Jason Krahn of the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) revealed plans tonight to begin restoring the conveyance of Bens Branch, one of the largest drainage channels in Kingwood. Bens Branch runs diagonally through the center of Kingwood from the new St. Martha Catholic Church to east of Kings Harbor where it joins the San Jacinto West Fork.
Harris County Flood Control will soon begin removing more than 8000 truckloads of sediment clogging Ben’s Branch.
Welcome Relief
News of the project will bring welcome relief to those who live near the creek and who flooded during Hurricane Harvey. Among them are residents of North Woodland Hills, Kings Forest, Bear Branch, Town Center, the Enclave, Kingwood Village Estates, and Kings Harbor.
Restoring Conveyance to 1990 Level
The objective of the project: to restore the conveyance that existed in 1990 when the creek was last widened and improved. Large portions of the creek have severe silting.
Krahn says Flood Control plans to excavate 1.3 miles of the ditch from near Kingwood Drive to past the YMCA – a total of 6,851 linear feet. The project will stop approximately 1,800 feet from Lake Houston. From that area, they plan to excavate 77,365 cubic yards of sediment that have built up since 1990. That equals about 8,600 dump-truck loads.
Flood Control also plans to bring in rock to shore up areas that have severely eroded.
Project Phasing and Timeline
The design phase of the project has completed and bidding will begin within two weeks, says Krahn, the project manager.
To access the areas to be excavated, Flood Control will use a combination of roads and adjacent property owners. They include Kingwood County Club, Harris County Precinct 4 Library, the YMCA, and the Kings Crossing Trail Association.
Expect the following phases:
Establishing access
Erection of construction fencing
Mobilization of equipment such as amphibious trackhoes and shallow-draft barges
Excavating material and storing it along the edges of the creek
Waiting two weeks for it to drain and dry
Hauling it away
Krahn expects to haul off 40 truck loads per day. He says the project should take a total of 250 calendar days. Thus, they should complete the project by next January.
Some trees may have to go, but Krahn vows to make every effort to keep as many trees as he can. He says he understands how much Kingwood values trees. He also points out that any trees on the banks did not exist when the ditch was last excavated; they have grown up since.
Procurement, bidding, and planning will run from April through June. Expect to see boots on the ground no later than July 1.
$2.1 Million Cost Expected
Total cost of the project is projected at about $2.1 million out of a $17 million total maintenance budget for all of Harris County. This money does not come out of the flood bond. It comes from the normal HCFCD maintenance and operations budget.
Soil Already Tested; Non-Hazardous
The county has already sampled and tested the soil that it will remove. It received a Class 2 Non-Hazardous Rating. That means it is not contaminated and can be stored anywhere. Krahn says that the winning contractor will propose disposal sites. Sometimes the fill will be used in road beds, to elevate property, or returned to old sand pits.
Warn Kids to Stay Away
Many people fish and play in the creek and job on its banks. Krahn requested residents to keep their children away from the construction zone once heavy equipment starts moving in. Operators will have their eyes on the job and not people jogging or fishing.
Thanks to Barbara Hilburn
A shout-out to Barbara Hilburn of Kingwood Lakes who has doggedly led the charge on internal drainage improvements since Harvey. Hilburn emphasized the need for a Kingwood-wide study of internal drainage to restore the entire system to its original capacity. She hopes that will work hand-in-hand with other improvements being made to the San Jacinto and the Lake Houston dam to reduce flood risk.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/20/2019
568 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BensBranch-copy.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=17681024adminadmin2019-03-20 22:43:072019-03-20 23:29:16Harris County Flood Control to Begin Restoring Conveyance of Bens Branch In April
A standing-room-only crowd of 800-plus people packed the Kingwood Community Center last night for a high-rise meeting. They were there to hear for the first time from Romerica and the people who hope to build high rises in an area deed restricted to single-family residential.
Gabriel M. Haddad, one of Romerica’s partners, seemed decent and sincere. He answered questions directly with a few exceptions, and remained cool in the face of hostile questioning. His main point: he wanted to solve the flooding and sedimentation problems on the river and in Lake Houston to make his project viable.
