The pictures below show why you should never, ever buy a home built over wetlands.
Standing water after one month with only an inch of rain. Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village in Montgomery County, Texas.
Standing Water One Inch of Rain A Month Before
I took these shots while circling Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village construction site in Montgomery County, Texas, on 12/3/2019. At that point, the nearest USGS rain gage (at US59 and the San Jacinto West Fork) indicated we had only had one inch of rain in the previous month. The most recent rain at the time was a quarter inch three weeks prior!
That’s far below the normal 4.3 inches of rainfall for November in Houston. So it was less than one quarter of the normal rainfall. Still, the land held standing water in numerous places, despite having been cleared and graded for months.
Soupy soil on the northeast portion of Perry Homes Woodridge Village.
Standing water should have soaked in long before I took these shots. But when you build a development on wetlands, that’s not always true.
These pictures vividly illustrate how unstable wetlands soil can be.
Looking west over the northern portion of Perry Homes’ Woodridge VillageSouthwestern portion of Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village fronting Woodland Hills Drive.
They remind me of the famous saying the Bible.
Matthew 7:24-27: Build Your House on the Rock
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Area classified as wetlands in the USGS National Wetlands Inventory within Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village.Perry Homes’ contractors mired in more muck on the northern portion of Woodridge Village where wetlands once stood.
That sinking feeling you get when you try to build over wetlands
Environmental Survey Not on File with Montgomery County
Perry Homes claims to have done an environmental survey. But if they did, they did not file it with Montgomery County. A FOIA request with the county turned up no such document. A survey, performed by a private consultant, cleared the way for developing this property.
Normally, the Army Corps would investigate wetlands and determine whether they fell under their jurisdiction. If so, developing them would have required permitting and possible mitigation.
That process would have taken much longer and Perry Homes was trying to beat the clock. They were trying to start development before new, stricter Atlas-14 regulations took effect that would have required 40% more detention.
USGS National Wetlands Inventory showing Perry Homes Woodridge Village
Be a wise man or woman. Consult these databases before you buy a home to determine whether your property was once wetlands.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/15/2019
838 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 87 since Imelda
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/2019/12/20191203-RJR_5520.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2019-12-15 14:40:362019-12-15 14:40:48Why You Never Want to Buy a Home Built Over Wetlands
At the current rate of work, Perry Homes could easily take 3-4 years to complete the detention ponds on its Woodridge Village development. The chances of getting another rain event like May 7th during that period? 27.1% if it takes Perry 3 years and 34.4% if it takes 4.
This significantly raises Perry Homes’ legal liability if Elm Grove floods again.
How to Determine Cumulative Probabilities
How do you compile those statistics? Start by classifying the storm. The May 7th storm that flooded approximately 200 homes was a 10-year event, according to USGS, NOAA and National Weather Service statistics below.
Hourly rainfall totals for the USGS gage at US59 and the West Fork. Whether you consider six inches in six hours or 3.6 inches in one hour, May 7th storm still classifies as a 10-year event.
Next, figure the cumulative probability of it happening again during a given time period. If you ask, “What are the chances of another May 7th happening in any year,” the answer is always 10%. But if you ask, “What are the chances of another May 7th happening in the next three-years,” the answer is different.
You calculate the cumulative probability using the following formula:
Probability of at least one 10-year storm in next 3 years = 1 – (9/10)3rd = 27.1%. Four years equals 34.4%.
The possibility exists that the rainfall rate may have been slightly higher in Elm Grove on May 7th. But these are official statistics and conservative for the purposes of estimating risk. They don’t even include the chances of getting hit by even larger storms in the same year (as we did with Imelda).
Legal Risk of Not Mitigating Flood Risk
Perry Homes has shown little desire to mitigate flood risk by expanding detention capacity at Woodridge – even after promising the City of Houston it would do so.
After clearcutting virtually the entire site, Perry had installed only 7% of the required detention ponds when the May 7th flood hit and only 23% by the time Imelda hit on September 19. Since then? Virtually nothing!
Where three detention ponds should be on the northern portion of Woodridge Village. 77% of detention capacity is still missing after four months of inactivity.
