8/15/24 – The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) released the state’s first state flood plan today. And it’s full of eye-popping factoids.
For instance: More than a quarter of the state’s land and one sixth of the state’s population are in floodplains. So flood mitigation and prevention rank as high priorities. The entire plan stretches more than 500 pages. It listed and prioritized 147 pages of evaluations/studies, projects, strategies in tiny type.
Fifteen regional groups, each representing one of the major river basins in Texas, compiled the plan.
I will dig into more detail in coming days. But today, here are some quick facts from the executive summary to whet your appetite.
Structures Affected by Flooding
Planning groups identified approximately 878,100 buildings within the 1 percent (100-year) annual chance floodplain, and an additional 786,100 buildings within the 0.2 percent (500-year) annual chance floodplain. Total: 1,664,200.
Figure ES-4 from Executive Summary. Existing residential buildings in the 1% (100-year) annual chance floodplain.
More than 6,258 hospitals, emergency medical services, fire stations, police stations, and schools are within the 1 percent (100-year) and 0.2 percent (500-year) annual chance floodplains.
Regional flood planning groups also identified 9,322 low water crossings within flood hazard areas.
Increases in Flooding Forecast
The projected future condition 1 percent (100-year) annual chance floodplain is estimated to increase by 11 percent over the existing flood hazard area to a total of 62,245 square miles.
The regional flood planning groups project an increase of approximately 2.6 million people and 740,000 buildings in the 1 percent annual chance floodplain under projected future condition flood hazard.
Boggling Number of Recommendations
The regional flood planning groups recommended 4,609 flood risk reduction solutions: 3,097 flood management evaluations, 615 flood mitigation projects, and 897 flood management strategies in the regional flood plans with an estimated total implementation cost of more than $54.5 billion.
Floodplain Buildings
A total of 1,239 Texas communities and counties with flood-related authority participate in the National Flood Insurance Program.
More than 500 Texas entities have floodplain management standards that exceed National Flood Insurance Program minimum standards.
Costs
The plan includes recommendations in three categories: Evaluations/surveys; Projects, Strategies. The total cost of recommended:
Flood mitigation projects totals is more than $49.1 billion; nearly half of this cost is associated with the Galveston Bay Surge Protection Coastal Storm Risk Management project.
Flood management strategies exceeds $2.8 billion.
Planning groups reported sponsors requiring financial assistance with 80-90 percent of the costs to implement recommended flood risk reduction solutions.
Potential Benefits
Planning groups reported an estimated 843,339 people and 214,292 buildings would be removed from the 1 percent annual chance floodplain if the state flood plan was implemented.
Three regions identified potential water supply benefits for 37 recommended flood mitigation projects and one region recommended a flood management strategy with a potential water supply benefit.
Legislative and Policy Recommendations Included
The flood planning groups included legislative, administrative, and policy recommendations in the regional flood plans, and their policy recommendations informed the development of many of the legislative and floodplain management recommendations in this plan.
For More Information
This page on the TWDB site contains all the elements from the first state flood plan. But warning, the file sizes are large. And the spreadsheet listing all the projects is wide and best viewed on a large monitor.
I have reduced the file size of three of Texas State Flood Plan docs and am posting them here to make them easier to download.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240815-Residential-Bldgs-in-1-percent-Floodpolain.jpg?fit=1100%2C833&ssl=18331100adminadmin2024-08-15 16:44:022024-08-15 21:05:46Texas’ First State Flood Plan Released
Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Thomas Ramsey PE will discuss the proposed 2024 budget and a potential county tax increase Wednesday at 6 PM at the George H.W. Bush Community Center in Spring.
The community center is at 6827 Cypresswood Drive.
Bring Your Questions
Scan the QR code below to familiarize yourself with the budget. After answering a few high-level questions, it takes you to a summary of this year’s shortfall and ways you could make it up – if you don’t want to raise taxes.
Where to Review the Proposed Budget
The web address listed on the right takes you to a page that includes links to the actual budget documents for past years and this year. Comparing them lets you see how priorities have changed.
The amount of expenses you have to cut if you don’t want to increase taxes is about $200 million.
At the same time, we have critical needs in criminal justice and “maintenance and operations.” For instance, Beryl just trashed the entire county. I’ve created several recent posts that talk about the need to clear ditches and streams of blockages.
Commissioner Ramsey should have a few suggestions in that regard.
