News - Reduce Flooding

Stunning New Imelda Images Show Stream of Muck Coming Down Shady Maple From Direction of Woodridge Village

Note: If you have pictures of Imelda that you would like to share, please send them in via the Submissions page on this web site. Remember to identify time, date, location and describe what’s happening in the photo.

Where Shady Maple intersects Rustling Elms in Elm Grove, Melanie Bankston and her husband captured some stunning images on the morning of September 19th as Imelda raged across the area. The images show a distinct zebra pattern in the water rushing down the street. Taken as a series, they indicate that:

Shady Maple (the street) initially flooded from pure rainwater, not Taylor Gully or Woodridge Village
Later, murky brown, sediment-laden water, streamed down the street
Woodridge Village did not contain its stormwater as the law mandates.

Because of the way Shady Maple curves, I’ve included this satellite image for orientation purposes. The red arrow indicates the angle of view in the photos. Bankston shot across Shady Maple toward the bridge on Rustling Elms and Taylor Gully.

At 9:37 a.m.

Video at 9:52

At 9:52 a.m. most of the water in the street is still running clear. Note the speed of the trash can as it floats by. Taylor Gully is in the background. You can see it under the crepe myrtle. Also note how the water in the street is rushing toward Taylor Gully, an indication that the water in the gully was lower than in the street.

By 10:37 a.m.

*This closer shot was taken seconds later. In it, you can see how the color of muddy water invading the street matches the color of muddy water in Taylor Gully behind the crepe myrtle.* *At this point in Taylor Gully, the water came almost exclusively from Woodridge Village.*

By 11:25

Likely Path of Water from Woodridge

Erosion signs, silt fences that were pushed over, a trail of damaged homes, and eyewitness statements indicate that water from Woodridge backed up behind the twin culverts at the county line. At a certain point, the detention ponds started overflowing. That’s when water pushed into the streets of North Kingwood Forest and Elm Grove.

In North Kingwood Forest, the same types of evidence suggest that muddy water entered Right Way, then River Rose Court, turned the corner on Creek Manor toward Taylor Gully then turned again down Shady Maple toward Rustling Elms. There it turned another corner toward Taylor Gully, until the Gully came out of its banks.

*Path of muddy water through the streets of North Kingwood Forest and Elm Grove toward the Bankston Home, Rustling Elms and Taylor Gully.*

Emergency Evacuation for Second Time in Four Months

Keith Stewart who lives on the corner of Shady Maple and Creek Manor evacuated his family in a canoe toward Ford Road in Porter. He says the current coming down River Rose was so fast, he struggled against it.

Keith Stewart family evacuating Elm Grove on 9.19.19. Stewart had just made the turn from Creek Manor, north onto River Rose. He was struggling against the current while taking this shot. Shown in the picture are his wife Jennifer, son Gabriel, and brother-in-law Ambrose Johnson.

The water also overflowed into several surrounding streets, such as Forest Springs. There, Jeff Miller’s security camera picked up the same sudden surge of silty water.

Implications

Aside from the stunning and unusual amateur photography, the content of these images represents yet more evidence that Perry Homes, its subsidiaries and contractors failed to contain stormwater runoff as they were obligated to do by law. Hundreds of families in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest paid for that failure.

The Perry gang had only installed about a quarter of the detention on their site before Imelda. The other three quarters of the rain had to go somewhere else and it did.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/7/2019

769 Days after Harvey and 18 after Imelda

The thoughts expressed in this post represent my opinions on matters of public interest 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 Breaches Discovered at Triple PG Sand Mine; Implications for East Fork Flooding

The Triple PG Sand Mine on Hueni Road in Porter breached its dikes during Imelda in more places than originally observed. Despite the breaches still being open, and despite multiple investigations into the mine’s operations, the mine resumed business today. Trucks went in and out all afternoon. At the end of this post, I will discuss some of the implications of these multiple breaches and their possible contribution to flooded homes.

Second Flyover Reveals More Breaches

During my initial helicopter flyover on 9/28/19, I could only observe three breaches in the Triple PG Sand Mine dikes because of inclement weather. On a second flyover on 10/2/19, I observed several more. Other people discovered several more from the ground or boat.

Here’s what I saw from the air and ground. These pictures have been sent to State Representative Dan Huberty, the TCEQ and the Mine Safety and Health Administration in the Department of Labor. The TCEQ forwarded them to the Attorney General’s office.