Haddad even admitted that the property where he wanted to build most of the high rises was deed restricted to single-family residential. He said that his plan was to get a permit and THEN get Friendswood to change the deed restrictions.
No Details, No Plan
However, neither Haddad nor the other speakers provided specific details about the project. Several people commented that the speakers from SWCA and Civil Tech seemed unprofessional, unprepared, not responsive to questions.
Several posters scattered around the room made grandiose claims without any support. For instance, they claim:
The high-rise project would generate $135 million of property tax revenue for the City.
Up to 70% of the property is planned to be preserved.
They will preserve wetlands (while filling them in).
Few Chances for Followup Questions
Upon questioning, Haddad confessed that it might take 30 years to reach property tax revenues of $135 million. That would translate to almost $5 billion in appraised value. That’s more than all the appraised value of all commercial properties in the entire Humble ISD including Deerbrook Mall! But then the meeting format didn’t allow for follow up questions.
Weasel Words
Regarding the “up to” in front of 70%: that includes a lot of territory starting with 1%.
That’s a pretty neat trick with the wetlands. Oops, they forgot to mention the wetlands will be preserved somewhere else.
Omissions, Insufficient Explanations, and Public Meetings for Dummies
I was very concerned about evacuation plans, so I asked. Guess what. There is none. “We’ll have people shelter in place.”
No evacuation plan? I guess someone forgot to consider heart attacks, sewers that back up in floods, and power outages that would leave people sweltering in their vertical footprints for days in August. No evacuation plan needed for high-rises in what soon will become the floodway of the San Jacinto! Seriously?
They also hoped to address traffic problems with a bridge and a Hamblen-Road extension that voters already rejected, thus showing a total lack of understanding of local history and values.
A Civil Tech employee couldn’t tell me where more than 150,000 cubic yards of fill was coming from or going to.
Mr. Haddad felt that his condos were no longer in the Kingwood Lakes Homeowner Association. (They are.)
Mr. Haddad claimed that they were no longer soliciting investments through EB-5 visas because the project had “outgrown” them. (However, they still operate an EB-5 regional center and website.)
Financing for a supposed $5 billion project was never addressed.
They invitation said they would talk about phasing and they didn’t.
Sizzle No Substitute for Substance
The posters seemed to revolve around buzzwords, such as conservation, preservation, sustainability, mobility, and resiliency. However, they used the same support points over and over again for each…without ever explaining how they supported the buzzwords.
For instance, they supported sustainability with “natural water systems, promoting alternative modes of transportation, vertical development and preserving forests.”
To mix it up a little bit, they promote resiliency with “natural water systems, preserving forests, a compact development footprint, and alternative modes of transportation.”
You get the idea. You’ve heard it all before. And that, I think, pretty much sums up the takeaway for most of the people that I talked to. “No substance. No specifics. No plan. No answers. No way.”
Not Buying It
During the Q&A at the end of the meeting, one of the questioners asked people in the audience who were still against the development to stand up. Almost everyone stood.
People standing to show their opposition. Photo and video courtersy of Jim Zura, Zura Productions.
Now that was one message that was clear and unambiguous.
Reinforcing Worst-Nightmare Scenario
At one point, Mr. Haddad said, “We’ll start slowly, and if we see it’s uneconomic, we’ll do something else.” This confirmed the worst fears of many in the audience who saw the developers disturbing the environment and then abandoning the job half finished.
They never did address the vast majority of the questions I posted on Friday. Had they done so, they might have changed some minds. But by ignoring them, many people felt the developers had something to hide or that Kingwood people were easily bluffed.
Little wonder that Manlove chose not to have a public meeting while the Army Corps’ public comment period was still open.
As always, the thoughts herein represent my opinions on matters of public interest. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP laws of the great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 19, 2019
567 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/IMG_0136.jpg?fit=960%2C1280&ssl=11280960adminadmin2019-03-19 21:56:572019-03-20 12:48:29High-Rise Meeting Doesn’t Change Many Minds and Raises Big Concern
Romerica packed the house with perhaps 800 to 1000 people. Both large rooms of the community center were standing room only. Contrary to pre-meeting guidance, the Romerica developer and his team DID take questions from the floor. The meeting lasted more than three hours.