Your Needs, Your Dollars, Your Decision
I’m not going to make any recommendations about the proposed county tax increase. While there certainly are legitimate needs, I’ve been burned too many times in recent years by broken promises under the guise of equity.
In selling the 2018 Flood Bond, the county told us it would fix the worst flooding first. But we’re no longer allocating bond money on the basis of flood damage.
With the 2022 Bond, Democrats promised to give each precinct a guaranteed minimum. That lasted until the day after voters approved the bond. How many times will people fall for the false promises?
Some Thought Starters and Head Scratchers
I’d like to see wasteful spending cut. For instance, today we learned about corruption charges by County DA Kim Ogg brought against a county employee responsible for distributing ballot paper during the botched 2022 election.
According to the complaint, the employee allegedly held a private-sector engineering job that paid $250,000 while also being paid $90,000 by the county to distribute ballot paper. Miraculously, most of the paper he failed to distribute was in Republican-leaning precincts.
By the way, on Election Day 2022, the employee reported working 18 hours for Harris County but also claimed to work 8 hours for his other employer.
Then, of course, there was the whole issue of replacing an election system that had worked well for years (in which elected officials oversaw elections) with an Elections Administrator’s Office. Someone with no election experience headed that office, which terribly botched the narrow 2022 election. She hired more political friends, also with no experience.
Luckily, that $15-million line item got the axe. See page 101 in the budget.
But the $21-million budget for the Office of County Administration did not. That was another Hidalgo innovation that previous administrations did not feel the need for. That department’s budget tripled in two years. (Line 200, Page 100)
And can someone tell me why public defender expenses have more than doubled in less than 2 years? (Page 101)
The closer you look at this year’s proposed budget, the more questions you will have. Bring your list to the:
George HW Bush Community Center
Thursday at 6PM.
6827 Cypresswood Drive, Spring, TX
Please don’t blame the proposed county tax increase on Commissioner Ramsey. He is a conservative voice of reason and responsibility on Commissioners Court.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/14/24
2542 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/2024/08/20230310-RJR_1184.jpg?fit=1100%2C733&ssl=17331100adminadmin2024-08-14 19:08:542024-08-15 15:19:13Ramsey to Discuss Proposed County Tax Increase Thursday Night at Town Hall
8/12/24 – An August 8 update to NOAA’s 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook still calls for an extremely active hurricane season with 17-24 named storms, including four so far with a fifth brewing in the Atlantic. The main difference between this and NOAA’s May predictions? A higher confidence level.
As of 2PM EDT, NHC indicated that sustained winds from Potential Tropical Cyclone (PTC) 5 averaged 35 MPH. That puts it just 4 MPH from becoming the fifth named storm of the year, Ernesto. Here’s what it looks like this afternoon.
PTC 5 as of 8/12/24 Noon CDT.
NHC gives PTC 5 a 100% chance of formation. It should intensify into a tropical storm later today and a hurricane by Thursday. However, it will curve northward into the open Atlantic and does not pose a threat to the Gulf Coast.
We normally don’t get a fifth named storm in the Atlantic until August 22. After that, we normally get a named storm every 7-10 days through October 11. This year, they will likely be more frequent.
Teach Your Family about Hurricanes
The National Hurricane Center website provides an almost bottomless well of free, educational resources. Today, I clicked on Outreach Resources and found presentations and publications geared to all age and professional levels.
Learning Opportunities for K-12 Students (Resources for Teachers) includes:
Again, #5 contains additional explanation when slide graphics in presentations 1-4 may not be totally intuitive.
Information that Saves Lives
FEMA geared the presentations in the second two groups to adults, both in an out of government. The coastal presentations contain more emphasis on storm surge. The inland presentations emphasize riverine flooding from the heavy rains that often accompany hurricanes.
The information in both groups can benefit teachers, parents, first responders, emergency managers, and government leaders.
They explain various tools, terms and graphics used by NOAA, NHC, NWS, and NHP to help everyone make informed decisions when planning for and responding to hurricane threats.