Below: the approximate locations of breaches for orientation purposes. All aerial photos taken on 10/2/19.

*Approximate locations of eight breaches in the Porter Triple PG mine during Imelda.*

Breach #1

*Partial breach along Caney Creek in the northern section of the mine, looking south toward the mine’s ponds.*

Breach #2

*Another pond in the far northern area shows evidence of a breach and severe erosion. This shot looks northwest.*

Breach #3

Looking NW from over the main dike that separates the main part of the mine from the northern area. The dike cuts from the upper left toward lower right and has a massive breach. The angle of the downed trees suggests that Caney Creek overflowed on the north, swept through all the ponds to the north and then broke into the mine through this breach.

Breach #4

*Partial breach. Hovering over Caney Creek in the foreground, looking west into the pit.*

Breach #5

*Hovering over Caney Creek in the foreground, looking west into the pit.* *This breach was opened in May and never closed properly.*

*Same breach, but photographed from the reverse angle. Hovering over the pit, looking east toward Caney Creek.*

Breach #6

*The southern dike of the mine is behind these trees. It obviously didn’t hold back water sweeping through the mine. It pushed these fences in from the north toward the south.* *Photo taken 10/6/19.*

*Many homes immediately below the mine flooded also. The so-called dike that runs along the southern edge of the mine is really flush with the ground level in this area.* *Photo taken 10/6/19.*

Breach #7

*Hovering over the pit looking toward the west dike of the mine and White Oak Creek*, *which breached into the mine.*

*Reverse shot. Looking east into the mine from over White Oak Creek.*

Breach #8

*The mine’s main stockpile sits on the western side of the mine. Rain seems to have washed much of it into the creek below the dike.*

Direction of Flow

Note additional erosion to main stockpile. It sits at the confluence of two floodways: Caney Creek’s and White Oak Creek’s. You can see the influence of those two creeks in the erosion. This shot faces west. Caney Creek came in from the north (right to left). White Oak Creek came in from the west (top middle to left middle). Note the sand pushed up against the building. *See close up below.*

*Sand pushed up against northern edge of building indicates the main flow came from the north…Caney Creek.*

Sand Clogging River

Much sand now clogs the river that wasn’t there before Imelda. No doubt, some sand came from river bed and bank erosion. But it’s hard to believe that none of it came from the Triple PG Sand Mine, which sits in two floodways and whose dikes breached in at least eight places.

The shot below looks across the northeastern section of Riverchase. Many homes flooded in this area. When you look at the river, you can see a possible contributing factor: giant sand bars that consume two-thirds of the width of the river.

The breaches, the sand clogging the river, and the flooded homes all argue for moving mines back farther from rivers. Texas is the only state that has no minimum setbacks for mines. During Imelda, the East Fork and its residents paid the price for that policy.

*Northeastern Riverchase, where several homes flooded near the river. Note giant sand bars just beyond the trees.* *Residents have commented on all the sand in streets. East End Park lies to the right of the giant bar. It also suffered from massive sanding during Imelda, in the area immediately opposite the bar.*

*A reverse shot of this bar shows that it is not only wide and long but tall. It reaches into treetops.* *The helicopter was hovering over East End Park for this shot and the camera is looking north.*

Altogether, I took almost a thousand shots from the air last Wednesday along the East Fork between 99 and Lake Houston and from Lake Houston up the West Fork to the Woodlands. More findings in future posts.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/6/2019 with help from Josh Alberson and Charlie Fahrmeier

768 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 17 since Imelda.

All thoughts in this post represent my opinions on matters of public interest 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 Dirt on Perry Homes

Ken Matthews lives in a one-story house on Shady Maple Drive in Elm Grove about a block below the troubled Woodridge Village development in Montgomery County. Homes on Shady Maple Drive experienced severe damage during both the May 7th and September 19th storms. That damage has been linked to this development.

“Had I Waited One More Minute…”

Between 8 and 9 o’clock a.m. on September 19th, Matthews saw water rising quickly in front of his home. He made a split-second decision to evacuate his wife and child. By the time he packed them in his car, they barely escaped. Water filled the street that quickly. He said, “Had I waited one more minute, we would not have gotten out.”

Matthews had just moved back into his house days before. They had lived with a friend for months while finishing repairs from the May 7th flood. He and his family went to the same friend’s house to wait out the September 19th storm.