Gabriel M. Haddad was not what I expected. He was disarming and appeared to answer questions candidly even when they were hostile. He seemed cautious and reasonable.
However, nothing I heard tonight changed my mind about the development. I had some questions answered. Some answers raised more questions. Many questions remain unanswered. And there were many contradictions and surprises. This will require sleep, food, and thorough review of my notes before I can make sense of it.
Please check back tomorrow for a rundown of the entire meeting.
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 18, 2019
566 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SectionDHilighted.jpg?fit=1500%2C1153&ssl=111531500adminadmin2019-03-18 22:18:292019-03-18 22:18:41They Took Questions from the Floor After All
For weeks, Barbara Hilburn (Kingwood Lakes President), Bill Fowler and Dianne Lansden (Lake Houston Area Grass Roots Flood Prevention Initiative leaders) and I have been calling and emailing Manlove Marketing and Communications. We asked whether the high-rise developer would take questions from the audience tonight. We were consistently ignored. No answer. None. Nada. Silence.
Barrington Resident Finally Breaks Through
This morning, a Barrington resident called Manlove. She actually managed to speak to someone. Here’s how her conversation went:
“I called the PR contact for the Romerica project, Manlove Marketing, to make sure they were including a question and answer portion in tonight’s “free” meeting. The receptionist gave me a very enthusiastic ‘Oh yes, of course you can ask questions!’ Then she trailed off with something to the effect of ‘before and after the presentation.’ To clarify, I asked ‘Questions won’t be addressed during the meeting?’ The receptionist said, ‘Oh no. That’s not necessary!’”
The resident replied, “‘It absolutely IS necessary.’ The receptionist then offered to let me talk directly with the woman handling this project. I was transferred to her voicemail.”
“I followed up with a FaceBook message asking why they weren’t planning to answer questions in a public forum,” said the resident. “The message has been read, but no one has responded.”
Later this afternoon, Manlove added several paragraphs of copy to the developer’s home page that confirm the resident’s report.
“Dialog At Every Level”
Manlove’s website boasts that, “Romerica believes in collaboration which includes a dialog with stakeholders at every level.”
Memo to Manlove: answering questions and emails, and returning phone calls would be a great way to start collaborating. I believe they don’t really want to address people’s concerns. If they did, they would have had a meeting long ago at the start of the Corps’ public comment period, not after it closed.
One wonders why they’re even bothering to have a meeting tonight. As my friend John Knoezer asked this morning, “Are they going to read a brochure for two hours?”
As always, these thoughts represent my opinions on matters of public policy. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak, Mandi Thornhill Lokey and John Knoezer on March 18, 2019
566 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Screen-Shot-2019-02-20-at-7.09.38-PM-copy.jpg?fit=1500%2C1971&ssl=119711500adminadmin2019-03-18 16:30:312022-10-05 19:34:03Manlove Says Questions “Won’t Be Necessary” at Romerica’s Public Meeting
R. Thomas Sankey, PWS, CSE Senior Project Manager / Senior Ecologist, SWCA
Melvin G. Spinks, P.E., CFM, President, Civil Tech Engineering, Inc.
Gabriel Haddad, Developer, Romerica
New Strategy: PR Firm Goes Dark
Manlove Marketing and Communications, Romerica’s second official point of contact during the Army Corps public comment period, sent out invitations to people who signed up for their mailing list.
Neither did Manlove return telephone calls or emails to discuss the meeting format and whether they would take questions from the audience. Manlove also has not responded to inquiries from local videographer Jim Zura and the Lake Houston Area Grass Roots Flood Prevention Initiative about taping the meeting.
Disclaimer Debacle
Manlove originally tried to give themselves the most generous disclaimer in the history of words and websites when they printed this in small type at the bottom of TheHeronsKingwood.com: “DISCLAIMER: Users agree that John Manlove Marketing & Communications and parties involved have no responsibility for any deficiencies, inaccuracies, errors and/or omissions contained in this site or the data and/or information contained therein.”
