On August 25, Harris County residents will vote on a historic $2.5 billion flood-bond referendum. But are you eligible to vote? Don’t assume the answer is yes.
How Harvey May Have Affected Your Voting Rights
Many flood victims moved temporarily while their homes were being repaired. Voter registration cards cannot be forwarded, so your card may have been returned to the County registrar as “undeliverable.”
Also, records of people who failed to vote in the last two elections may have been purged.
If your name comes up with your voter registration ID, you should be good to vote. However, if your record says SUSPENSE or VOTER NOT FOUND, you are in danger of losing your right to vote.
If you aren’t listed as a registered voter in Harris County, you will not be able to vote.
Help Available at Flood Bond Meeting on July 10
Regardless of the cause, if your registration has lapsed or if you are new to the area, Volunteer Deputy Voter Registrars (VDVRs) will be available to help you at the Harris County Flood Bond Meeting on Tuesday, 7/10 from 5:30PM to 8:30PM at Kingwood Park High School. VDVRs will be there to help you confirm your status, update your record or re-register if necessary. VDVRs are not partisan and required by law to register anyone eligible to vote.
Options Available to You
If your voter ID card was returned to the tax office and you are “in suspense,” you must fill out a Statement of Residence (SOR) form. After filing this form, you can still vote at the early voting sites, however, it is easier if you resolve issues before then.
Voting Dates
Election day is August 25, the anniversary of Harvey. The county clerk has not yet confirmed early voting dates. Polling places may change up until Election Day. Check here for your polling place.
Requirements to Vote
You must be registered in Harris County 30 days prior to the election to vote. You can vote anywhere only during early voting; on Election Day you can vote only at your assigned precinct location. You must show approved ID, or have reasonable cause as t0 why you do not have ID, and sign an affidavit to that fact.
Requests to vote by mail must arrive by mail or fax no later than the 11th day before the election. Ballots must be returned to the county clerk’s office no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
Registration assistants will be at Kingwood Park High School one half hour before the meeting at 5:30 p.m. to help people check registrations and explain options if a problem exists.
Main Purpose of Meeting
The main purpose of the meeting on July 10 is for county officials to explain the referendum to voters and solicit voter input on the types of flood remediation efforts they think will help the most people in this area. Learn more at:
Ever wonder how close you are to the floodway, 100-year flood plain or 500-year flood plain? Ever wonder why so much sand winds up in the river after a flood? To learn how flood hazards affect your home or your friendly, environmentally responsible, neighborhood sand mine, consult FEMA’s Flood Hazard Viewer. It’s fast and easy, but has a few quirks.
How to use Flood Hazard Viewer
Click on the link above to go to FEMA’s Flood Hazard Viewer entry page.
Type in an address to zoom to a location. Or zoom manually by clicking on your area of interest.
Eventually the background changes from a U.S. map to a satellite view.
Zoom and scroll until you find the location you are interested in.
Wait for a few seconds while the website merges information from its map and flood databases. Then suddenly, voilà, there it is.
Lines and colors pop up over the satellite image, as you see below.
Display the legend by clicking on the parallel bars in the upper right of the screen.
Use the measuring tool to calculate area and distance.
In the example below, I was looking for the sand mine north of Kingwood on the East Fork to see if it was in the floodway. I also wanted to see how big it was. This mine measures more than two miles from north to south and occupies approximately 750 acres – five times the size of East End Park. The mine’s stockpile alone (circled in red) occupies about 34 acres. That’s a pretty big sand box.
It took me all of a minute to figure all of this out. I wish the sand miners had taken that much time when deciding to locate their mine here.
FEMA Flood Hazard Map showing risks to a sand mine on Caney and White Oak Creeks, north and east of Kingwood.
What You Can Tell from Flood Maps
What can you tell from looking at a map like this? For one thing, the owner of that mine likes living dangerously. I hope he was wearing his Huggies when Harvey hit.
