Army Corps Completes Value Engineering Phase of West Fork Dredging Project

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has posted a new video to YouTube that discusses the value engineering phase of its emergency dredging project on the West Fork of the San Jacinto River.

Galveston District Engineer Jacob Walsdorf narrates the results of a three-day event. It included hydraulic engineers, contracting representatives and project managers.

Purpose of Value Engineering

To reduce flood risks, engineers captured data from survey teams and aerial views, and utilized hydraulic modeling software to better understand areas needing dredging. In value engineering, these professionals work together to examine various scenarios that help them determine where they can achieve the greatest benefit for the lowest cost.

Previously, USACE measured sediment levels and finished field work for its initial sedimentation survey in April. It then conducted a helicopter tour of the area to provide visual confirmation of their measurements and help scope the project.

Likely Areas for Dredging

The value engineering video is less interesting for what it says than for what it shows. Approximately 48 seconds into it, the video zooms into a computer screen that shows “hot spots” referenced in earlier press releases. These represent potential dredging and disposal sites and are consistent with the problem areas identified on my helicopter tour.

The value engineering study concluded May 4, 2018. The completion of value engineering now allows Corps officials to begin the contracting process for the dredging project. See the video below.

Unconfirmed reports printed elsewhere state that USACE hopes to begin the dredging project during the second week in June.

Footage shot Mark Williford, USACE Galveston Public Affairs Chief

Posted 5/9/2018 by Bob Rehak

Day 253 since Hurricane Harvey

Take a Video Tour of the West Fork via Helicopter with the Army Corps

 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) hydraulic engineers conducted an aerial tour of the West Fork of the San Jacinto River aboard an Army Blackhawk helicopter. USACE Galveston’s hydraulic engineer Michael Garske narrates the video tour, which is fascinating for its candidness.

Objectives

The tour’s objectives: to better understand the area’s dredging needs and to  scope out possible locations for storing the spoils.They identified numerous areas with excessive shoaling that contribute to area flooding and require dredging. Engineers estimate they will need to dredge from 1 to 3 million cubic yards.

Sand weighs about 100 pounds per cubic foot. So a cubic yard (27 cubic feet) would weigh almost a ton and a half. Three million cubic yards of sand would completely fill two and a half Astrodomes.

Results not yet final

So where would they put all this dredged material? Nothing is final yet. But it’s interesting to hear the engineers’ comments as they fly over random locations. See the video tour here.
According to reports from Harris County Flood Control, which is coordinating with USACE, the project is slated to start on June 8 and suppliers are being told they need to complete the project within a year.

Various Possible Scenarios Previously Examined

Here are some scenarios based on data from Brown & Root’s 2000 report on dredging, courtesy of David Seitzinger, a Kingwood engineer.  Seitzinger points out that Brown & Root also looked at dredging the West Fork. At the time, Brown & Root estimated that it would take 90 to 120 days to bid and mobilize the project. They estimated that one dredge could remove 5,000 cubic yards per day.

If that formula still holds true, a million cubic yards (the low end figure quoted by USACE) could be removed in 100 days using two dredges. If they need to remove 3 million cubic yards, two dredges would take 300 days.

Seitzinger looked at other options, too. Adding a third dredge cuts dredging time by a third – roughly two months to 200 days depending on volume removed.

Using 3 dredges could complete the project by mid-September – the peak of hurricane season – if they only need to remove 1 million cubic yards. That’s the best case scenario.

Worst case? Using two dredges to remove 3 million cubic yards would complete the project around the end of May in 2019.

Of course none of this considers weather stoppages for hurricanes and other flooding rains.  “Obviously the more dredges they can get in the river the better,” says Seitzinger.

The Army Corps plays a central role in many of the ongoing projects that affect Lake Houston. Please note the public-facing information sources that contain updates on their projects, including those in the Lake Houston area.

Online: www.swg.usace.army.mil
DVIDS: www.dvidshub.net/units/USACE-GD
Twitter: www.twitter.com/USACEgalveston
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GalvestonDistrict

 
Posted May 5, 2018
 
248 Days since Hurricane Harvey
 

Harris County to Vote on $2.5 Billion Flood Bond Referendum on Harvey Anniversary

On May 1, Harris County Commissioner’s Court unanimously approved holding a special election on August 25, 2018 for a $2.5 billion flood-bond referendum. August 25th is the anniversary of Hurricane Harvey which affected an estimated 150,000 structures in the region according to FEMA. Ninety thousand of those structures, 60 percent, were outside the 500 year flood plain.