I then pointed out that as the official point of contact for the permit, they would be held to a slightly higher standard of truth. 18 U.S.C. Section 1001 states that: “Whoever, in any manner within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals, or covers up any trick, scheme, or disguises a material fact or makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing same to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or entry, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years or both.” That’s when the lights went out.
So Many Questions Remain
I’m suspect the panel will do its best to avoid the real questions surrounding this development Monday night. For instance:
Why did Manlove list the “Romerica Group” and then plain “Romerica” as the developer in their website when neither is registered with the Texas Secretary of State and “Romerica Investments” filed the permit application?
How will the Developer provide the mitigation (i.e., Detention ponds) for fill and impervious cover that is required to obtain the City of Houston and/or Harris County Development permits?
Kingwood Community Center, 6:30 PM
I’m guessing that they won’t allow real questions tomorrow night. They’ll probably make people submit questions in writing before hand and then cherry pick those they want to answer. I hope I’m wrong on that point, but we’ll know for sure when its over.
As always, these thoughts represent my opinions on matters of public interest. They are protected under the first amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/17/19
365 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Woodland-hills-map.png?fit=1061%2C1024&ssl=110241061adminadmin2019-03-17 23:26:332019-03-18 14:46:07Reminder: High-Rise Developers’ Meeting Monday Night at 6:30
At the edge of the flood, nine out of ten families breathed a sigh of relief and went about the work of helping their neighbors. Donna Dewhirst was one such person. As you can see, she also had a little work of her own to do.
Raging Waters. Hurricane Harvey Flood by Donna Dewhirst. “My backyard with my outdoor kitchen …knee deep in the lake water with my dock buried along with our boat.”
Flood debris from Harvey washed up in back yard of Donna Dewhirst. “The debris line on my lot next door after the rains when the water was beginning to subside… a refrigerator was on the lot among other things… stairs from docks etc.”
Debris left after street flooding. By Donna Dewhirst. Note how lake in background is still curling around her home in the upper right.
While the debris shot is impressive, the other two shots are just plain spooky. The gray curtain of rain coming down to meet the brown torrent of floodwater with no horizon in sight. The lake creeping up the street.
It’s enough to make you want to campaign for flood mitigation. Please help by submitting your pictures of Harvey through the submissions page of this web site.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/16/2019
564 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image1.png?fit=2208%2C1242&ssl=112422208adminadmin2019-03-16 09:09:192019-03-16 09:19:29But by the Grace of God…
On Tuesday this week, I created a post in response to a question about whether they really were taking sand out of the river. Someone thought the presence of dredges on the river was a government hoax because they didn’t see any trucks carrying sand away. Shades of Roswell and UFOs!
I explained that they were pumping it back upstream to sand pits via submerged pipelines. Placement Area #1 (PA 1) is an old pit no longer in active use. Placement area #2 (PA 2) is an active sand mine south of Kingwood College on Sorters Road.
Quantities Dredged to Date
According to Al Meyer, the Army Corps Project Manager, dredged material placed in the pits to date is approximately 418,000 cubic yards at PA 1 and 825,000 cubic yards at PA 2. That’s about two-thirds of the total estimated volume of 1.9 million cubic yards for the entire project.
Second-Hand Sand
Dozens of readers complained that they weren’t selling sand from the placement areas. Their concern: that it could wash right back into to the river. Most people wanted to see it put to use somehow…as fill for foundations, in concrete, etc…outside of the flood plain.
The Army Corps contract gives dredging companies and landowners the right to sell the material pulled out of the river. (See SECTION 02 41 01.01 45 Page 4 ) But were they? I asked the Corps. Here’s what I found out.
Placement Area #1
The abandoned pit south of the river is filling up quickly. So far, no sand has been sold from tha as far as I know and the Corps did not return a phone call on that subject.
Unconfirmed rumors say that the landowner may keep the sand and build on top of it. It certainly appears that way. I see no sorting or loading equipment on site. One bulldozer keeps relentlessly moving around, spreading and leveling the sand that has piled up. However, it could be mined and resold at a later date if the owner chooses.
At Placement Area #1 on Townsend, a bulldozer is spreading the sand around and packing it down.
