Court documents filed with the Harris County District Clerk show that the tempo of the Elm Grove lawsuits against Perry Homes, its subsidiaries and contractors is increasing. Litigants have filed 20 new documents in the last three weeks. The judge has set a trial date for July 13, 2020. That’s about three months from now.
Plaintiffs allege that LJA, when designing the drainage for Woodridge Village, used an outdated Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual. LJA went by the 1989 version when an updated 2014 version existed. Since then, MoCo has revised the documents yet again. A 2019 version now exists that took effect before Imelda last year. (Note: the link above leads to the updated manual, however, MoCo did not update the date on the cover page. So this gets very confusing.)
List of Charges Expands
Plaintiffs’ lawyers have added negligent retention and negligent supervision to the list of charges. They now accuse defendants of:
a. Removing drainage from the Development;
b. Removing a levee from the Development site;
c. Blocking the drainage channels;
d. Filling in existing drainage channels;
e. Failing to properly install box culverts;
f. Failing to create temporary drainage channels;
g. Failing to allow adequate drainage after construction;
h. Failing to install silt barriers;
i. Allowing the Development to force rainfall toward Plaintiffs’ homes;
j. Failing to pay proper attention
Plaintiffs argue that “the Contractor Defendants had actual, subjective awareness of the risk involved, but nevertheless proceeded with conscious indifference to the rights, safety, or welfare of others.”
The streets of Elm Grove are still littered with trash from reconstruction of their homes after Imelda – the second flood in 2019.This image was taken on Village Springs in Februaryof 2020.
Accusations Specific to LJA
The amended petition also lists charges specific to LJA.
a. Failing to follow the correct drainage guidelines in Montgomery County;
b. Failing to provide adequate drainage in the Development;
c. Failing to adequately model the Development;
d. Failing to adequately report the modeling;
e. Removing drainage channels;
f. Causing post-development discharges and water surface elevation to increase downstream of the Development;
g. Failing to design detention ponds with adequate capabilities for rain events;
h. Failing to use the correct hydrology method;
i. Failing to design emergency overflows for the detention ponds;
j. Failing to notify the Developer Defendants and Contractor Defendants of the importance of the existing levee; and,
k. Other ways described the consulting engineer’s report.
Plaintiffs Seek Exemplary Damages and Mandatory Injunction
The plaintiffs now seek exemplary damages and a mandatory injunction that forces defendants to return the property to its prior condition, wherein the surface water runoff properly flows into the drainage ditch.
Defendants also filed the reports of two expert witnesses: an engineer from Pennsylvania, who examined LJA’s performance, and another expert, who will testify about the magnitude of rainfalls on May 7th and September 19th. More on those in a future post.
No Response Yet from Defendants to Specific Charges
We still have yet to see the defendants’ specific responses to any of these charges except for the general denials they made last year.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/6/2020
920 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 169 since Imelda
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/20200125-RJR_7513.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2020-03-06 17:46:012020-03-08 09:39:48Elm Grove Lawsuits: New Defendant, New Charges, Amended Petition and More
A new web site, MyFloodRisk.org, gathers and presents information in a way that makes it easier than ever to accurately assess flood risks and costs.
One of the nation’s largest insurance companies developed the site after years of watching people fall victim to outdated and inaccurate flood maps. Therefore, the site analyzes data from many other sources to gain a much more complete understanding of risk.
Assesses Flood Risk for Every Property in U.S.
The site collects relevant flood-related information on every property in the United States and organizes it in a powerful way that makes it easy to visualize your flood risk. Just put in an address and boom. You’re scrolling through screen after screen that shows:
Your base flood elevation
Slab elevation
Proximity to flood zones
Total FEMA insurance claims in your county
Total recorded flood events in your county
FEMA disaster assistance grants in your state to date
Potential for storm surge (not really a factor in the Lake Houston area, but important in you have a vacation home further south)
Frequency of tropical storms, and more.
See a few of the screen shots below.
Quickly see what flood zone you are in and the percent of FEMA payouts in that zone.I was shocked to learn that even though I am in an X zone, 20% of all NFIP claims and one-third of all federal disaster assistance comes from an X zone.Based on your address, the site calculates the difference between your slab elevation and the base flood elevation.
