins and away from neighbors. Silt fences intercepted much of the runoff. And crews replaced the fences when silt started to spill over the top.
Before looking at pictures, first let’s look at some stats that put the rainfall in perspective.
5- To 25-Year Rainfall
After Sila weathered this year’s January rains, it got slammed again in the week between April 29 and May 5 with almost 17 inches of rainfall.
That included 7 inches in one day. And half of that fell in one hour.
Of the 17 inches, 7.12 inches fell on 5/2/24 alone, with 3.48 inches in one hour.
NOAA defines a 7-day/17.1 inch rain in this area as a 25-year rainfall. Ditto for a one-hour 3.88 inch rain. Seven inches in one day, however, is only a 5-year event.
However, the East Fork peaked at FM1485 at a level equal to a 500-year flood according to Harris County Flood Control’s Flood Warning System. That’s because even heavier rain fell upstream in less time. It then reached FM1485 when heavy rains were falling there.
East Fork peaked over 77 feet at FM1485 on May 5.According to HCFCD, 77 feet is more than a 500-year rain.
Also, according to HCFCD, to date, the area near FM1485 has received more than two thirds of a year’s average annual rainfall in about one third of the year – 34.72 inches!
Pictures Taken During Week of Heavy Rains
Northwood Country Estates resident Max Kidd provided many of the following photos taken at ground level during the flood.
They show mainly severe street flooding. Thankfully, Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s crews had just finished cleaning roadside ditches. Otherwise these photos might have told a much worse story.
Water poured out of Sila across Northwood Country Road on 5/2, the day before the big rain.
On 5/3 and 5/4/24, Kidd took these photos.
Flooded home and vehicles.
Kidd believes the home above likely flooded from the East Fork. However, Sila runoff may have added to the flood depth.
Photos Taken After the Storm
Sila is so big that it’s hard to get it all in one shot. The aerial shots below were all taken on 5/6/24 after the rain ended.
Looking E across the southern portion of Sila. St. Tropez, a separate development is at very top of frameacross FM2100. But Sila drains to the East Fork, and St. Tropez drains to Luce Bayou.Luce later re-enters the East Fork near its mouth at the headwaters of Lake Houston.Sila had a swale behind the erosion to slow water running down a hill out of frame to the left. However, that swale filled in with sediment, according to Kidd. And water then flowed into a ditch behind the fence filling it with sediment, too. Still, some sediment flooded into the backyards of neighbors.A series of detention basins caught and channeled runoff through the development.Shortly after the rain ended, it appears that bulldozers graded perpendicular to slopes to help retain or slow down any additional rain that might fall.
In the photo below, also note the forested corridors that break up Sila runoff. While large portions have been clear cut, those that haven’t help retain sediment.
Detention basin was holding water and emptying it slowly, presumably at the pre-development runoff rate.Still, some sediment escaped the development. Note roadside ditch filling in at peak of triangle.
As I left after this photo session, I noticed workers replacing and reinforcing the silt fence above. But the photo below shows the volume of the sediment that escaped despite their efforts. A lot!
Drainage had filled in completely.Kidd’s fish pond is no longer habitableby fishdue to Sila runoff that polluted it.Lowest of the detention basins at southwestern edge of development was sending stormwater into a wetland mitigation bank before it reached the East Fork.Contractors had put silt fence at the outfall of the detention basin to help retain sediment.But then they pumped water toward the river, through a mass of muck, creating more erosion.(Can’t win ’em all.)Along the way to the river, some of the dirt will get a chance to settle out in the wetland mitigation bank.Regardless, the East Fork was running orange on 5/6/24.
No doubt, several sources contributed to the discoloration. They include Sila, other upstream developments, sand mines and natural, river-bank erosion.
Few developments that I have observed go to as much trouble to control runoff as Sila. And few bother to leave trees these days. I wish more did. We might have less sediment clogging our rivers and contributing to downstream flooding.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/9/24
2445 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/2024/05/20240410-DJI_20240410115740_0182_D.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2024-05-09 07:03:052024-05-11 21:05:09They Clearcut 533 Acres, Then Got 17 Inches of Rain
Photos taken during last week’s flood raise disturbing questions all over again about sand mining so close to the San Jacinto.
Are:
Dikes strong enough? No.
Dikes high enough? No.
Setbacks from the river far enough? No.
Can:
Current flow through the mines? Yes.
The river stir up sediment? Yes.
The sediment escape the mines? Yes.
Will:
Miners convince legislators that the answers above are false? Yes.
