Houston Council Member Dave Martin announced that the City of Houston and Montgomery County will host a flood claims workshop from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 19, 2019.
Kingwood Community Center
4102 Rustic Woods
Kingwood, Texas 77345
This event is for anyone (resident or business owner) who has: a) suffered flood damages, b) has flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and c) has questions about the policy claims process. FEMA representatives will be available to provide resources and answer questions. It does not matter what event caused the flood damage. Although the time has passed for submitting a Harvey claim, some people may still be struggling with the process. If they are protesting a settlement, they might benefit from this event.
Wetlands are a natural solution to a natural problem: flooding. Problem is, their name sounds like it’s the opposite – more of a problem than a solution.
Wetlands? Get out the mop.
Wetlands? Will I need galoshes?
Wetlands? Just pave it.
Wetlands? We can’t have that.
See what I mean? If we named them something else, something that had a benefit, maybe they would stand a fighting chance against bulldozers. For example:
Flood-Prevention Lands? I’ll fight for that.
Flood Buffer? Give me an extra one of those.
Safety Shield? Don’t lose that.
Guardlands? Better than free insurance!
Wetlands detain water during heavy rains. They let it flow away gradually at a rate that streams and bayous can handle naturally.
Visual Comparison
Here’s a visual example. We had heavy rains the night before I took this shot – almost four inches. When I went to East End Park the next morning, I saw the wetlands at the end of the main entry trail filled with water. There’s a natural, little bowl in the landscape there that covers a couple acres. After a very heavy rain, it usually takes a week or two for the water to drain away.
After heavy rains, the bowl fills up. Then the water trickles away, evaporates, gets sucked up by trees, or percolates through the ground to the river.OK, so sometimes it moves faster than a trickle. But this is still much slower than if two-acre feet suddenly hit concrete and a storm drain.
Contrast that with runoff coming out of the clearcut Woodridge Village below.
Developer filled in natural creeks and wetlands on this property without constructing required detention ponds first. Elm Grove is behind the trees to the left, where hundreds of homes flooded on May 7.
Abel Vera, who lives next to this recently denuded area, told me how his kids used to play in the woods and creeks that covered the wetlands to his north.
Sadly, it will be a few decades, if ever, before more kids have that opportunity again. If only we had named the wetlands on this property something else. Protector Ponds? Storm Shields? Heck, even Gator Haven would have worked. Developers could have sold tickets.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/7/2019
647 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Wetlands.jpg?fit=1500%2C1125&ssl=111251500adminadmin2019-06-07 12:25:562019-06-07 12:30:16If They Called Wetlands Something Else, We’d Have a Lot More of Them
Houston Public Media yesterday reported that City Council approved a new floodplain development upstream from the Addicks Reservoir. This is what happens when you pit one person’s property rights against another’s. Engineers and developers say they take precautions to prevent downstream flooding. But still, people downstream flood.
Hmmmm. Wonder why that happens? Here’s a pretty balanced report that explains why, and why politicians approve such developments.
Impact of Land-Use Changes
It’s filled with examples of people who said, “I lived here for 30 years and never flooded before. What happened?”
The experts say it’s usually due to some kind of land-use change upstream from them.
I had a similar experience years ago when I lived on Spring Creek in the Dallas area. I bought a house guaranteed to be two feet above the hundred year flood plain. But after they built the Collin Creek Mall in Plano upstream from me, I found I was almost flooding on tiny rains. The Army Corps came back out and resurveyed the creek.
They determined I was now 10 feet BELOW the hundred-year floodplain.
That was the last house I will ever own near water. Highly recommended listening (or reading).
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/6/2019
646 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/KVE-2017-Flood.jpg?fit=1500%2C968&ssl=19681500adminadmin2019-06-06 22:40:532019-06-06 23:10:07Houston Public Media Reports Houston City Council Not Attempting to Curb Floodplain Development
City and MoCo Offer NFIP Flood Claims Workshop with FEMA
Houston Council Member Dave Martin announced that the City of Houston and Montgomery County will host a flood claims workshop from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 19, 2019.
This event is for anyone (resident or business owner) who has: a) suffered flood damages, b) has flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and c) has questions about the policy claims process. FEMA representatives will be available to provide resources and answer questions. It does not matter what event caused the flood damage. Although the time has passed for submitting a Harvey claim, some people may still be struggling with the process. If they are protesting a settlement, they might benefit from this event.
For more information please contact the District E Office at DistrictE@houstontx.gov or Diane Cooper, Montgomery County Floodplain Administrator at Diane.Cooper@mctx.org.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/7/19
647 Days since Hurricane Harvey and One Month since May 7th
If They Called Wetlands Something Else, We’d Have a Lot More of Them
Wetlands are a natural solution to a natural problem: flooding. Problem is, their name sounds like it’s the opposite – more of a problem than a solution.
See what I mean? If we named them something else, something that had a benefit, maybe they would stand a fighting chance against bulldozers. For example:
Wetlands detain water during heavy rains. They let it flow away gradually at a rate that streams and bayous can handle naturally.
Visual Comparison
Here’s a visual example. We had heavy rains the night before I took this shot – almost four inches. When I went to East End Park the next morning, I saw the wetlands at the end of the main entry trail filled with water. There’s a natural, little bowl in the landscape there that covers a couple acres. After a very heavy rain, it usually takes a week or two for the water to drain away.
Contrast that with runoff coming out of the clearcut Woodridge Village below.
Why Wetlands are So Important
Watch this video taken from the porch of a house out of frame on the left of this shot. The home had never flooded before this area was clearcut and the natural drainage features were filled in. Notice a difference in the volume, clarity, and runoff rates of the water? Shortly after the rain started Tuesday, May 7, a lot of the water that hit this property filled the living rooms of Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest residents.
Abel Vera, who lives next to this recently denuded area, told me how his kids used to play in the woods and creeks that covered the wetlands to his north.
Sadly, it will be a few decades, if ever, before more kids have that opportunity again. If only we had named the wetlands on this property something else. Protector Ponds? Storm Shields? Heck, even Gator Haven would have worked. Developers could have sold tickets.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/7/2019
647 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Houston Public Media Reports Houston City Council Not Attempting to Curb Floodplain Development
Houston Public Media yesterday reported that City Council approved a new floodplain development upstream from the Addicks Reservoir. This is what happens when you pit one person’s property rights against another’s. Engineers and developers say they take precautions to prevent downstream flooding. But still, people downstream flood.
Hmmmm. Wonder why that happens? Here’s a pretty balanced report that explains why, and why politicians approve such developments.
Impact of Land-Use Changes
It’s filled with examples of people who said, “I lived here for 30 years and never flooded before. What happened?”
The experts say it’s usually due to some kind of land-use change upstream from them.
My Personal Experience
I had a similar experience years ago when I lived on Spring Creek in the Dallas area. I bought a house guaranteed to be two feet above the hundred year flood plain. But after they built the Collin Creek Mall in Plano upstream from me, I found I was almost flooding on tiny rains. The Army Corps came back out and resurveyed the creek.
That was the last house I will ever own near water. Highly recommended listening (or reading).
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/6/2019
646 Days since Hurricane Harvey