Note, even though I’m more than 13 feet above the base flood elevation, during Harvey, the flood came up to my driveway, where first responders were launching rescue boats!
Total FEMA Insurance Claims in Harris County. County will change depending on address.A composite score pops up as last screen in series and lets you download a PDF of entire sequence.
Flood Damage Calculator Estimates Cost Per Inch of Floodwater
Not only is there a flood RISK calculator. The site also contains a flood LOSS calculator. For the latter, you plug in the value of your home and its contents. Then you set the flood height – from one inch to 48″. It calculates how much you could typically expect to lose with a flood of that height.
Potential Flood Loss Calculator. Input values for property and possessions, then use slider on right to see potential losses based on different flood heights.
The scary thing is how much you could lose even you get just an inch of water in your home! Play with it. You will see what I mean.
Free Service, No Purchase Necessary
The web site is affiliated with an insurance company, National Flood Insurance, LLC, which is licensed in all 50 states. I’m sure they will be happy to provide you with a flood insurance quote if you want one, but it’s not necessary to get a quote or talk to an agent to use this free risk and damage assessment service.
Professional Version Available
The site’s manager, Jennifer Scherff, says, “We have a professional version of the website as well that we offer to realtors and lenders. This version is free as well. For professionals we offer liability waivers on our flood risk reports, to bring awareness of true flood risk to the groups of people who are selling homes to unknowing individuals, especially in states where flood disclosure laws do not exist.
“At the end of our wizard tool where you are given a final flood risk score we have a new section that allows the user to answer a few questions and recieve a flood insurance indication quote in seconds. These quotes are the most accurate you’ll find,” claims Scherff.
Without recommending this, or any other broker/agent, I would just say this. If you live in the Lake Houston Area, you should have flood insurance. As we saw last year, river flooding is not the only threat. With the high intensity rains we get here, street flooding is a constant threat, too.
Delivers “The Right Five”
In the information technology business, they have a maxim called “The Right Five.” Success is all about presenting the Right Information to the Right People in the Right Format at the Right Time in the Right Place. This web site scores a check mark on all five.
Re: the Right Time, hurricane season starts June 1. Remember, it takes 30 days for flood insurance to go into effect. So if you think you MIGHT want it, the time to start thinking about it is NOW.
You could find all the information they present by yourself if you were willing to crawl the web for hours. They aggregate everything in seconds and present it in an easy-to-understand, graphically appealing format.
The site also contains tips on flood mitigation, flood restoration, a blog, a reference library and a link to get a quote.
919 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 168 since Imelda
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Flood-Loss-Calculator.jpg?fit=1200%2C684&ssl=16841200adminadmin2020-03-05 13:40:022020-03-05 16:30:41New Website Makes It Easier to Accurately Assess Flood Risk, Potential Damage
During the first phase of River Grove dredging, the contractor, Kayden, removed vegetation from the area to be dredged adjacent to the boardwalk (see photo below).
River Grove Boat Ramp and Lagoon on 2/13/2020 before dredging operation started. Looking south.
They completed vegation removal last week. They also completed cleaning silt out from under the boardwalk without impacting its stability or support. This week, they’re back with a tiny dredge and a giant mobile dewatering plant.
The Little Dredge That Could
The dredge was selected because it could maneuver in the tight spaces adjacent to the River Grove Boardwalk. It’s 12 feet wide and 51 feet long. The first word that came to mind when I saw it was “cute.” The second thing that came to mind was the child’s story “The Little Engine that Could.” As it sat there chugging away at sand and silt, I thought I could hear the John Deer, 6-cylinder, 13.5 liter diesel engine chanting, “I think I can, I think I can.”
Dewatering Plant Processes Sand for Removal, Returns Water To River
The giant dewatering plant operates much like shakers used in oil field drilling work. Water and sediment are pumped up from the lagoon by the dredge. They enter one side of the dewatering plant. There, they are pumped through centrifuges, then across a series of screens that vibrate. Water falls through the screens into a tank below. Sand accumulates on the screens until they dump it down chutes. From there, a front end loader scoops up the dirt and piles it up until trucks haul it away.
