The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supplied this graphic. It updates the public on the latest dredging progress.
Two dredges, moving west to east (left to right), expect to complete dredging by the end of April, seven weeks from now. It was originally a nine month project scheduled to end around April 1, but heavy weather and multiple floods during December and January set the contractors back.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock operates the red dredge that started at River Grove Park and is working its way toward the project midpoint.
Callan Marine operates the blue dredge that started at the midpoint and is working its way toward the end.
With roughly 50 days remaining (about 15-20% of the time depending on how many weather days you allow), the corps appears to be about 70% done. That means they must hustle to make up time. The contractors are already working 24/7.
Parents who want to give their kids a treat can take them down to Kings Harbor to watch the dredging. I was there today. It is truly impressive. There’s lots of big equipment on the river moving more sand than the Astrodome can hold. They’re pumping it miles upriver to two old sand pits.
While at Kings Harbor sample some frozen yogurt or one of the restaurants that recently re-opened. Please support the local merchants who bet their financial futures to make your life a little more enjoyable.
Yesterday, I learned about re-traumatization of people suffering PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from Harvey. I had contacted Janice Costa, one of Kingwood’s leading psychotherapists to gain some insight. Keep in mind as you read this that neither Costa, nor I, have any idea how widespread this phenomenon is. However, Stephen Costello, the City of Houston’s flood czar, while speaking to a symposium on flooding at the University of Houston last year stated that 18% of Harris county’s residents suffered some sort of serious psychological distress after Harvey.
From presentation by Stephen Costello to Houston Geological Society in 2018 during a symposium on Flooding in Southeast Texas: The Science Behind the Floods. Costello said 18% of Harris County residents were suffering from “serious psychological distress” after Harvey.
I pointed out to Costa how the traffic on my site spiked when I posted The Night 11,000 Lake Houston Area Residents Became Homeless. Thousands of people have viewed it in the last week and are still viewing it. In fact, it’s my most popular flood post ever with the exception of the one with that snappy headline, Public Notice.
Trash Day in the Barrington after Harvey. Photo by Joy Dominique.
What Did I Tap Into?
I had accidentally tapped into some powerful emotions, but I wasn’t sure what or why and hoped Costa could help. Costa said victims sometimes feel such images and stories “validate” what they went through. “Yes! See. It was that bad!”
In the case of Harvey, it’s difficult for some people to let go, because they are constantly getting “re-traumatized” from related sources, she says. The examples below represent my interpretation of what she said, not literally what she said. I added dozens of examples that people have shared with me along the lines she mentioned.
Re-Traumatization, Day after Day
As if Harvey weren’t a big enough disaster, how about these complications? Do any of them sound familiar?
Flooding, but not having flood insurance, because you thought you were safely outside the 500-year flood plain
Power outages, spoiled food, Igloo coolers and grilling in the rain
Food lines, second-hand shops and shelter life
Separation from families, not being able to find loved ones in the shelter system
Loss of important papers, tax documents, and family albums
Losing the Bible that had been in your family for five generations
Gutting your own house, often with the help of strangers
Not being able to monitor everything they dragged to the curb
Seeing your life’s work piled on the street and picked over by looters
Your first Christmas without wallboard
Family heirlooms destroyed
Showering with a garden hose
Being displaced and dispossessed
Being forced to accept charity instead of feeling privileged to give it
Finding temporary lodging with friends, family or in hotels
Moving every few weeks so you didn’t wear out your welcome
Finding a vehicle and then finding out it had concealed flood damage
Stress at work from not being able to focus on your job while you rebuilt your life
The bad performance review at work that you knew was coming
Losing a business
Kids who cried themselves to sleep every time it rained
Breaking out in a cold sweat when you hear a helicopter
Feeling guilty about not being able to thank all the people who helped you
The two extra hours a day you didn’t get to spend with your kids because they were being bussed cross town to another high school.