Placement Area #2 on Sorters
The active pit on Sorters has received about twice as much material as the inactive pit on Townsend. But it is not filling up as quickly. That’s because they’re selling the sand.
Placement area #2. Dredged material flows in at the left and spreads out in the pit.
As it enters the pit, a dredge sucks it up and sends it to machines that cleans and sorts it. The mine then sells the coarse sand for use in concrete. They sell the fine sand for mortar in the construction trades, fill and pipeline bedding.
From there, a dredge sucks it up for cleaning, sorting, stockpiling and transportation. Placement area #1 does not have all this equipment.
Free Use of Land In Exchange for Right to Sell
According to the Corps’ Lt. Col. Williford, the sand mine operators offer the free use of their land for storage in exchange for the right to sell the material. This seems fair. It keeps the cost to taxpayers down. The material is put to good use. And, at least in the case of PA2, they are removing it from the flood plain.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/15/2019
563 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/PA2-outflow.jpg?fit=1500%2C1061&ssl=110611500adminadmin2019-03-15 21:08:282019-03-15 21:12:36Yes, They’re Selling the Sand, Too!
Jim and Melissa Balcom live in a spectacular three-story home built on pylons 12 feet above the ground and 20 feet above the San Jacinto West Fork. Their home fronts on the north bank immediately west of River Grove Park. They named one son River, another Talon (like the eagles that perch outside their windows), and their dog Rio. To say they love the river lifestyle would be an understatement. But they admit it comes with a high level of anxiety. Jim, who is a contractor, built the house himself on property that Melissa’s father owned for decades. Jim wrangled with the City of Houston and FEMA for TWO YEARS over permits.
Their home now sits about 125 feet from the West Fork. Before Harvey, it was 300 feet. The flood eroded a peninsula and small channel between them and the river. The peninsula used to have a thick stand of trees on it. They’re all gone now. Harvey gave the Balcoms a spectacular view, but it also gave them a constant reminder of the river’s terrifying power.
I interviewed the Balcoms on December 30, 2018, as the river was coming out of its banks for the fifth time last year.
Permitting Gauntlet and Post-Harvey Repairs
Rehak: You have a beautiful property here. Tell me the history.
Jim: Back in 2007, we started the permitting process through the city and FEMA. We went back and forth with them for two years. They were trying to shut down all building in the floodway and there was a huge lawsuit over it. But since we were in the process before they passed the ordinance about not building in the floodway, they let us finish. But dealing with them was very hard. I always tell people that if you want to buy property out here, you better look into it first.
It’s very soft sand down here. The engineer told us we would have to go 25 feet down to go 25 feet up with pylons. It’s flooding now at a rate that’s 10 times normal. (Pointing to the rising water) A few more feet and we have to pack our bags and get out of here!
The Encroaching River
Melissa: Before Harvey, there used to be a giant bank of trees just off our property that formed a little canal. You couldn’t even see the river. Harvey took all that out.
Aerial photo of Balcom property taken two weeks after Harvey.
That peninsula went all the way down to River Grove Park.
Note peninsula along north side of river before Harvey. Now you see it…After Harvey, now you don’t see it. The peninsula eroded away, leaving the Balcoms almost two hundred feet closer to the river.
Melissa: Now it’s all gone.
Jim: We decided we were going to move in here and we were committed. Our house is all steel framing. We have a hundred yards of concrete in the foundation. The first finished floor is 20 feet above the normal river level, but we still had one foot in the house, which is about where that window ledge is.
Harvey floodwaters came up more than 20 feet to the bottom of the Balcom’s window ledge.
Pre-Harvey Prep
Rehak: Tell me about your prep before Harvey. You knew it was coming.
Melissa: We were ready to evacuate. We had our bags packed and were ready to go. We’d put everything up. At 3 a.m., we got a call from a friend in Conroe telling us about the dam release. So, we threw our bags in the truck and rushed over to another friend’s house in Trailwood. Our goal was just to get out. We thought the water would go under the house and everything would be fine.
That Sinking Feeling
Melissa: But before you knew it, our Trailwood friends were starting to flood.Their house had neverflooded. Then we’re in a panic trying to help them save their house…which is not on stilts. Then we heard that there was water in Kingwood high school and we knew that our house was flooded, because if water got in the high school, it’s high enough to flood us.
