During this recent flood, the East Fork crested after the West Fork – because of where heavy rain fell upstream. This morning, ABC13 posted a story about how FM1485 in New Caney was under water from East Fork flooding.
Otter Point in East End Park at dusk. This deck is normally about 4 feet above lake level. Photo by John Knoerzer.
Tonight, a friend, John Knoerzer, texted this photo to me from Otter Point at East End Park. In case you didn’t know, East End Park is on the East Fork of the San Jacinto. John runs a heating and air conditioning company called UniServe. He’s a great AC guy, but never claimed to be a photographer. Nevertheless, the composition of his photo above almost feels like art.
People familiar with this site will recognize that despite releasing water for days, water is still 4 feet above the normal level and that the East Fork was on the verge of coming out of its banks in the Kingwood area. In fact, it did in some low lying areas.
Once again, I am reminded how very different this flood could have been for many people if the City had not lowered the lake for several days before the rain came. They not only lowered it the announced 18″, they kept lowering it as the flood built. Despite all that, it was a close call.
Close Call Underscores Need for Additional Gates
The frantic efforts to lower the lake underscore how important additional gates are for the Lake Houston Dam. The City needs the ability to shed water faster before it reaches the height of the spillway. With greater capacity, operators can reduce uncertainty associated with pre-releasing water…by waiting until storms are closer and forecasts become more certain. Operators can then be confident that they are not wasting precious water.
Weather forecasts can be notoriously fickle. And in fact, this one did not drop rain where predicted. Nor did it drop as much as predicted. Still, many areas were on the verge of being submerged as you can see from the photos above and below.
Parks are meant to be flooded. Fuel tanks? Not so much.
Kudos for Houston City Council Member Dave Martin for leading the charge in the effort to get the City to pre-release water.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ command post for emergency dredging almost had an emergency of its own. Another foot higher and the site would have flooded. Photo taken Saturday afternoon, the day after the heavy rain.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/11/2018
469 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/IMG_0077-2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=19001200adminadmin2018-12-11 20:52:592018-12-11 20:58:30Getting Close to Nature. Maybe too close!
During last week’s major rain, the National Weather Service and others predicted that some of the heaviest rain would fall in the US59 corridor. In fact, it did…just not US59 North. A pocket of 6-8 inch rain hit Sugar Land, as you can see below.
Regional Rain Map From Last Storm
Regional rainfall map of last week’s big storm, supplied by National Weather Service
Two other pockets received 6-8 inches (red): The Woodlands and Huntsville. The vast majority of the area around Lake Houston received 4-5 inches (olive). Upstream from us, a small band through southern Montgomery County received 5-6 (orange). But upstream from Lake Conroe, the huge yellow area received only 3-4.
Diane Cooper, who sent this map to me, worked for the NWS for 20 years in various capacities including as a meteorologist, hydrologist and river forecaster. In predicting floods such as this, forecasters say, it’s important to look at rainfall upstream, not just your area.
How to Interpret
Reviewing such maps can help several ways. It can help predict peaks based on historical comparisons of rainfall. It can also help predict the timing of peaks, based on the distance high volumes have to travel.
In this case, Lake Creek and the East Fork, because of heavy rainfall upstream, prolonged the high water in our area.
You can zoom from the entire United States to your own property, and even switch backgrounds, or highlight streams, by turning layers on and off.
By zooming out, you can see the storm as it approaches. And by varying the length of the period searched, you can get an idea of how much rain has fallen in the last 14, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days. You can even narrow the search to 1 hour to determine current intensity.
If you forget the link, it’s always available on the Links page of this web site under the Weather/Flood Related subhead and a listing called NWS Regional Rainfall for the last 24 hours.
The site offers hundreds of different ways to search through information as varied as river stages “forecast” and “observed”; stream flow amounts; temperature; wind; visibility; ship observations and more. It’s one of the more powerful and useful online tools I have ever seen.
Play with it and learn how it works before the next storm. It can help reduce anxiety by showing you exactly what you’re up against.
Precipitation for the last thirty days. Saturated ground makes for quick runoff.
You can even see where the storm went after it left here. I’m just thankful I’m not one of those people buried under snow without power. Been there. Done that. Minnesota. January. It’s enough to make you a Texan.
Posted by Bob Rehak on December 10, 2018
468 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/image-1.png?fit=1818%2C910&ssl=19101818adminadmin2018-12-10 21:13:542018-12-11 14:40:13Where the Rain Fell
In the weeks after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, Congress passed the Cruz-Cornyn-Rubio bill, which provided crucial tax relief for hurricane survivors. An important part of this bill eliminated the tax penalty for hurricane survivors who wanted to withdraw from retirement accounts to pay for the costs of repairs storm damages.
Such qualified retirement account withdrawals must be made by December 31, 2018 – a deadline that is quickly approaching.
If you are still in the process of rebuilding and recovering from the ravages of Harvey, contact your tax advisor for more information.
Residents of Kingwood Village Estates as Harvey’s floodwaters rose.
The IRS also provides information on this and other Harvey-related programs at this link.