Report cards that showed plummeting grades because your kids were traumatized
Educational handicaps that your kids may face for the rest of their lives as a result of effectively losing a year
Living in a camper
Your insurance benefits running out before repairs were completed
Losing your job
Losing your mind
Losing your spouse from all the stress
Trying to find money to rebuild
Living out of your car
Not having a car to live out of
Battling with the insurance adjuster
Battling with FEMA
Looking for help and battling a million other people looking for help
Struggling to find a contractor
Struggling to get the contractor to show up and do the work
Giving up the family vacation to supervise a contractor who didn’t show up
The contractor who ran off with your check
Finding out that the contractor hung your new front door upside down
Shoddy repairs with inferior materials
The City inspector who said the contractor did it all wrong
Lung ailments from breathing that unique Houston brew of mold, varnish, plaster dust and Clorox
Seeing friends and relatives succumb to the stress
Friends moving away to escape the stress
Going to the laundromat and using the machine next to the guy who was washing the clothes he had on
Living upstairs for a year and a half
Using your garage as a walk-in closet
Actually beginning to think of Taco Bell as haute cuisine
Learning to cook with a hot plate and a microwave
The stress zit that looked like a third eye in your forehead
Your favorite stores and restaurants being out of business for a year … or disappearing altogether
Going to college classes in a rented warehouse
Commuting two extra hours a day because the 59 bridge was out
Draining your retirement funds to rebuild
Then finding that wasn’t enough and tapping into your kids’ college funds
Not knowing how you’ll replenish them
Gaining 20 pounds from Chunky-Monkey stress relief
Jaw and neck pain from constantly grinding your teeth
FEMA and HUD help that arrived after you’d already rebuilt your home
Discovering that you lost all your repair receipts
Aches and pains from doing-it-all-yourself
Learning to love scratch-and-dent sales
Refurnishing your house from “Flooding Kingwood with Kindness”
Losing someone to cancer or heart-disease while trying to cope with everything else
The neighbor that abandoned the house next door…affecting your home’s value
Fearing what the next storm front could bring
My apologies to anyone I omitted!
More Re-traumatization!
Now consider the political systems around you. While we struggled individually, government offered help. Then came other kinds of re-traumatization.
The money from the drainage fee that wasn’t there when the City needed it to jumpstart flood mitigation projects
Being told you could build a firewall around drainage fees by approving the same leaky-bucket, Prop-A language that led to the problem in the first place
Learning that it took FEMA, the SJRA, Montgomery County, Harris County, and the City of Houston a year to fund a $2 million San Jacinto watershed study.
Wondering what that portends for the future of other flood mitigation projects
Watching that wonderful feeling of post-Harvey bipartisanship degenerate into political bickering while you…
Fear what the next storm could bring
The Lifeboat Mentality
In my opinion, people are looking for help and seeing hurt ahead. Many SAW the flood bond as a lifeboat. It buoyed their hopes and dreams for a return to safer shores. They were counting on the mitigation projects in it to protect them. Now, they feel thrown overboard by the struggle over prioritization of projects, i.e., who gets theirs first.
Our county judge called it “class warfare.” Fox News called it “bait and switch.” I call it maddening. I think residents rich and poor would agree.
Residents who suffer from PTSD, have suffered re-traumatization – so severely, so many times – that they may feel there is no escape. Political jousting just re-traumatizes them.
No one is telling them that more than half of the flood bond projects have started already.
Meanwhile, depression, anxiety and related illnesses are starting to surface. One of my dear friends lost her home to Harvey, her husband to cancer, and now is struggling with cardiac issues as she tries to rebuild her home. Alone.
Turning Negatives into Positives
Costa did offer a ray of hope. Some people have managed to find something positive in the flood experience, she said. For instance, those intent on remodeling might suddenly have the insurance money to do it.
One of my dreams is that Republicans and Democrats find a way to work together again. Maybe, collectively, we’ll find a way to create a functioning government that reduces flood risk and restores a sense of order to our lives in time to handle the next big hurricane. I think that would be a positive outcome from all of this. For all of us.