Harris County, TX logo

Clearly, Harris County needs to improve drainage. County Judge Ed Emmett says that money in the bond referendum will address needs in all of the Harris county’s 22 watersheds. However, an exact list of projects included in the bond has not yet been defined.

Guiding Principles for Flood Bond

Judge Emmett says he is committed to both transparency and equity in the flood bond package. Historically, the Humble/Kingwood area has been underfunded. The first report by the Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium found that this area contains 3 percent of the region’s population, sustained 14 percent of the region’s damage during Harvey, and historically has received zero percent of the region’s funding. It’s not zero dollars, but the dollars are so small, they get rounded down to zero percent.

What the Flood Bond Includes

Language in the draft bond proposal states in part, “The proceeds from the Bonds will be used for projects to hold or convey storm water, including land acquisition, including buyouts, and the design and construction of reservoirs, detention/retention ponds, channel improvements, restoration, and other improvements (“Flood Protection”) within the following watersheds and their tributaries…” The list of watersheds and tributaries includes the San Jacinto river and three of its tributaries including Cypress Creek, Spring Creek and Luce Bayou.

The proposed bond would increase county taxes a maximum of approximately four cents per $100 of assessed valuation. 

This Houston Chronicle article explains more about the flood bond proposal.

Improvements This Area Could Use

If, at this time, I were compiling a list of local projects to mitigate our area’s flooding, the projects would include:

  • Additional upstream detention
  • Additional dredging not currently being covered by the Army Corps, i.e., the East Fork and internal drainage ditches
  • Additional gauges to provide earlier and more accurate warnings before the next flood
  • Adding tainter gates to the Lake Houston dam, to lower the level of the lake in anticipation of major storms, so that we can shed water faster and earlier to provide an additional buffer against flooding
  • Partnering with the SJRA on projects that their watershed-wide flood prevention study identifies, especially those that can help the greatest number of people.

Others may have different opinions. What do you think? Contact me through the web form on the contact page.

Posted by Bob Rehak

May 3, 2018, 247 days since Hurricane Harvey

 

FloodWarn Workshop Presentations Now Online

If you missed the FloodWarn Workshop at Kingwood College on 5/1/18, you missed a lot of helpful information. All four FloodWarn Workshop presentations are now posted in one PDF in the reports section of this web site or via this link.

National Weather Service

Distribution Map

Rainfall during Hurricane Harvey

Katie Landry-Guyton, Senior Service Hydrologist/Meteorologist from the National Weather Service-Houston/Galveston office, talked about various types of floods, then focused on river flooding. She discussed the various types of forecasts and warnings NWS has to help you understand levels of risk. She also discussed details of how NWS formulates forecasts. For weather wonks and flood victims, it’s a must-see.

Harris County Flood Control

Jeff Lindner, Meteorologist/Director, Hydrologic Operations Division of the Harris County Flood Control District then discussed the hydrology of Harris County. Within this context, he addressed four types of floodplains in the county, the District’s flood warning system (FWS), inundation mapping/ forecasting down to the street level, and expansion of the District’s gage network.

San Jacinto River Authority

Jace Houston, General Manager of the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA), talked about the dam operations at Lake Conroe. Specifically, he explained how they made the decision to start releasing water during Harvey. Houston also introduced the SJRA’s new regional flood management initiative.

FEMA

Rounding out the evening, Diane Cooper of FEMA Floodplain Management and Insurance. Cooper, who has posted several times on this blog, is a Kingwood resident. She focused on flood risk, hazard mapping and flood insurance.

Among the surprising facts cited:

  • The National Flood Insurance Program processed 26,511 claims as a result of Harvey.
  • 55.2% of those claims came from OUTSIDE of the 100 year flood plain.
  • Only 17% of Houstonians had flood insurance (about 1 in 6)
  • 30,500 structures were in the 1% risk area (100 year flood plain)
  • 29,000 structure were in the 0.2% risk area (500 year flood plain)
  • City-wide, Harvey impacted approximately 150,000 structures
  • That means that more structures were impacted outside the 0.2% Risk Area than inside, approximately 90,000.

Cooper cited this last point as the reason why everyone should have flood insurance whether they are officially in the flood plain or not. This was a common theme all night among all four presenters.

They also pointed out that not all flooding comes from rivers. Much flooding comes from streets. Streets in Kingwood are designed as part of the flood retention system. They can deliver approximately two inches of rainfall per hour through the storm drains to the ditches. When the rainfall rate exceeds that, drains will back up into streets and release the water slowly so as not to overwhelm the ditches.