For instance, I found the discussion on inundation mapping that involved forecasts and “nowcasts” very illuminating. Ditto for the discussion about how NHC determines the timing and probabilities in its graphics. How much water it takes to make cars float and lose traction. How emergency planners work together. And more. Much more.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/12/24
2540 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/IMAGE-Update-Hurricane-Outlook-August-2024-ENGLISH-Pie-080824-NOAA.png?fit=3840%2C2373&ssl=123733840adminadmin2024-08-12 13:33:302024-08-12 13:34:192024 Hurricane Season Update, PTC 5 Status and Learning Resources
Texas’ First State Flood Plan Released
8/15/24 – The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) released the state’s first state flood plan today. And it’s full of eye-popping factoids.
For instance: More than a quarter of the state’s land and one sixth of the state’s population are in floodplains. So flood mitigation and prevention rank as high priorities. The entire plan stretches more than 500 pages. It listed and prioritized 147 pages of evaluations/studies, projects, strategies in tiny type.
Fifteen regional groups, each representing one of the major river basins in Texas, compiled the plan.
I will dig into more detail in coming days. But today, here are some quick facts from the executive summary to whet your appetite.
Structures Affected by Flooding
Planning groups identified approximately 878,100 buildings within the 1 percent (100-year) annual chance floodplain, and an additional 786,100 buildings within the 0.2 percent (500-year) annual chance floodplain. Total: 1,664,200.
More than 6,258 hospitals, emergency medical services, fire stations, police stations, and schools are within the 1 percent (100-year) and 0.2 percent (500-year) annual chance floodplains.
Regional flood planning groups also identified 9,322 low water crossings within flood hazard areas.
Increases in Flooding Forecast
The projected future condition 1 percent (100-year) annual chance floodplain is estimated to increase by 11 percent over the existing flood hazard area to a total of 62,245 square miles.
The regional flood planning groups project an increase of approximately 2.6 million people and 740,000 buildings in the 1 percent annual chance floodplain under projected future condition flood hazard.
Boggling Number of Recommendations
The regional flood planning groups recommended 4,609 flood risk reduction solutions: 3,097 flood management evaluations, 615 flood mitigation projects, and 897 flood management strategies in the regional flood plans with an estimated total implementation cost of more than $54.5 billion.
Floodplain Buildings
A total of 1,239 Texas communities and counties with flood-related authority participate in the National Flood Insurance Program.
More than 500 Texas entities have floodplain management standards that exceed National Flood Insurance Program minimum standards.
Costs
The plan includes recommendations in three categories: Evaluations/surveys; Projects, Strategies. The total cost of recommended:
Planning groups reported sponsors requiring financial assistance with 80-90 percent of the costs to implement recommended flood risk reduction solutions.
Potential Benefits
Planning groups reported an estimated 843,339 people and 214,292 buildings would be removed from the 1 percent annual chance floodplain if the state flood plan was implemented.
Three regions identified potential water supply benefits for 37 recommended flood mitigation projects and one region recommended a flood management strategy with a potential water supply benefit.
Legislative and Policy Recommendations Included
The flood planning groups included legislative, administrative, and policy recommendations in the regional flood plans, and their policy recommendations informed the development of many of the legislative and floodplain management recommendations in this plan.
For More Information
This page on the TWDB site contains all the elements from the first state flood plan. But warning, the file sizes are large. And the spreadsheet listing all the projects is wide and best viewed on a large monitor.
I have reduced the file size of three of Texas State Flood Plan docs and am posting them here to make them easier to download.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/15/24
2543 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Ramsey to Discuss Proposed County Tax Increase Thursday Night at Town Hall
Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Thomas Ramsey PE will discuss the proposed 2024 budget and a potential county tax increase Wednesday at 6 PM at the George H.W. Bush Community Center in Spring.
The community center is at 6827 Cypresswood Drive.
Bring Your Questions
Scan the QR code below to familiarize yourself with the budget. After answering a few high-level questions, it takes you to a summary of this year’s shortfall and ways you could make it up – if you don’t want to raise taxes.
Where to Review the Proposed Budget
The web address listed on the right takes you to a page that includes links to the actual budget documents for past years and this year. Comparing them lets you see how priorities have changed.
The amount of expenses you have to cut if you don’t want to increase taxes is about $200 million.
At the same time, we have critical needs in criminal justice and “maintenance and operations.” For instance, Beryl just trashed the entire county. I’ve created several recent posts that talk about the need to clear ditches and streams of blockages.
Here’s a Harris County Flood Control District presentation that summarizes its needs. And HCFCD is just one department within the county. So what to do?
Commissioner Ramsey should have a few suggestions in that regard.