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 7, 2019 with help from Janice Costa
555 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Screen-Shot-2019-03-07-at-3.13.11-PM-copy.jpg?fit=1500%2C913&ssl=19131500adminadmin2019-03-07 16:09:052019-03-07 18:52:14PTSD, Re-Traumatization, a Lifeboat Mentality and Flood-Bond Politics
Janet Botello, a USACE Evaluation Branch Chief, provided the following explanation about next steps in the Army Corps’ permit evaluation for the high-rise marina project in Kingwood.
High-rise marina project is at a cross-roads. Harvey Photo by Jay Muscat.
30 Days For Applicant to Respond
Said Botello, “As the comment period has closed, we are providing the applicant with those public comments we’ve received. Applicants have 30 days to respond to those issues and concerns raised during the comment period.”
Next Steps Contingent on Applicant Responses
Botello continued, “Once we receive those responses, we will be in a better position to determine if a public hearing will be held.”
Ms. Botello also stated, “If we determine that additional information is needed for us to make a decision on this permit application that has not been already gathered from the public or applicant through our public interest review process, the Corps may decide to hold some type of public meeting.”
The Corps did not give a firm deadline for the decision on a public hearing.
Assuming that:
It takes a week or two to log, parse, process and transmit all the comments to Romerica…
And that it takes Romerica another month to respond…
And that it takes the Corps a few weeks to review their responses…
…my guess is that we should be hearing from the Corps in May as to whether a public hearing is needed.
They also leave open the possibility that a public MEETING may be needed if they need even MORE information/input. Please note: the Corps draws a distinction between public hearings and public meetings.
Difference Between Hearing and Meeting
At a hearing, citizens state their complaints and the Corps listens, but makes no comment and asks no questions. A meeting, on the other hand, is more of a dialog. The meeting Romerica scheduled is NOT the meeting that the Corps refers to.
I am told by people who have worked these kinds of issues with the Corps before that it can take months before a final decision is rendered. One engineer suggested it could take the rest of this year. The Corps did not provide a total time estimate.
To see the original public notice with project specs, maps and details, click here.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/5/19
554 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/KingwoodGreens-e1551452236612.jpg?fit=1500%2C1038&ssl=110381500adminadmin2019-03-05 21:21:242019-03-08 11:15:15Next Steps for Army Corps in Evaluating High-Rise Permit Application
March 4 Dredge Update
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supplied this graphic. It updates the public on the latest dredging progress.
Two dredges, moving west to east (left to right), expect to complete dredging by the end of April, seven weeks from now. It was originally a nine month project scheduled to end around April 1, but heavy weather and multiple floods during December and January set the contractors back.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock operates the red dredge that started at River Grove Park and is working its way toward the project midpoint.
Callan Marine operates the blue dredge that started at the midpoint and is working its way toward the end.
With roughly 50 days remaining (about 15-20% of the time depending on how many weather days you allow), the corps appears to be about 70% done. That means they must hustle to make up time. The contractors are already working 24/7.
Parents who want to give their kids a treat can take them down to Kings Harbor to watch the dredging. I was there today. It is truly impressive. There’s lots of big equipment on the river moving more sand than the Astrodome can hold. They’re pumping it miles upriver to two old sand pits.
While at Kings Harbor sample some frozen yogurt or one of the restaurants that recently re-opened. Please support the local merchants who bet their financial futures to make your life a little more enjoyable.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/7/2019
555 Days since Hurricane Harvey
PTSD, Re-Traumatization, a Lifeboat Mentality and Flood-Bond Politics
Yesterday, I learned about re-traumatization of people suffering PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from Harvey. I had contacted Janice Costa, one of Kingwood’s leading psychotherapists to gain some insight. Keep in mind as you read this that neither Costa, nor I, have any idea how widespread this phenomenon is. However, Stephen Costello, the City of Houston’s flood czar, while speaking to a symposium on flooding at the University of Houston last year stated that 18% of Harris county’s residents suffered some sort of serious psychological distress after Harvey.