Moral of the story: even if you’re nowhere near the river or a drainage ditch, you can still flood from your street and, therefore, need flood flood insurance.

For more interesting tidbits, download and review all four FloodWarn Workshop Presentations.

Posted May 2, 2018

246 Days Since Hurricane Harvey

Want Lake Conroe Lowered? Stay Involved!

Last Thursday, the SJRA board voted unanimously to temporarily lower the level of Lake Conroe between one and two feet during peak flood months. Great news…if you live in the Lake Houston area.

Residents downstream of the dam applauded the move; upstream residents had concerns. On Friday, the Conroe Courier ran an article about the lowering. Not quite half of the 1300 word article discussed the efforts of two Lake Conroe homeowners who were organizing protests and letter writing campaigns against lowering the level of the lake.

The article did not quote any of the Kingwood residents who trekked to Lake Conroe to speak in favor of the motion. Nor did it mention any of the ongoing downstream recovery efforts. Thus, it left the impression that Lake Conroe boat owners were being inconvenienced without cause.

I felt the article deserved a response, so I wrote a letter to the editor which, thankfully, they published Monday night. It describes why a temporary lowering of Lake Conroe is our only defense against flooding for the moment. Until such time as the San Jacinto is dredged to restore its carrying capacity and more flood gates can be added to Lake Houston, we need an additional buffer against flooding. Lowering Lake Conroe is the quickest, easiest way to provide that.

It’s important that Montgomery County residents understand the privations that Harris County residents still live with because of Harvey. It’s also important that we work together to protect lives, livelihoods and property on both sides of the Lake Conroe Dam.

We should not be enemies in the recovery effort. Together, our voices are stronger. We can bring about change faster. All of our lives can return to normal sooner.

Here’s the original Conroe Courier article.

Here’s my letter to the editor that tries to put the motion in perspective and build bridges to Lake Conroe homeowners.

It’s important for Lake Houston Area residents to understand that lowering the level of Lake Conroe is not a sealed deal yet. Both the City of Houston, which owns two-thirds of the water in the lake, and the TCEQ, which oversees how water in the lake is accounted for, must both approve the SJRA Board’s motion. Until that happens, Lake Houston area residents must remain vigilant and involved. Take nothing for granted.

Posted by Bob Rehak

May 1, 2018, 245 Days Since Hurricane Harvey

DON’T FORGET FLOOD WORKSHOP TONIGHT!

PLEASE COME!

FLOODWARN WORKSHOP
MAY 1, 6:30-8:30 PM
KINGWOOD COLLEGE
20,000 KINGWOOD DRIVE
MUSIC BUILDING, ROOM 117
CLOSEST PARKING IS LOT G
HOSTED BY NWS, FEMA, HCFCD, SJRA

TONIGHT, May 1st at 6:30-8:30 p.m., The National Weather Service (NWS), Harris County Flood Control, and FEMA, and the San Jacinto River Authority are hosting a FloodWarn Workshop. They will talk about the types of flooding we see in the Kingwood/Humble area, the watersheds, forecasts, warnings, flood risks, and flood insurance.

Giant sand dunes like this one where the West Fork meets Lake Houston inhibit the flow of the river. Engineers say that sediment is not being carried out into Lake Houston (background) as expected. Areas behind these dunes experienced massive flooding during Harvey.

Organizers hope the event will help people in the Lake Houston Area better understand what goes into forecasts. They will also address their limitations, the risks associated with severe events, and actions to take in response to various types of warnings.

The NWS has posted the event on its Facebook page: The event is free and open to the public at Lone Star College – Kingwood at 20,000 Kingwood Dr., Kingwood, TX.

The National Weather Service provides forecasts and river flood warnings for the river gage at the San Jacinto River at Humble. Based on the readings there and elsewhere, the Weather Service forecasts “flood impacts.”

Flood impacts identify what structures, roads, bridges, etc. will flood when the river reaches a specific level. These impacts drive the establishment of the flood categories of Minor, Moderate and Major.

This FloodWarn workshop will be our opportunity to share our flooding concerns with the National Weather Service. If impacts need to be modified or updated, this is the community’s opportunity to provide that feedback.

Plan to attend. Make sure the NWS knows how important accurate and advanced warning forecasts are to you. With accurate forecasts we can be prepared for the next flood.