The mine sits at the confluence of not one, but two different floodways – the cross-hatched areas over Caney and White Oak Creeks. In fact, more than half the mine sits INSIDE the floodways. But, hey, that’s where the sand is easy to get.
Easy come, easy go!
The sand mine’s stock pile bridges the 500-year (peach colored) and 100-year (aqua colored) flood plains. It is much taller than the surrounding trees as you can see in the photo below. But it was no match for the Harv.
Note the ripples in the sand on the left. Image taken 9/14/2017.
The Force of Harvey
According to Harris County Flood Control’s final report on Hurricane Harvey, the peak discharge on Caney Creek was 21,100 cubic feet per second (cfs). That wasn’t nearly as much as the 150,000 cfs on the West Fork, but it was still enough force to rip massive trees out of the ground by their roots. So I’m pretty sure it could have picked up grains of sand, contrary to TACA’s assertions. As My Cousin Vinny said, “Do you think the laws of physics cease to exist within your sand mine?”
Crews removing trees ripped out of the ground by Hurricane Harvey near East End Park, below sand mine on Caney Creek, July, 2018.
From a business point of view, stockpiling your product at the confluence of two floodways is like a bank stockpiling money on a sidewalk next to the county jail. Probably not a smart move from a loss-prevention point of view.
Below is one of several massive sand dunes that appeared downstream from the mine during Harvey. This one is opposite East End Park and fills half the river. Note how the sand reaches into the tree tops.
Dune deposited by Harvey downstream from sand mine in Porter. This dune reaches 20 feet in height in places and blocks almost half the river. Photo taken 9/14/2017.
Dunes like the one above can exacerbate flooding by reducing the carrying capacity of a river or stream. According to Harris County Flood Control, 1162 Kingwood homes and another 128 in Huffman flooded in the East Fork watershed during Harvey.
No laws in this part of Texas that make miners retrieve their sand or pay for cleanup costs.
Perhaps if they had to pay $70 million for dredging, they might move their mines to less risky locations.
You Pay; They Play
Instead, public tax dollars will pay for the cleanup. Somehow this just doesn’t seem right. It’s like gambling, but you never have to pay the State House if you lose. Wish I could get those odds in Vegas.
TACA has one of the largest lobbying efforts in the State. They just pleaded with their members at their annual convention in San Antonio to double their lobbying budget – specifically citing PR problems on the San Jacinto in Kingwood.
But we must not have them all that worried. Featured activities at the convention were golf, mountain biking and handgun classes…while you were fighting contractors, still trying to put your home back together.
They have bucks. We have votes. Let’s use them. Make sure the candidate you vote for pledges to move sand mines back from the rivers.
Posted 7/7/2018 by Bob Rehak
312 Days since Hurricane Harvey
00adminadmin2018-07-07 20:07:242018-07-07 20:16:23A Fast, Easy Way to Research Flood Hazards (And Your Neighbors)
The Lake Houston area is one step closer to removing some of those giant sandbars deposited on the West Fork during Harvey. Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded the bid for its Emergency Dredging Project on the San Jacinto to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, an international company headquartered in the Chicago area with more than 125 years of experience.
Bid Phase Comes to a Close
The Corps opened three bids for the project on June, 12, 2018. The wide variation in the bid amounts triggered a mandatory review to ensure each bidder met the bid specs. Based on submittals, the apparent low bidder at that time was RLB Contracting from Port Lavaca, TX. However, during the review RLB was judged “non-responsive.”
By law, the Army Corps must then examine the next highest bidder to ensure that they meet specs and can deliver the project for the price in their proposal. In this case, the next lowest bidder was Great Lakes at $69,814,060.
The corps will meet with Great Lakes next week to discuss details of the project. According to bid specifications, work on the project should begin within 5 days of the award. Specs also state that the winning bidder should staff the project to complete it within 270 days.
Example of equipment used by Great Lakes when dredging rivers.