What Perry Homes Has and Hasn’t Done
Since the October 17th letter laying out a 26-month timetable for completing work on Woodridge detention ponds, Perry Homes HAS:
Removed several brush piles from their northern property (shown above)
Slightly widened 300 feet of Taylor Gully
Concreted a portion of the 300 feet (see below).
Moved a small amount of dirt from the S2 pond that eroded into it back up onto the banks (see below).
Spread some grass seed on the northern portion of the development (see two photos below)
Perry Homes moves eroded dirt from S2 detention pond back onto banks on 12/3/2019. The area where the N3 detention pond should be now has a small amount of grass.Photo by Jeff Miller.
Perry Homes has NOT:
Finished work on the S2 detention pond.
Started work on other detention ponds.
Managed to keep ponding water from reducing the volume of S2.
Established grass on pond banks to reduce erosion as regulations require.
Finished the spillway into S2 from Taylor Gully.
Fenced in their detention ponds as regulations require.
Installed maintenance roads around the ponds as regulations require.
Released its internal investigation into the causes of Elm Grove flooding as it promised Channel 2 news.
Section 7 of Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual shows many items still missing from Perry Homes’ existing detention ponds.Close up of spillway into S2 pond and its north bank as of 12/5/2019. Photo courtesy of Jeff Miller.
Perry Homes Increases Risk to Residents and Itself
Since August when Perry Homes virtually stopped working on Woodridge, the company has done nothing to allay the major causes of flooding: clearcutting and lack of detention. It has slow-walked this project. Whatever its motivation, Perry Homes has significantly increased the risk of flooding Elm Grove residents again. In doing so, it also increases its own risks.
If Perry Homes does flood Elm Grove again, its slowdown and disregard for the promises it made to the City in its October 17th letter could prove the difference between negligence, gross negligence and punitive damages.
According to the Sawaya Law Firm, “Gross negligence is the extreme indifference to or reckless disregard for the safety of others. Gross negligence is more than simple carelessness or failure to act. It is willful behavior done with extreme disregard for the health and safety of others. It is conduct likely to cause foreseeable harm.”
Kathy Perry Britton knows that slow-walking the expansion of detention capacity will increase the risk of another major storm hitting Elm Grove before she finishes. But I doubt her lawyers are telling her that risk could be as high as 34%.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/15/2019with help from Jeff Miller
838 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 87 since Imelda
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/2019/12/Missing-Detention.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2019-12-15 00:19:172019-12-15 08:39:56More Delays on Fixing Perry Homes’ Drainage Debacle Increases Risk of Yet More Elm Grove Flooding
No matter whom you like in the Mayor’s race, if you have not yet voted, I hope you vote in the runoff election Saturday. The Mayor’s office sets policies, priorities and budgets. So if you’re not satisfied with the pace of flood mitigation, speak now. At the ballot box.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Vote-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C615&ssl=16151200adminadmin2019-12-13 18:22:342019-12-13 18:31:25Last Chance to Vote for Mayor is Saturday
Why You Never Want to Buy a Home Built Over Wetlands
The pictures below show why you should never, ever buy a home built over wetlands.
Standing Water One Inch of Rain A Month Before
I took these shots while circling Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village construction site in Montgomery County, Texas, on 12/3/2019. At that point, the nearest USGS rain gage (at US59 and the San Jacinto West Fork) indicated we had only had one inch of rain in the previous month. The most recent rain at the time was a quarter inch three weeks prior!
That’s far below the normal 4.3 inches of rainfall for November in Houston. So it was less than one quarter of the normal rainfall. Still, the land held standing water in numerous places, despite having been cleared and graded for months.
Standing water should have soaked in long before I took these shots. But when you build a development on wetlands, that’s not always true.
These pictures vividly illustrate how unstable wetlands soil can be.
They remind me of the famous saying the Bible.
Matthew 7:24-27: Build Your House on the Rock
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Five Previous Developers Passed on This Property
When Perry Homes bought this property, five other developers had previously bought and sold it without developing anything. Perhaps they realized the dangers once they investigated it more thoroughly. Regardless, one of Perry Homes’ subsidiaries bought the land and the company wound up in a literal quagmire.
Environmental Survey Not on File with Montgomery County
Perry Homes claims to have done an environmental survey. But if they did, they did not file it with Montgomery County. A FOIA request with the county turned up no such document. A survey, performed by a private consultant, cleared the way for developing this property.