Houston at the Crossroads: Resilience and Sustainability for the 21st Century

Oil Tanks and Tanker on Houston Ship Channel

Houston at the Crossroads: Resilience and Sustainability in the 21st Century examines population growth, economic vitality of the Houston region, the increasing frequency of severe rainfall events, and the ability of agriculture to sequester carbon dioxide in the ground. The basic premise? Houston’s current financial position in the world is at risk if we don’t change.

Blackburn’s white paper begins by tracing the Houston region’s meteoric growth, from about 110,000 in 1900 to 6.4 million people today. This growth, says Blackburn, was enabled by the intersection of several factors and trends. They included the transition to a carbon-based economy in the early 1900s, the presence of plentiful hydrocarbons in the region, and the development of the Port of Houston at about the time the Panama Canal was completed. Conditions were ideal for Houston to rapidly blossom into the world capital of the oil industry.

Changing Trends Put Houston at a New Crossroads

After the year 2000, however, Blackburn says, the complexion of growth began to change, just as it did in the previous century during the transition from horses to automobiles. We are now at another crossroads.

Concerns about the increasing severity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as Tropical Storm Allison, Hurricane Harvey and other recent 500-year storms have been widely  linked to increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Concerns about CO2 have encouraged the development of alternative sources of energy, such as wind and solar. These alternative sources compete with oil and gas, the traditional drivers of Houston’s economic growth.

These trends also work together, according to Blackburn, in a way that makes the region less desirable for corporate re-location. Blackburn cites the recent decision by Amazon, which was looking for a second “headquarters” city. Houston did not even make the top 25 list of cities under consideration despite it’s mid-continent location; huge port; and excellent air, rail and highway transportation networks.

At the Crossroads of the Future and the Past: Decision Time

He makes a good point. We must make sure Houston is positioned for the future, not the past, if we want it to remain vital. The rust belt is littered with examples of cities that failed to see change coming. Blackburn also cites examples of cities that have successfully weathered change through history and discusses how they did it.

Blackburn crammed this 23-page white paper full of charts, graphs, maps, and tables that show the nature of the changes around us. He then poses the central question.

How can we capitalize on our assets to ameliorate our liabilities?

His prescriptions for change make this paper well worth reading. They include the way we manage flood plains and green spaces; how we grow and distribute food; and how we can capture the value of ecosystems by allowing land owners to be compensated for storing carbon through agriculture and forestry. Using nature, he says, is the oil industry’s only viable option for closing the carbon loop.

Practical Prescriptions

Blackburn proposes something called a Soil Value Exchange program. It reminds me somewhat of the emissions trading programs that helped reduce air pollution in Southern California. His descriptions of how farmers and ranchers can verify and capitalize on carbon capture represent hope for the future of a city whose economy is based largely on oil.

When you’re scraping muck out of a flooded home, it’s hard to focus on the big picture. It’s also important. Blackburn’s prescriptions are both visionary and practical at the same time. They are keys to economic resilience and sustainability.

Posted by Bob Rehak

April 29, 2018, 243 days since Hurricane Harvey

Houston at the Crossroads: Resilience and Sustainability in the 21st Century is reproduced here with the permission of the author, Jim Blackburn, and Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

 

 

Help for Small Businesses Recovering from Harvey in Lake Houston Area

While Harvey had a devastating impact on the area’s residential community, what we’ve not yet come to fully address or understand is the impact Harvey had on small businesses.

44 Percent of Area Small Businesses Affected by Harvey

The Small Business Administration issued more than 3,300 unique identifiers for businesses in the aftermath of Harvey. This represents almost 44 percent of all businesses in the Lake Houston area. While some business devastation was obvious in Humble along I-69, or  Town Center and Kings Harbor in Kingwood, a multitude of other low-profile businesses also suffered physical damage and economic loss.

Commercial Area near FM1960 and Atascocita Road looking west toward Lake Houston

There is no FEMA equivalent for small businesses; many were left without help after Harvey. As a result, many small business owners depleted life savings, took out home equity loans or drew down retirement accounts to keep their businesses running. For the many that lost homes as well as businesses, circumstances were even more dire.

Many small business owners depleted life savings, took out home equity loans or drew down retirement accounts to keep their businesses running.

The SBA made a significant positive impact to the area’s small businesses. But not all businesses qualified for a loan and a majority of SBA funding went to residents. Typically, 80 percent goes to residential and 20 percent to small businesses.