Your Needs, Your Dollars, Your Decision
I’m not going to make any recommendations about the proposed county tax increase. While there certainly are legitimate needs, I’ve been burned too many times in recent years by broken promises under the guise of equity.
In selling the 2018 Flood Bond, the county told us it would fix the worst flooding first. But we’re no longer allocating bond money on the basis of flood damage.
With the 2022 Bond, Democrats promised to give each precinct a guaranteed minimum. That lasted until the day after voters approved the bond. How many times will people fall for the false promises?
Some Thought Starters and Head Scratchers
I’d like to see wasteful spending cut. For instance, today we learned about corruption charges by County DA Kim Ogg brought against a county employee responsible for distributing ballot paper during the botched 2022 election.
According to the complaint, the employee allegedly held a private-sector engineering job that paid $250,000 while also being paid $90,000 by the county to distribute ballot paper. Miraculously, most of the paper he failed to distribute was in Republican-leaning precincts.
By the way, on Election Day 2022, the employee reported working 18 hours for Harris County but also claimed to work 8 hours for his other employer.
Then, of course, there was the whole issue of replacing an election system that had worked well for years (in which elected officials oversaw elections) with an Elections Administrator’s Office. Someone with no election experience headed that office, which terribly botched the narrow 2022 election. She hired more political friends, also with no experience.
Luckily, that $15-million line item got the axe. See page 101 in the budget.
But the $21-million budget for the Office of County Administration did not. That was another Hidalgo innovation that previous administrations did not feel the need for. That department’s budget tripled in two years. (Line 200, Page 100)
And can someone tell me why public defender expenses have more than doubled in less than 2 years? (Page 101)
The closer you look at this year’s proposed budget, the more questions you will have. Bring your list to the:
George HW Bush Community Center
Thursday at 6PM.
6827 Cypresswood Drive, Spring, TX
Please don’t blame the proposed county tax increase on Commissioner Ramsey. He is a conservative voice of reason and responsibility on Commissioners Court.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/14/24
2542 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.
2024 Hurricane Season Update, PTC 5 Status and Learning Resources
8/12/24 – An August 8 update to NOAA’s 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook still calls for an extremely active hurricane season with 17-24 named storms, including four so far with a fifth brewing in the Atlantic. The main difference between this and NOAA’s May predictions? A higher confidence level.
The main factors that affect the latest predictions for the 2024 hurricane season include:
For more on the science behind the outlook, visit NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.
#5 in the Hurricane Season About to Form
As of 2PM EDT, NHC indicated that sustained winds from Potential Tropical Cyclone (PTC) 5 averaged 35 MPH. That puts it just 4 MPH from becoming the fifth named storm of the year, Ernesto. Here’s what it looks like this afternoon.
NHC gives PTC 5 a 100% chance of formation. It should intensify into a tropical storm later today and a hurricane by Thursday. However, it will curve northward into the open Atlantic and does not pose a threat to the Gulf Coast.
We normally don’t get a fifth named storm in the Atlantic until August 22. After that, we normally get a named storm every 7-10 days through October 11. This year, they will likely be more frequent.
Teach Your Family about Hurricanes
The National Hurricane Center website provides an almost bottomless well of free, educational resources. Today, I clicked on Outreach Resources and found presentations and publications geared to all age and professional levels.
Learning Opportunities for K-12 Students (Resources for Teachers) includes:
Hurricane Readiness for Coastal Communities
The guide (#5) contains a narrative embellishes the slides in the first four presentations.
Hurricane Readiness for Inland Communities
Again, #5 contains additional explanation when slide graphics in presentations 1-4 may not be totally intuitive.
Information that Saves Lives
FEMA geared the presentations in the second two groups to adults, both in an out of government. The coastal presentations contain more emphasis on storm surge. The inland presentations emphasize riverine flooding from the heavy rains that often accompany hurricanes.
The information in both groups can benefit teachers, parents, first responders, emergency managers, and government leaders.
They explain various tools, terms and graphics used by NOAA, NHC, NWS, and NHP to help everyone make informed decisions when planning for and responding to hurricane threats.
For instance, I found the discussion on inundation mapping that involved forecasts and “nowcasts” very illuminating. Ditto for the discussion about how NHC determines the timing and probabilities in its graphics. How much water it takes to make cars float and lose traction. How emergency planners work together. And more. Much more.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/12/24
2540 Days since Hurricane Harvey