Normally, the Army Corps would investigate wetlands and determine whether they fell under their jurisdiction. If so, developing them would have required permitting and possible mitigation.
That process would have taken much longer and Perry Homes was trying to beat the clock. They were trying to start development before new, stricter Atlas-14 regulations took effect that would have required 40% more detention.
The Corps is currently investigating this case but has not yet issued a decision as to whether Perry Homes’ consultant erred.
Beware of Dry-Season Sales
Wetlands do not necessarily remain wet year around. Unscrupulous developers often sell homes in the dry season without revealing the presence of former wetlands. But water naturally drains to these low-lying areas. Buying a home in one could turn into a perpetual headache.
If you are concerned about investing your life savings in such an area, both the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service keep national databases of wetlands.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/15/2019
838 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 87 since Imelda
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.
More Delays on Fixing Perry Homes’ Drainage Debacle Increases Risk of Yet More Elm Grove Flooding
At the current rate of work, Perry Homes could easily take 3-4 years to complete the detention ponds on its Woodridge Village development. The chances of getting another rain event like May 7th during that period? 27.1% if it takes Perry 3 years and 34.4% if it takes 4.
Perry has moved only a few shovels full of dirt since early August to expand detention capacity. That’s when construction activity came to a virtual standstill.
This significantly raises Perry Homes’ legal liability if Elm Grove floods again.
How to Determine Cumulative Probabilities
How do you compile those statistics? Start by classifying the storm. The May 7th storm that flooded approximately 200 homes was a 10-year event, according to USGS, NOAA and National Weather Service statistics below.
Next, figure the cumulative probability of it happening again during a given time period. If you ask, “What are the chances of another May 7th happening in any year,” the answer is always 10%. But if you ask, “What are the chances of another May 7th happening in the next three-years,” the answer is different.
You calculate the cumulative probability using the following formula:
The possibility exists that the rainfall rate may have been slightly higher in Elm Grove on May 7th. But these are official statistics and conservative for the purposes of estimating risk. They don’t even include the chances of getting hit by even larger storms in the same year (as we did with Imelda).
Legal Risk of Not Mitigating Flood Risk
Perry Homes has shown little desire to mitigate flood risk by expanding detention capacity at Woodridge – even after promising the City of Houston it would do so.
After clearcutting virtually the entire site, Perry had installed only 7% of the required detention ponds when the May 7th flood hit and only 23% by the time Imelda hit on September 19. Since then? Virtually nothing!
What Perry Homes Has and Hasn’t Done
Since the October 17th letter laying out a 26-month timetable for completing work on Woodridge detention ponds, Perry Homes HAS:
Perry Homes has NOT:
Perry Homes Increases Risk to Residents and Itself
Since August when Perry Homes virtually stopped working on Woodridge, the company has done nothing to allay the major causes of flooding: clearcutting and lack of detention. It has slow-walked this project. Whatever its motivation, Perry Homes has significantly increased the risk of flooding Elm Grove residents again. In doing so, it also increases its own risks.
If Perry Homes does flood Elm Grove again, its slowdown and disregard for the promises it made to the City in its October 17th letter could prove the difference between negligence, gross negligence and punitive damages.
According to the Sawaya Law Firm, “Gross negligence is the extreme indifference to or reckless disregard for the safety of others. Gross negligence is more than simple carelessness or failure to act. It is willful behavior done with extreme disregard for the health and safety of others. It is conduct likely to cause foreseeable harm.”
Kathy Perry Britton knows that slow-walking the expansion of detention capacity will increase the risk of another major storm hitting Elm Grove before she finishes. But I doubt her lawyers are telling her that risk could be as high as 34%.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/15/2019 with help from Jeff Miller
838 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 87 since Imelda
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.
Last Chance to Vote for Mayor is Saturday
No matter whom you like in the Mayor’s race, if you have not yet voted, I hope you vote in the runoff election Saturday. The Mayor’s office sets policies, priorities and budgets. So if you’re not satisfied with the pace of flood mitigation, speak now. At the ballot box.
Don’t know where to vote? Check HarrisVotes.com.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/13/2019
836 Days after Hurricane Harvey