Volume to be Removed Expanded during Bidding
Originally, the Corps specified 180 days. However, the amount of sand and sediment to be removed more than doubled from 780,000 cubic yards to 1.8 million. The change happened before bids were submitted as all three potential vendors went over specs with a fine tooth comb and submitted questions.
According to one vendor, during this back-and-forth phase of the project, bidders discovered that the river had changed so dramatically from the benchmark study, that some of the dredging “profiles” had to be adjusted.
The profiles are representative cross sections of the river at regular intervals between the western and eastern limits of dredging. They show the current and desired depth and width.
Despite the increase in volume to be removed, the Corps still expects at this time that the two disposal sites will accommodate the volume. The disposal sites are sand pits that will be regraded when filled to match contours of the surrounding area. One disposal area is just north of Townsen Blvd. and North Houston Road in Humble. The other is on the Kingwood side of the river off Sorters/McClellan Road just south of Kingwood College.
Prep Work Finishing
While the Corps has been sorting through dredging bids, the City of Houston has been hard at work removing debris from the shores of the lake and tributaries. Crews have finished removing dead trees from the dam and West Fork. This week they worked their way up the East Fork to East End Park. Today, fishermen spotted them working north of the FM1960 bridge.
Dead tree removal before dredging on Lake Houston is nearly complete.
Even though the current dredging project will not include the East Fork or Lake Houston, the removal of dead trees will help improve safety in the event of another flood. The deadfall could get caught up in the FM1960 bridge and create an artificial dam that would back water up into residential areas.
The USACE Galveston District was established in 1880 as the first engineer district in Texas to oversee river and harbor improvements. The district is directly responsible for maintaining more than 1,000 miles of channel, including 250 miles of deep draft and 750 miles of shallow draft as well as the Colorado River Locks and Brazos River Floodgates.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/6/2018
311 Days since Hurricane Harvey
00adminadmin2018-07-06 18:08:012018-07-06 18:36:36Army Corps of Engineers Awards Dredging Bid on West Fork Emergency Project
Voter Registration and Flood Bond Referendum
On August 25, Harris County residents will vote on a historic $2.5 billion flood-bond referendum. But are you eligible to vote? Don’t assume the answer is yes.
How Harvey May Have Affected Your Voting Rights
Many flood victims moved temporarily while their homes were being repaired. Voter registration cards cannot be forwarded, so your card may have been returned to the County registrar as “undeliverable.”
Also, records of people who failed to vote in the last two elections may have been purged.
If you fall into one of those categories, confirm your voter registration status at: https://www.hctax.net/Voter/Search.
If your name comes up with your voter registration ID, you should be good to vote. However, if your record says SUSPENSE or VOTER NOT FOUND, you are in danger of losing your right to vote.
Help Available at Flood Bond Meeting on July 10
Regardless of the cause, if your registration has lapsed or if you are new to the area, Volunteer Deputy Voter Registrars (VDVRs) will be available to help you at the Harris County Flood Bond Meeting on Tuesday, 7/10 from 5:30PM to 8:30PM at Kingwood Park High School. VDVRs will be there to help you confirm your status, update your record or re-register if necessary. VDVRs are not partisan and required by law to register anyone eligible to vote.
Options Available to You
If your voter ID card was returned to the tax office and you are “in suspense,” you must fill out a Statement of Residence (SOR) form. After filing this form, you can still vote at the early voting sites, however, it is easier if you resolve issues before then.
Voting Dates
Election day is August 25, the anniversary of Harvey. The county clerk has not yet confirmed early voting dates. Polling places may change up until Election Day. Check here for your polling place.
Requirements to Vote
You must be registered in Harris County 30 days prior to the election to vote. You can vote anywhere only during early voting; on Election Day you can vote only at your assigned precinct location. You must show approved ID, or have reasonable cause as t0 why you do not have ID, and sign an affidavit to that fact.
Requests to vote by mail must arrive by mail or fax no later than the 11th day before the election. Ballots must be returned to the county clerk’s office no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
Registration assistants will be at Kingwood Park High School one half hour before the meeting at 5:30 p.m. to help people check registrations and explain options if a problem exists.