Video of dewatering plant in operation courtesy of Josh Alberson.Front end loader removes dirt from dewatering plant and piles it up for removal from River Grove.
Kayden then pumps the water back into the river.
Water returned to river after sediment removed. Photo courtesy of Josh Alberson.
Dredge Designed for Tight Spaces
River Grove dredging will not move nearly as fast as the dredging that Great Lakes and Callan were doing, but it seems to work well for the location. A major concern is overly aggressive dredging that could undermine the supports for the boardwalk and boat ramp. Another word that comes to mind is “precise.” Think about the difference between a van and an 18 wheeler. The major issue here is fitting in small spaces.
KSA intends to dredge only 50 feet from the boardwalk instead of all the way over to the trees. This shows the area where vegetation was removed earlier. Dredging will take place within this space.
Despite the size of the equipment at River Grove, the operation itself is far more compact than previous dredging operations. This could form a model for the dredging of inlets around the lake, like the one at Walden. However, County Engineer John Blount emphasizes that no decisions have been made in that regard yet.
The Safety Moment
If you take your kids to River Grove to see this operation, make sure you stay behind the yellow tape for your own safety.
Also, until the operation is complete in another month or so, remember that traffic at River Grove will be two-way. Just be aware.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/4/2020 with photos and video from Josh Alberson
918 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/20200304-RJR_8795.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2020-03-04 16:56:292020-03-05 09:27:23River Grove Dredging Operation Moves to Next Phase
Elm Grove Lawsuits: New Defendant, New Charges, Amended Petition and More
Court documents filed with the Harris County District Clerk show that the tempo of the Elm Grove lawsuits against Perry Homes, its subsidiaries and contractors is increasing. Litigants have filed 20 new documents in the last three weeks. The judge has set a trial date for July 13, 2020. That’s about three months from now.
Plaintiffs File Fifth Amended Petition
Plaintiffs allege that LJA, when designing the drainage for Woodridge Village, used an outdated Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual. LJA went by the 1989 version when an updated 2014 version existed. Since then, MoCo has revised the documents yet again. A 2019 version now exists that took effect before Imelda last year. (Note: the link above leads to the updated manual, however, MoCo did not update the date on the cover page. So this gets very confusing.)
List of Charges Expands
Plaintiffs’ lawyers have added negligent retention and negligent supervision to the list of charges. They now accuse defendants of:
Plaintiffs argue that “the Contractor Defendants had actual, subjective awareness of the risk involved, but nevertheless proceeded with conscious indifference to the rights, safety, or welfare of others.”
Accusations Specific to LJA
The amended petition also lists charges specific to LJA.
Plaintiffs Seek Exemplary Damages and Mandatory Injunction
The plaintiffs now seek exemplary damages and a mandatory injunction that forces defendants to return the property to its prior condition, wherein the surface water runoff properly flows into the drainage ditch.
Defendants also filed the reports of two expert witnesses: an engineer from Pennsylvania, who examined LJA’s performance, and another expert, who will testify about the magnitude of rainfalls on May 7th and September 19th. More on those in a future post.
No Response Yet from Defendants to Specific Charges
We still have yet to see the defendants’ specific responses to any of these charges except for the general denials they made last year.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/6/2020
920 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 169 since Imelda
New Website Makes It Easier to Accurately Assess Flood Risk, Potential Damage
A new web site, MyFloodRisk.org, gathers and presents information in a way that makes it easier than ever to accurately assess flood risks and costs.
One of the nation’s largest insurance companies developed the site after years of watching people fall victim to outdated and inaccurate flood maps. Therefore, the site analyzes data from many other sources to gain a much more complete understanding of risk.
Assesses Flood Risk for Every Property in U.S.
The site collects relevant flood-related information on every property in the United States and organizes it in a powerful way that makes it easy to visualize your flood risk. Just put in an address and boom. You’re scrolling through screen after screen that shows:
See a few of the screen shots below.
Note, even though I’m more than 13 feet above the base flood elevation, during Harvey, the flood came up to my driveway, where first responders were launching rescue boats!
Flood Damage Calculator Estimates Cost Per Inch of Floodwater
Not only is there a flood RISK calculator. The site also contains a flood LOSS calculator. For the latter, you plug in the value of your home and its contents. Then you set the flood height – from one inch to 48″. It calculates how much you could typically expect to lose with a flood of that height.