Disappearing Neighborhood
Jim: This neighborhood is slowly going away. Pretty soon, it won’t be here. There used to be a hundred homes here. Then it went down to 60 after the ’94 flood. Then 50. Now we’re down to 25. That house on the corner has water in it every time it floods. I don’t even know how they’re surviving.
Melissa: We moved here because my dad owned the lot for a long time. He’s a CPA by trade and does contracting as a hobby, too, so it was fun to think about building this kind of house. But it took six years to build. Everything took exponentially longer than it would to build a regular house.
Engineering Challenge
Jim: We had to go 25 feet down before we got to any kind of stable ground. The engineer I used was from Galveston. There, they only go 10 feet down. Sometimes less.
He designed an 18-inch solid slab, with three layers of rebar and grade beams around the edge. It all ties into the pylons. We have 4×16 steel beams. It also has an 8-inch thick concrete stairwell in the center. Everything at ground level is designed to let the water flow through, like these louvered shutters.
Rehak: How did you determine the height of the first floor?
Jim: We built this house three feet higher than FEMA required.
Melissa: It was based on the ‘94 flood.
Jim: Downstairs, the slab is at 50 feet elevation. 56 is the height of the spillway at the dam. The water elevation is normally at 42.5. Our finished floor was 14 feet above the slab, or 64 feet. We thought we were smart to do that. But still, with all of that, we had a foot of water in the first finished floor. From the ground to where the water came was 15 feet.
So at this spot, the flood reached 65 feet.
A subtle reminder and conversation starter, the Balcoms painted this high water mark next to their front door.
Melissa: The neighbor’s house is set lower than ours. She had eight feet of water in hers. Hers was built 20 years before ours, so FEMA wasn’t requiring what they’re requiring now.
Rehak: So, they’re not permitting anything down here anymore?
Jim: After we got our permit, they tried to shut everything down. They let the people who had already applied continue. Then they tried to shut down all floodway permits, but later pulled back on that.
A Home’s Value
Melissa: You may have noticed the for-sale sign down the block. That lot has been for sale the entire time we have lived here. People come out here and they look at it and say, “Wow, look at this. This is really beautiful. It’s great. Then when they go to get the permit, it’s impossible to get because of the location.
Rehak: Is it impossible or just cost prohibitive?
Jim: It took us two years of steady work with the city. Then they said, OK, now you have to get FEMA’s approval. They did everything they could to talk us out of it. It was just one thing after another – endless stuff you had to do. And that was before Harvey when things were flowing better around here.
Rehak: So, having gone through all that, living in this gorgeous house with this gorgeous view, is it worth it in your opinion? Would you do it all over again?
Melissa: NO!
Rehak: (Laughing) That was pretty quick.
Jim: It’s really scary to think you could lose your home.
Melissa: We will never be able to sell our house. It’s worth only what its value is to us. We can’t say, “OK, well let’s move.” There’s no way to get out of the house what we put into it. That’s because of Harvey.
Changes in River Behavior
Jim: We don’t know that for sure. I think anywhere on a waterway, you’re at risk. But what’s bad for us at this point is that it keeps flooding and keeps leaving mud in the yard and it didn’t used to do that. We’ve lived here for a long time. Every once in a while, water would come up in the yard, but nothing like it does now.
Rehak: In the eight years before Harvey that you lived here, how often did the water come up?
Melissa: Three times that we had to leave and go stay in a hotel. At 48 feet, the river starts to get in our yard. Anything over 50 feet, that’s when we have to leave to get our stuff out safely.
Receding floodwater after Harvey
Endless Mud and Dead Trees
Rehak: What was involved in the cleanup?
After Harvey, sediment covered the stairs up to the second floor. Two to three feet covered the ground.
Melissa: After Harvey there were two to three feet of sediment underneath our house. We had to get a bulldozer and push it all over the yard. Harvey destroyed a houseboat and another house just up the canal from us and left debris all over our yard. Then there were all the trees that fell. We had to pick those up, too.
Jim: We lost several 100-foot pine trees. They’re dying left and right from all the silt that the flood left on top of everything.