Main Purpose of Meeting
The main purpose of the meeting on July 10 is for county officials to explain the referendum to voters and solicit voter input on the types of flood remediation efforts they think will help the most people in this area. Learn more at:
Lake Houston Chamber Launches Plea for DDG
Lake Houston Area’s Most Pressing Needs for Flood Bond Referendum
Top Priorities for Lake Houston Area Flood Mitigation
Bring Friends and Their Friends
A large turnout at this meeting will send a message to elected officials about how important we think flood mitigation is.
Sometime before the election, the Harris County Flood Control District will post the actual recommendations for each part of the county that will be included in the bond package that voters will vote on. Note: the current list is not final.
Meeting Details
Kingwood Park High School
July 10, 2018
6-8 pm
Doors open at 5:30 for voter registration assistance.
Posted 7/9/2018 by Bob Rehak
314 Days since Hurricane Harvey
A Fast, Easy Way to Research Flood Hazards (And Your Neighbors)
Ever wonder how close you are to the floodway, 100-year flood plain or 500-year flood plain? Ever wonder why so much sand winds up in the river after a flood? To learn how flood hazards affect your home or your friendly, environmentally responsible, neighborhood sand mine, consult FEMA’s Flood Hazard Viewer. It’s fast and easy, but has a few quirks.
How to use Flood Hazard Viewer
In the example below, I was looking for the sand mine north of Kingwood on the East Fork to see if it was in the floodway. I also wanted to see how big it was. This mine measures more than two miles from north to south and occupies approximately 750 acres – five times the size of East End Park. The mine’s stockpile alone (circled in red) occupies about 34 acres. That’s a pretty big sand box.
It took me all of a minute to figure all of this out. I wish the sand miners had taken that much time when deciding to locate their mine here.
FEMA Flood Hazard Map showing risks to a sand mine on Caney and White Oak Creeks, north and east of Kingwood.
What You Can Tell from Flood Maps
What can you tell from looking at a map like this? For one thing, the owner of that mine likes living dangerously. I hope he was wearing his Huggies when Harvey hit.
The mine sits at the confluence of not one, but two different floodways – the cross-hatched areas over Caney and White Oak Creeks. In fact, more than half the mine sits INSIDE the floodways. But, hey, that’s where the sand is easy to get.
Easy come, easy go!
The sand mine’s stock pile bridges the 500-year (peach colored) and 100-year (aqua colored) flood plains. It is much taller than the surrounding trees as you can see in the photo below. But it was no match for the Harv.
Note the ripples in the sand on the left. Image taken 9/14/2017.
The Force of Harvey
According to Harris County Flood Control’s final report on Hurricane Harvey, the peak discharge on Caney Creek was 21,100 cubic feet per second (cfs). That wasn’t nearly as much as the 150,000 cfs on the West Fork, but it was still enough force to rip massive trees out of the ground by their roots. So I’m pretty sure it could have picked up grains of sand, contrary to TACA’s assertions. As My Cousin Vinny said, “Do you think the laws of physics cease to exist within your sand mine?”
Crews removing trees ripped out of the ground by Hurricane Harvey near East End Park, below sand mine on Caney Creek, July, 2018.
Below is one of several massive sand dunes that appeared downstream from the mine during Harvey. This one is opposite East End Park and fills half the river. Note how the sand reaches into the tree tops.
Dune deposited by Harvey downstream from sand mine in Porter. This dune reaches 20 feet in height in places and blocks almost half the river. Photo taken 9/14/2017.
Dunes like the one above can exacerbate flooding by reducing the carrying capacity of a river or stream. According to Harris County Flood Control, 1162 Kingwood homes and another 128 in Huffman flooded in the East Fork watershed during Harvey.
Laws of Texas vs. Laws of Economics
But alas, apparently there are:
Perhaps if they had to pay $70 million for dredging, they might move their mines to less risky locations.