I pointed out to Costa how the traffic on my site spiked when I posted The Night 11,000 Lake Houston Area Residents Became Homeless. Thousands of people have viewed it in the last week and are still viewing it. In fact, it’s my most popular flood post ever with the exception of the one with that snappy headline, Public Notice.
What Did I Tap Into?
I had accidentally tapped into some powerful emotions, but I wasn’t sure what or why and hoped Costa could help. Costa said victims sometimes feel such images and stories “validate” what they went through. “Yes! See. It was that bad!”
In the case of Harvey, it’s difficult for some people to let go, because they are constantly getting “re-traumatized” from related sources, she says. The examples below represent my interpretation of what she said, not literally what she said. I added dozens of examples that people have shared with me along the lines she mentioned.
Re-Traumatization, Day after Day
As if Harvey weren’t a big enough disaster, how about these complications? Do any of them sound familiar?
My apologies to anyone I omitted!
More Re-traumatization!
Now consider the political systems around you. While we struggled individually, government offered help. Then came other kinds of re-traumatization.
The Lifeboat Mentality
In my opinion, people are looking for help and seeing hurt ahead. Many SAW the flood bond as a lifeboat. It buoyed their hopes and dreams for a return to safer shores. They were counting on the mitigation projects in it to protect them. Now, they feel thrown overboard by the struggle over prioritization of projects, i.e., who gets theirs first.
Our county judge called it “class warfare.” Fox News called it “bait and switch.” I call it maddening. I think residents rich and poor would agree.
Residents who suffer from PTSD, have suffered re-traumatization – so severely, so many times – that they may feel there is no escape. Political jousting just re-traumatizes them.
Turning Negatives into Positives
Costa did offer a ray of hope. Some people have managed to find something positive in the flood experience, she said. For instance, those intent on remodeling might suddenly have the insurance money to do it.
One of my dreams is that Republicans and Democrats find a way to work together again. Maybe, collectively, we’ll find a way to create a functioning government that reduces flood risk and restores a sense of order to our lives in time to handle the next big hurricane. I think that would be a positive outcome from all of this. For all of us.
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 7, 2019 with help from Janice Costa
555 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Next Steps for Army Corps in Evaluating High-Rise Permit Application
Janet Botello, a USACE Evaluation Branch Chief, provided the following explanation about next steps in the Army Corps’ permit evaluation for the high-rise marina project in Kingwood.
30 Days For Applicant to Respond
Said Botello, “As the comment period has closed, we are providing the applicant with those public comments we’ve received. Applicants have 30 days to respond to those issues and concerns raised during the comment period.”
Next Steps Contingent on Applicant Responses
Botello continued, “Once we receive those responses, we will be in a better position to determine if a public hearing will be held.”
Ms. Botello also stated, “If we determine that additional information is needed for us to make a decision on this permit application that has not been already gathered from the public or applicant through our public interest review process, the Corps may decide to hold some type of public meeting.”
The Corps did not give a firm deadline for the decision on a public hearing.
Assuming that:
…my guess is that we should be hearing from the Corps in May as to whether a public hearing is needed.
They also leave open the possibility that a public MEETING may be needed if they need even MORE information/input. Please note: the Corps draws a distinction between public hearings and public meetings.
Difference Between Hearing and Meeting
At a hearing, citizens state their complaints and the Corps listens, but makes no comment and asks no questions. A meeting, on the other hand, is more of a dialog. The meeting Romerica scheduled is NOT the meeting that the Corps refers to.
I am told by people who have worked these kinds of issues with the Corps before that it can take months before a final decision is rendered. One engineer suggested it could take the rest of this year. The Corps did not provide a total time estimate.
To see the original public notice with project specs, maps and details, click here.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/5/19
554 Days since Hurricane Harvey