The Clear-Cut Difference

Clear-cutting accelerates the rate of run-off, contributes to flooding, and increases sedimentation as you can see in this video. Virtually the entire 268-acre Woodridge site had been clearcut by mid-August when work on the site mysteriously ground to a halt. But only about about a quarter of the detention ponds had been installed before September 19th – despite a more than a month of ideal construction weather before Imelda.

Video from Jeff Miller’s security camera several blocks east shows his street filling up with clear water at the same time Matthews evacuated. However, a short while later, at exactly 10:10 a.m., a wave of chocolate brown muddy water came cascading down the street in a sudden surge. That much muck could only have come from one place: Woodridge Village. With only 25% of the detention installed, 75% of the runoff had to go somewhere else. It went into the streets of Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest.

*When Matthews returned home, he found a thick layer of silt in his mailbox of all places.*

*Perry Homes’ check wasn’t in the mail, but apparently their dirt was.*

Matthews said he did not join the lawsuit against Perry Homes subsidiaries and contractors after May 7th. However, he does plan to join the suit now. His home has just been wiped out for the second time in four months.

Even More Dirt

If you want to find more dirt on Perry Homes, its subsidiaries and contractors, just go to the north end of Village Springs Drive next to Woodridge.

*Dried muck at the end of Village Springs Drive next to Woodridge (beyond the silt fence in the background) reaches over the curbs.*
*Video shows muddy water flowing out of Woodridge at this location on 9/19/19.* *Photo taken on 10/4/19.*

Significantly, Perry Homes has not lifted a finger to help the residents of Elm Grove. Instead it is suing them. This ranks as a new low in the annals of American corporate history.

Harris County Stormwater Rules Discourage Clearcutting Giant Sites All at Once

What do best practices in the development industry have to say about clearing such large sites all at once?

Harris County Stormwater Quality Management regulations discourage clearcutting giant sites like Woodridge Village all at once. See section 4.2.3.1, Stormwater Pollution Prevention (SWPPP) During Construction. The text states, “The clearing, grubbing and scalping (mass clearing or grading) of excessively large areas of land at one time promotes erosion and sedimentation problems. On the areas where disturbance takes place the site designer should consider staging construction [emphasis added], temporary seeding and/or temporary mulching as a technique to reduce erosion. Staging construction involves stabilizing one part of the site before disturbing another [emphasis added].“

Of course, these are Harris County regulations and Woodridge Village sits in Montgomery County. Montgomery County has no comparable regulations posted on its website as far as I can tell.

Construction Sequencing Not Addressed In Construction Plans

Section 4.2.5 of the same Harris County document addresses Construction Sequencing. This section states, “The construction drawings should clearly state the designer’s intentions and an appropriate sequence of construction should be shown on the plans. This sequence should then be the topic of a detailed discussion at the pre-construction meeting (that must include the on-site responsible construction personnel) and then enforced by an appropriate inspection program throughout the construction period.”

That didn’t happen in Montgomery County either.

Another Conflict of Interest for LJA Engineering?

LJA Engineering plans that have become public to date do not address the sequencing of construction except for Phase 1 and Phase 2. (Curiously, they started Phase 2 first.) Nor was there adequate supervision during the months before May 7th. No sediment control measures, such as silt fencing, had been installed before then.

That’s a shame. Perhaps if they did, hundreds of homes may not have flooded on September 19th.

While searching the Montgomery County site for stormwater regulations, I was reminded that LJA Engineering manages the stormwater program and reporting for Montgomery County. LJA Engineering developed the plans for Woodridge Village, yet another apparent conflict of interest. LJA Engineering’s stamps are all over the hydrology plans for this development, too.

Perry Homes Gang Still Stalling Lawsuit, But Some Hope

Meanwhile, the Perry Homes gang is still stalling the Webster-Spurlock law suit against them. Two weeks after the judge in the case heard arguments in the motion to compel discovery, she still has not made a ruling.

However, there was some movement in the case last week. Lawyers for both sides agreed to keep all documents and depositions obtained during discovery confidential. Perry’s subsidiaries and contractors may have material that would embarrass the parent company if it became public. The court documents refer to “protecting trade secrets.” That sounds like convenient cover to me. How many trade secrets can there be about bulldozing dirt?

The intent of the order seems to be to keep documents away from the watchful eyes of the media, such as ReduceFlooding.com. On the plus side, though, lawyers tell me that sometimes such agreements may be a prelude to settlement talks. If this moves the case forward, I’m all for it. The flood victims desperately need help.

Posted by Bob Rehak on October 5, 2019

767 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 16 since Imelda