Thousands of families in the Lake Houston area suffered hurricane-related damage during Harvey and could qualify. Hardly anyone finished Harvey-related repairs before this year. So check this out if you haven’t already. Remind your friends, neighbors and relatives. Every little bit helps. Only 22 tax-relief days left till New Years!
Posted by Bob Rehak on December 9, 2018
467 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/KVE-2017-Flood.jpg?fit=1500%2C968&ssl=19681500adminadmin2018-12-09 11:01:502018-12-09 11:01:57Deadline Approaching for Hurricane Harvey Tax Relief
Getting Close to Nature. Maybe too close!
During this recent flood, the East Fork crested after the West Fork – because of where heavy rain fell upstream. This morning, ABC13 posted a story about how FM1485 in New Caney was under water from East Fork flooding.
Tonight, a friend, John Knoerzer, texted this photo to me from Otter Point at East End Park. In case you didn’t know, East End Park is on the East Fork of the San Jacinto. John runs a heating and air conditioning company called UniServe. He’s a great AC guy, but never claimed to be a photographer. Nevertheless, the composition of his photo above almost feels like art.
People familiar with this site will recognize that despite releasing water for days, water is still 4 feet above the normal level and that the East Fork was on the verge of coming out of its banks in the Kingwood area. In fact, it did in some low lying areas.
Once again, I am reminded how very different this flood could have been for many people if the City had not lowered the lake for several days before the rain came. They not only lowered it the announced 18″, they kept lowering it as the flood built. Despite all that, it was a close call.
Close Call Underscores Need for Additional Gates
The frantic efforts to lower the lake underscore how important additional gates are for the Lake Houston Dam. The City needs the ability to shed water faster before it reaches the height of the spillway. With greater capacity, operators can reduce uncertainty associated with pre-releasing water…by waiting until storms are closer and forecasts become more certain. Operators can then be confident that they are not wasting precious water.
Weather forecasts can be notoriously fickle. And in fact, this one did not drop rain where predicted. Nor did it drop as much as predicted. Still, many areas were on the verge of being submerged as you can see from the photos above and below.
Parks are meant to be flooded. Fuel tanks? Not so much.
Kudos for Houston City Council Member Dave Martin for leading the charge in the effort to get the City to pre-release water.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/11/2018
469 Days after Hurricane Harvey
Where the Rain Fell
During last week’s major rain, the National Weather Service and others predicted that some of the heaviest rain would fall in the US59 corridor. In fact, it did…just not US59 North. A pocket of 6-8 inch rain hit Sugar Land, as you can see below.
Regional Rain Map From Last Storm
Two other pockets received 6-8 inches (red): The Woodlands and Huntsville. The vast majority of the area around Lake Houston received 4-5 inches (olive). Upstream from us, a small band through southern Montgomery County received 5-6 (orange). But upstream from Lake Conroe, the huge yellow area received only 3-4.
Diane Cooper, who sent this map to me, worked for the NWS for 20 years in various capacities including as a meteorologist, hydrologist and river forecaster. In predicting floods such as this, forecasters say, it’s important to look at rainfall upstream, not just your area.
How to Interpret
Reviewing such maps can help several ways. It can help predict peaks based on historical comparisons of rainfall. It can also help predict the timing of peaks, based on the distance high volumes have to travel.
You can zoom from the entire United States to your own property, and even switch backgrounds, or highlight streams, by turning layers on and off.
By zooming out, you can see the storm as it approaches. And by varying the length of the period searched, you can get an idea of how much rain has fallen in the last 14, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days. You can even narrow the search to 1 hour to determine current intensity.
Where to Find
You can find all this regional information on the National Weather Service web site here.
If you forget the link, it’s always available on the Links page of this web site under the Weather/Flood Related subhead and a listing called NWS Regional Rainfall for the last 24 hours.
The site offers hundreds of different ways to search through information as varied as river stages “forecast” and “observed”; stream flow amounts; temperature; wind; visibility; ship observations and more. It’s one of the more powerful and useful online tools I have ever seen.
Play with it and learn how it works before the next storm. It can help reduce anxiety by showing you exactly what you’re up against.
You can even see where the storm went after it left here. I’m just thankful I’m not one of those people buried under snow without power. Been there. Done that. Minnesota. January. It’s enough to make you a Texan.
Posted by Bob Rehak on December 10, 2018
468 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Deadline Approaching for Hurricane Harvey Tax Relief
In the weeks after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, Congress passed the Cruz-Cornyn-Rubio bill, which provided crucial tax relief for hurricane survivors. An important part of this bill eliminated the tax penalty for hurricane survivors who wanted to withdraw from retirement accounts to pay for the costs of repairs storm damages.
If you are still in the process of rebuilding and recovering from the ravages of Harvey, contact your tax advisor for more information.
The IRS also provides information on this and other Harvey-related programs at this link.
Thousands of families in the Lake Houston area suffered hurricane-related damage during Harvey and could qualify. Hardly anyone finished Harvey-related repairs before this year. So check this out if you haven’t already. Remind your friends, neighbors and relatives. Every little bit helps. Only 22 tax-relief days left till New Years!
Posted by Bob Rehak on December 9, 2018
467 Days since Hurricane Harvey