Part of the tree tangle that the Balcoms had to clear from their property after Harvey
Melissa: That was the biggest part of the cleanup. The dirt everywhere. It gets in your house.
Rehak: How long did it take you to clean up after the flood?
Jim: We’re still cleaning. With this recent flooding, there are so many branches and so much mud, it’s hard to really get it cleaned up completely.
Eagles Outside Your Living Room
Rehak: You said there were eagles living around here. Tell me about that.
Jim: Lately, we’ve had them flying nearby. Two weeks ago, we had two full grown eagles fly into the tree behind the house. White headed. Full grown. We’ve seen them several times.
Rehak: Are you concerned about the impact of high rises on wildlife?
Soil Like Baby Powder in a Glass of Water
Jim: Yes, but a bigger concern is people’s safety. After spending two years to get a permit for this house, I can’t imagine how they would get a permit for all of that. The river is out of control. The flooding is out of control. And then to build a road! The soil is so unstable. It’s like if you poured baby powder in a glass of water. If you’re not from around here, you can’t imagine what it’s like. They would have to put in pylons. It would cost a billion dollars to do that. I can’t imagine how much money that would cost.
Untamed Nature
Rehak: Still, you chose to live here.
Jim: My son caught a 44-pound catfish right on that bank when he was ten. We have eagles perching outside our living room window.
Pair of adult Bald Eagles perched in tree outside Balcom’s window.
Rehak: You are big nature people. If you take the anxiety of the flooding away, are you still happy you live here?
Melissa: Oh, absolutely.
Jim: We have the most unique house around. In some ways were the lucky ones. But we’re also the unlucky ones, too. In normal conditions, prior to Harvey, the water would get in the yard occasionally. But we never had to evacuate until the Tax-Day flood, the Memorial-Day flood, and Harvey. And those were followed by five more floods this year!
Future of North-Shore Area: Increasing Isolation
Rehak: What do you see as the future down here.
Jim: I feel like eventually were going to be one of the few remaining here.
Rehak: You’re becoming increasingly isolated. Is that good or bad?
Jim: We like the isolation, but I feel that we’re really at risk because of the river. We could lose everything we have.
Visual warning to high-rise developers. Photo taken by Jim Balcom near River Bend during Harvey. Note wet marks on pole. Water was actually several feet higher than shown here.
Melissa: We budgeted for all the trouble. But we have friends in Trailwood and Kingwood Lakes that should have never flooded. That wasn’t supposed to happen to them. So, it was a lot more devastating to them…even though we live right here.
I thank the Balcoms and leave, thinking about the folly of permitting new structures in such a dangerous area, even as the County and City are buying out and tearing down hundreds of homes nearby that were destroyed by repeated flooding. With all the Balcoms did, they still flooded. And Romerica plans to build 5000 condos EIGHT feet LOWER than the level that the Balcoms flooded at.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/15/2019
563 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/HighWaterMark.jpg?fit=1500%2C915&ssl=19151500adminadmin2019-03-14 23:36:582019-03-15 09:40:33Jim & Melissa Balcom’s Hurricane Harvey Story: A Cautionary Tale
John Rocco lives in Kingwood Greens where 225 out of 225 homes flooded according to statistics compiled by the Kingwood Service Association. John is a man of few words. He let these images tell the story for him and sketched out a few details (see below). All images were taken after he was able to re-enter his home. I can only imagine his horror. It looks like his whole home was shaken, not stirred. But the home wasn’t the real tragedy.
An inch of mud and flood damage up to the door knob.Fine layers of silt cover everything.Large screen TV flipped off its standFridge on the fritzKitchen needs aide!What 240,000 CFS can do to your homeHis life was turned upside down.Buried treasures.Room no longer fit for livingUncalm after the stormCome right in and sit awhile!
Death and Destruction in the X-Zone
Said Rocco, “I’m supposedly not in a flood plain (Zone X) and I did the research on the build up of the Greens area after the 1994 flood before buying here in 2015. My house was built in 2005. Before moving here, I lived on Scenic Shore in Kings Point since 2001.”