More sediment in the river reduce conveyance downstream? Yes.
Anything change? No.
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.
Photos Taken May 3/4, 2024
In the picture below, the drainage channel bisects two abandoned sand mines that sit just downstream of the massive Hallett mine (out of frame to the left). Note current flowing from left to right and mixing with the clearer water in the drainage channel.
Northpark Channel approximately 3,000 feet back from where it normally enters West Fork beyond bottom of frame.
This photo and those below say at a glance how much sediment is being washed through and out of the sand mines.
Reverse angle in same area shows how large the mine complex is. At this point it is more than a mile wide (E to W) and 2.5 miles from N to S. River flows from upper right to upper left. Can you even tell where the river is? Leak in dike of Hallett Mine into San Jacinto West Fork. Note water flowing over another dike into another pond in the background.River flows between the foreground and background.Higher, wider shot from same area as above. Notice how river has penetrated Hallett pit on right in multiple places. River flowed through that pit at the Hallett Mine on the San Jacinto West Fork.Breach at far end of Hallett pit above has been open since January. Note river current cutting through pit and back into river at lower left. River flows from right to left.
Sediment Contribution to West Fork
The West Fork will remain above flood stage through tonight. It will be interesting to see how much new sediment works its way downstream. We will need a new river survey to document that.
The SJRA may also have to revise the conclusions of its recent sedimentation survey.
Luckily, the City of Houston has just started another dredging program to remove another 800,000 cubic yards of sediment above FM1960 where the East and West Forks come together.
Callan Marine getting ready to dredge northern part of Lake Houston
Good timing on that one.
Last question. Will the City be able to keep up with all the sediment coming downstream? No, in my humble opinion. At least not if we permit the sand mines to continue operating the way they do.
Gage readings at SH99 and US59 on the West Fork suggest that this was a 25 to 50 year flood. But the dikes should have been built to withstand a 100-year flood.
And while the mines above are built right next to the river, most other states require setbacks ranging from 100 to 1000 feet.
The Never-Ending Story
During Harvey, these same sand mines were implicated in contributing to the formation of sandbars downstream which reduced the conveyance of the West Fork. According to the Army Corps, the West Fork was 90 percent blocked in the area below. And that contributed to the flooding of thousands of homes and businesses.
South of the Kingwood Country Club’s Island Course, Hurricane Harvey deposited several feet of sand. It took the Army Corps months to dredge this area.
We seem to have developed a system whereby taxpayers subsidize miners. That only seems to encourage them to adopt more dangerous behaviors.
As one long-time resident who lives near the mines told me, “If Hallett thinks they can get away with something, they will try.”
In the miners’ defense, they claim they support the area’s growth. But that also entails clear-cutting thousands of acres. And you guessed it! That creates more erosion that clogs our rivers with even more sediment. More on that tomorrow.
The question is not whether we can live without sand mining. It’s whether we can have more responsible sand mining and development practices.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/7/2024
2443 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/2024/05/20240504-DJI_20240504164035_0402_D-1.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2024-05-07 20:08:452024-05-08 06:13:56Flood Photos Raise Disturbing Sand-Mining Issues Again
Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Debris Piles are Ba-aack
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 flooding worse than on Dunnam Road where Taylor Gully, Caney Creek, White Oak Creek, Peach Creek and the East Fork San Jacinto all come together. At least six homes and a business flooded. And badly.
Today, I visited the area again to survey the damage and talk to the survivors. For the people who live there, it was like the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
Photos Taken 5/10/24 on Dunnam Road
This isn’t the first time that Dunnam Road flooded. And it won’t be the last. Part of it is low and close to the river.
The flooding seemed especially poignant this time, however, because the heaviest rains fell more than 60 miles away and worked their way downstream over a period of several days.
The floodwater even peaked briefly and started to recede. This may have given many people false hope that they wouldn’t flood, despite the Harris County meteorologist’s warnings to evacuate.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/10/24
2446 Days since Hurricane Harvey
They Clearcut 533 Acres, Then Got 17 Inches of Rain
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 Village learned repeatedly on far less rain, best practices can make all the difference. They lived near a development where stormwater detention basins were not built before the rain; the people near Sila did.
The new 553-acre Sila Project in Huffman on the East Fork of the San Jacinto seems to have had considerably less impact on neighbors. This is a story of people caught between a rising river and sheet flow coming down a slope.
Sila’s Similarities, Differences with Woodridge
Several similarities with the Woodridge project exist. Sila is big. Built on an identical slope. And clearcut. But after 17 inches of rain last week, the outcome was dramatically different.