You Pay; They Play
Instead, public tax dollars will pay for the cleanup. Somehow this just doesn’t seem right. It’s like gambling, but you never have to pay the State House if you lose. Wish I could get those odds in Vegas.
TACA has one of the largest lobbying efforts in the State. They just pleaded with their members at their annual convention in San Antonio to double their lobbying budget – specifically citing PR problems on the San Jacinto in Kingwood.
But we must not have them all that worried. Featured activities at the convention were golf, mountain biking and handgun classes…while you were fighting contractors, still trying to put your home back together.
They have bucks. We have votes. Let’s use them. Make sure the candidate you vote for pledges to move sand mines back from the rivers.
Posted 7/7/2018 by Bob Rehak
312 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Army Corps of Engineers Awards Dredging Bid on West Fork Emergency Project
The Lake Houston area is one step closer to removing some of those giant sandbars deposited on the West Fork during Harvey. Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded the bid for its Emergency Dredging Project on the San Jacinto to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, an international company headquartered in the Chicago area with more than 125 years of experience.
Bid Phase Comes to a Close
The Corps opened three bids for the project on June, 12, 2018. The wide variation in the bid amounts triggered a mandatory review to ensure each bidder met the bid specs. Based on submittals, the apparent low bidder at that time was RLB Contracting from Port Lavaca, TX. However, during the review RLB was judged “non-responsive.”
By law, the Army Corps must then examine the next highest bidder to ensure that they meet specs and can deliver the project for the price in their proposal. In this case, the next lowest bidder was Great Lakes at $69,814,060.
The corps will meet with Great Lakes next week to discuss details of the project. According to bid specifications, work on the project should begin within 5 days of the award. Specs also state that the winning bidder should staff the project to complete it within 270 days.
Example of equipment used by Great Lakes when dredging rivers.
Volume to be Removed Expanded during Bidding
Originally, the Corps specified 180 days. However, the amount of sand and sediment to be removed more than doubled from 780,000 cubic yards to 1.8 million. The change happened before bids were submitted as all three potential vendors went over specs with a fine tooth comb and submitted questions.
According to one vendor, during this back-and-forth phase of the project, bidders discovered that the river had changed so dramatically from the benchmark study, that some of the dredging “profiles” had to be adjusted.
The profiles are representative cross sections of the river at regular intervals between the western and eastern limits of dredging. They show the current and desired depth and width.
Despite the increase in volume to be removed, the Corps still expects at this time that the two disposal sites will accommodate the volume. The disposal sites are sand pits that will be regraded when filled to match contours of the surrounding area. One disposal area is just north of Townsen Blvd. and North Houston Road in Humble. The other is on the Kingwood side of the river off Sorters/McClellan Road just south of Kingwood College.
Prep Work Finishing
While the Corps has been sorting through dredging bids, the City of Houston has been hard at work removing debris from the shores of the lake and tributaries. Crews have finished removing dead trees from the dam and West Fork. This week they worked their way up the East Fork to East End Park. Today, fishermen spotted them working north of the FM1960 bridge.
Dead tree removal before dredging on Lake Houston is nearly complete.
Even though the current dredging project will not include the East Fork or Lake Houston, the removal of dead trees will help improve safety in the event of another flood. The deadfall could get caught up in the FM1960 bridge and create an artificial dam that would back water up into residential areas.
For more detail about Great Lakes, see their brochure on their river and lake expertise.
For more about the U.S. Army Corps, visit www.swg.usace.army.mil, www.facebook.com/GalvestonDistrict or www.twitter.com/USACEgalveston.
The USACE Galveston District was established in 1880 as the first engineer district in Texas to oversee river and harbor improvements. The district is directly responsible for maintaining more than 1,000 miles of channel, including 250 miles of deep draft and 750 miles of shallow draft as well as the Colorado River Locks and Brazos River Floodgates.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/6/2018
311 Days since Hurricane Harvey