Free Service, No Purchase Necessary
The web site is affiliated with an insurance company, National Flood Insurance, LLC, which is licensed in all 50 states. I’m sure they will be happy to provide you with a flood insurance quote if you want one, but it’s not necessary to get a quote or talk to an agent to use this free risk and damage assessment service.
Professional Version Available
The site’s manager, Jennifer Scherff, says, “We have a professional version of the website as well that we offer to realtors and lenders. This version is free as well. For professionals we offer liability waivers on our flood risk reports, to bring awareness of true flood risk to the groups of people who are selling homes to unknowing individuals, especially in states where flood disclosure laws do not exist.
“At the end of our wizard tool where you are given a final flood risk score we have a new section that allows the user to answer a few questions and recieve a flood insurance indication quote in seconds. These quotes are the most accurate you’ll find,” claims Scherff.
Without recommending this, or any other broker/agent, I would just say this. If you live in the Lake Houston Area, you should have flood insurance. As we saw last year, river flooding is not the only threat. With the high intensity rains we get here, street flooding is a constant threat, too.
Delivers “The Right Five”
In the information technology business, they have a maxim called “The Right Five.” Success is all about presenting the Right Information to the Right People in the Right Format at the Right Time in the Right Place. This web site scores a check mark on all five.
You could find all the information they present by yourself if you were willing to crawl the web for hours. They aggregate everything in seconds and present it in an easy-to-understand, graphically appealing format.
The site also contains tips on flood mitigation, flood restoration, a blog, a reference library and a link to get a quote.
Once again, the site is MyFloodRisk.org. I plan to list it on my links page and refer to it often.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/5/2020
919 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 168 since Imelda
River Grove Dredging Operation Moves to Next Phase
During the first phase of River Grove dredging, the contractor, Kayden, removed vegetation from the area to be dredged adjacent to the boardwalk (see photo below).
They completed vegation removal last week. They also completed cleaning silt out from under the boardwalk without impacting its stability or support. This week, they’re back with a tiny dredge and a giant mobile dewatering plant.
The Little Dredge That Could
The dredge was selected because it could maneuver in the tight spaces adjacent to the River Grove Boardwalk. It’s 12 feet wide and 51 feet long. The first word that came to mind when I saw it was “cute.” The second thing that came to mind was the child’s story “The Little Engine that Could.” As it sat there chugging away at sand and silt, I thought I could hear the John Deer, 6-cylinder, 13.5 liter diesel engine chanting, “I think I can, I think I can.”
Dewatering Plant Processes Sand for Removal, Returns Water To River
The giant dewatering plant operates much like shakers used in oil field drilling work. Water and sediment are pumped up from the lagoon by the dredge. They enter one side of the dewatering plant. There, they are pumped through centrifuges, then across a series of screens that vibrate. Water falls through the screens into a tank below. Sand accumulates on the screens until they dump it down chutes. From there, a front end loader scoops up the dirt and piles it up until trucks haul it away.
Kayden then pumps the water back into the river.
Dredge Designed for Tight Spaces
River Grove dredging will not move nearly as fast as the dredging that Great Lakes and Callan were doing, but it seems to work well for the location. A major concern is overly aggressive dredging that could undermine the supports for the boardwalk and boat ramp. Another word that comes to mind is “precise.” Think about the difference between a van and an 18 wheeler. The major issue here is fitting in small spaces.
How It All Works Together
Here’s a contractor animation that shows how everything works together. And here are the specs of the equipment. It could conceivably be used for dredging other channel inlets around the lake such as the one at Walden.
Despite the size of the equipment at River Grove, the operation itself is far more compact than previous dredging operations. This could form a model for the dredging of inlets around the lake, like the one at Walden. However, County Engineer John Blount emphasizes that no decisions have been made in that regard yet.
The Safety Moment
If you take your kids to River Grove to see this operation, make sure you stay behind the yellow tape for your own safety.
Also, until the operation is complete in another month or so, remember that traffic at River Grove will be two-way. Just be aware.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/4/2020 with photos and video from Josh Alberson
918 Days after Hurricane Harvey