Instead of flooding hundreds of homes below the development as Woodridge did, most residents near Sila only got water in their yards. One fish pond was ruined. At least two vehicles flooded. And at least one garage flooded.
The big differences between Sila and Woodridge?
Sila had already built stormwater detention basins. When the rain hit, a series of berms and ditches helped funnel runoff to the basins and away from neighbors. Silt fences intercepted much of the runoff. And crews replaced the fences when silt started to spill over the top.
Before looking at pictures, first let’s look at some stats that put the rainfall in perspective.
5- To 25-Year Rainfall
After Sila weathered this year’s January rains, it got slammed again in the week between April 29 and May 5 with almost 17 inches of rainfall.
That included 7 inches in one day. And half of that fell in one hour.
NOAA defines a 7-day/17.1 inch rain in this area as a 25-year rainfall. Ditto for a one-hour 3.88 inch rain. Seven inches in one day, however, is only a 5-year event.
However, the East Fork peaked at FM1485 at a level equal to a 500-year flood according to Harris County Flood Control’s Flood Warning System. That’s because even heavier rain fell upstream in less time. It then reached FM1485 when heavy rains were falling there.
Also, according to HCFCD, to date, the area near FM1485 has received more than two thirds of a year’s average annual rainfall in about one third of the year – 34.72 inches!
Pictures Taken During Week of Heavy Rains
Northwood Country Estates resident Max Kidd provided many of the following photos taken at ground level during the flood.
They show mainly severe street flooding. Thankfully, Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s crews had just finished cleaning roadside ditches. Otherwise these photos might have told a much worse story.
On 5/3 and 5/4/24, Kidd took these photos.
Kidd believes the home above likely flooded from the East Fork. However, Sila runoff may have added to the flood depth.
Photos Taken After the Storm
Sila is so big that it’s hard to get it all in one shot. The aerial shots below were all taken on 5/6/24 after the rain ended.
In the photo below, also note the forested corridors that break up Sila runoff. While large portions have been clear cut, those that haven’t help retain sediment.
As I left after this photo session, I noticed workers replacing and reinforcing the silt fence above. But the photo below shows the volume of the sediment that escaped despite their efforts. A lot!
No doubt, several sources contributed to the discoloration. They include Sila, other upstream developments, sand mines and natural, river-bank erosion.
Few developments that I have observed go to as much trouble to control runoff as Sila. And few bother to leave trees these days. I wish more did. We might have less sediment clogging our rivers and contributing to downstream flooding.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/9/24
2445 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.
Flood Photos Raise Disturbing Sand-Mining Issues Again
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.
Photos Taken May 3/4, 2024
In the picture below, the drainage channel bisects two abandoned sand mines that sit just downstream of the massive Hallett mine (out of frame to the left). Note current flowing from left to right and mixing with the clearer water in the drainage channel.
This photo and those below say at a glance how much sediment is being washed through and out of the sand mines.
Sediment Contribution to West Fork
The West Fork will remain above flood stage through tonight. It will be interesting to see how much new sediment works its way downstream. We will need a new river survey to document that.
The SJRA may also have to revise the conclusions of its recent sedimentation survey.
Luckily, the City of Houston has just started another dredging program to remove another 800,000 cubic yards of sediment above FM1960 where the East and West Forks come together.
Good timing on that one.
Last question. Will the City be able to keep up with all the sediment coming downstream? No, in my humble opinion. At least not if we permit the sand mines to continue operating the way they do.
Gage readings at SH99 and US59 on the West Fork suggest that this was a 25 to 50 year flood. But the dikes should have been built to withstand a 100-year flood.
And while the mines above are built right next to the river, most other states require setbacks ranging from 100 to 1000 feet.
The Never-Ending Story
During Harvey, these same sand mines were implicated in contributing to the formation of sandbars downstream which reduced the conveyance of the West Fork. According to the Army Corps, the West Fork was 90 percent blocked in the area below. And that contributed to the flooding of thousands of homes and businesses.
We seem to have developed a system whereby taxpayers subsidize miners. That only seems to encourage them to adopt more dangerous behaviors.
As one long-time resident who lives near the mines told me, “If Hallett thinks they can get away with something, they will try.”
In the miners’ defense, they claim they support the area’s growth. But that also entails clear-cutting thousands of acres. And you guessed it! That creates more erosion that clogs our rivers with even more sediment. More on that tomorrow.
The question is not whether we can live without sand mining. It’s whether we can have more responsible sand mining and development practices.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/7/2024
2443 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.