“My son lost his house in the Enclave as well as his business next to the FEDEX store. We restored both as well as my house. My neighbor and I rescued the 90-year-old next door just as the water was within an inch of covering her bed in her first floor master. She had no idea. Unfortunately, she died about 2 months later.”
“My wife was suffering with stage 4 cancer. I had to carry her out of the house in waist deep water to a rescue boat that our son arranged to pick us up. She was in shock. She caught pneumonia twice, spent time in the hospital. She passed away in May, 2018, nine months later. I’m not blaming the flood per se, but it certainly had an effect.”
“I will say this. I will not restore all this again if we don’t get appropriate actions to mitigate flooding problems.”
Directly Impacted by Mouth Bar
Thank you, John, for reminding our political leaders of the pain that thousands of residents suffered. The homes in Kingwood Greens, like those in Foster’s Mill, Kings Point, Kings River and Atascocita Point were directly impacted by the mouth bar.
A year and a half after Harvey, a year after Mayor Turner said the mouth bar would be removed, and six months after “everybody but Trump” met in Austin and agreed in principle to remove it, not one cubic yard has been removed.
Performance, Not Promises
As we head into another election season AND another hurricane season, we need to remind our elected officials that it’s time for performance, not promises.
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 14, 2019
562 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/IMG_1763.jpg?fit=1500%2C2000&ssl=120001500adminadmin2019-03-14 21:26:362019-03-15 00:10:50John Rocco’s Harvey Experience: Death and Destruction in the X-Zone
This is another in a series of looks back at Harvey, as told through the photos of its victims.
Melissa Sturgis, self-described “oil-patch gypsy,” is still angry. “My entire home. Treasured antiques, three generations back from New England, are on this curb. Furniture and collectibles from eight years overseas in Malaysia, London and Russia. It’s a crime.”
Photo courtesy of Melissa Sturgis. Her entire home, three generations of family antiques, and treasures acquired from traveling the world for eight years…all went to the curb after Hurricane Harvey.What was left on the inside of Melissa Sturgis’ home after Harvey.Melissa Sturgis, who is 5’10”, shows how high the water got during Harvey.Family heirloom warped beyond usability. Catch of the day. Fish on the floor after Harvey.Cleaning out the closet after Harvey. Harvey’s wake-up call. “Someone bring a mop.”Morning after Harvey. Melissa Sturgis’ Slip ‘N Slide Dining Room.Shattered dreams left behind by Hurricane Harvey.
Silver Lining
Melissa Sturgis lives in Alaska now and says she is not moving back, though she keeps in touch with all of her Kingwood friends.
“Harvey was devastating, but it actually had a silver lining. It shook us out of complacency and made us more resilient…taught us that life is about more than things….it’s about perfect strangers coming together to help one another. People opening their home to the five of us for several days.”
“As a side note, my brother in law, sister in law, nephew and 2 cats from Sugarland were forced to evacuate. They drove hours in the torrential rain to get to my house in KW for safety–then lost their two cars in my driveway—AND THEY NEVER FLOODED IN SUGARLAND. And my sister in law had cancer at the time….and still does.”
“Yes it was tortuous, tossing out Great Grandma’s Dining Room table onto the pile….as Grandma (who also flooded and was evacuated from Arbor Terrace in Town Center) sat on the sidewalk watching her things and her mother’s antiques get tossed. Excruciating. But we survived. I’m just grateful I am no longer there. I was in Kingwood last week visiting my mother in law and Fosters Mill Estates STILL has houses abandoned or partially fixed and for sale. Some are still being worked on. It’s awful.”
Why I’m Posting These Now
Melissa donated her pictures to the cause in the hope that they will help create awareness of the devastation that flooding causes, and perhaps, just perhaps, they may create some positive change, too. Thanks, Melissa!
Hopefully, we won’t repeat the mistakes of the past…if people remember.
If you have pictures from Harvey that you would like to share with the world, please send them through the submissions page of this web site.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/13/2019
561 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/IMG_4346.jpg?fit=1500%2C1125&ssl=111251500adminadmin2019-03-13 20:58:472019-03-14 08:22:45Melissa Sturgis’ Harvey Story: Three Generations of Antiques Out on the Curb