Lake Houston Economic Development Partnership Helps Address Gaps

To address this imbalance, the Lake Houston Economic Development Partnership partnered with SBA, LiftFund, Federal Home Loan Bank, Lake Houston Area Relief Fund, Rebuild Texas Fund and several others. Our goal: to help small businesses via zero interest deferred loans, newly developed grant programs, tax credits and disaster recovery assistance.

We cannot meet current demand for all small business assistance. However, we can build long-term support systems to help the Lake Houston Area recover, and to keep it vibrant and growing.

Two small business funding programs have begun to make a significant impact in our area; both focus on accelerating recovery from Harvey.

Zero Interest Loans from LiftFund

First, LiftFund has been a partner of the Lake Houston Economic Development Partnership and Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce since October of 2017. We hosted their first satellite workshop in the chamber offices on November 2, 2017, and have since funded several Lake Houston area businesses with zero interest loans up to $25,000 with a four month deferment period.

The current LiftFund minimum application requirements include a direct physical and or financial impact from Hurricane Harvey, having been in business at least one year prior to Harvey, and the ability to provide other documentation. That documentation includes three months of business and personal bank statements along with the company’s most recently filed tax return. LiftFund’s disaster recovery loan application link is: https://www.liftfund.com/texas-rebuild-initiative/.

Grant Program for Small Businesses

Our second small business funding program launched in March 2018 – the Lake Houston Harvey Small Business Grant Program. It provides grants ranging from $2500 to $5000 for businesses directly impacted by Harvey. It only covers the Lake Houston area – zip codes 770044, 77338, 77339, 77345, 77346 and 77396. Individual companies must have been in business at least a year before Harvey and provide business and personal bank statements along with their most recently filed federal tax return.

Grant dollars can be used for operations and asset purchases directly related to Harvey recovery. The full guidelines and qualification criteria can be found on the Lake Houston Economic Development Partnership’s website: http://www.lakehoustonedp.org/lha-harvey-small-business-grant/or by emailing mmitchell@lakehouston.org.

Small Businesses Employ 80 Percent of All Employees

Small businesses employ roughly 80 percent of all workers in both Texas and the United States. We must make sure that our recovery includes homes and the life blood of the Lake Houston area, our small businesses. So please, share this information with small business owners you may know so we can help them rebuild and thrive. Let them know that the broader community is working on their behalf.

Posted by Mark Mitchell
President, Lake Houston Economic Development Partnership

242 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Three New SJRA Flood-Management Actions

SJRA Flood Gate at Lake Conroe

In a motion approved at its 4/26/2018 board meeting, the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) officially entered the flood management business. The SJRA board also introduced the man, Chuck Gilman, who will head its new Flood Management Division. In a third major decision, the SJRA board voted to seasonally lower the level of Lake Conroe to help provide a larger buffer against future flooding.

New SJRA Flood Management Division Established

The SJRA board tasked its new flood management division with  identifying “projects and other actions that may be undertaken by the Authority to address flood events along the San Jacinto River and protect the lives and property of Texans living within the watershed.” The FloodManagement Division will also  identify sources of funding for such projects and implement them. The SJRA Flood Management Division will examine both immediate and long-term solutions that address flooding along the San Jacinto.

The SJRA has already begun work on an area-wide study of such possibilities. They include, according to board members,  additional detention, more gages to enhance flood warning capabilities farther upstream, and a new system to help predict when floods will crest at various places within the watershed.

Chuck Gilman named new Director of Flood Management

Charles R. “Chuck” Gilman, Jr., P.E., will head the new division as Director of Flood Management. Gilman has more than 20 years of experience in  civil engineering.

“We are extremely pleased to be adding someone of Chuck’s caliber and experience,” noted Jace Houston, SJRA’s general manager.

Jason Stuebe, Humble city manager, agreed with Houston’s assessment. “I think he will really understand the flooding issues facing our region and be able to help develop meaningful solutions.”

Before joining the SJRA, Gilman served as Deputy Chief Manager of the City of College Station and Interim City Manager. During his time at College Station, he also served as the Assistant Director of Water Services, Director of Capital Projects, and Director of Public Works. His administrative expertise pertains to utilities, transportation, drainage, emergency planning and response, planning and zoning, and legislative and governmental affairs.

Gilman is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas and holds a Project Management Professional Certification from the Project Management Institute.

Seasonal Lowering of Lake Conroe

At its 4/26/2018 meeting, the SJRA Board also voted to temporarily lower Lake Conroe on a seasonal basis. Lowering the lake will help comply with Governor Abbott’s directive to minimize downstream flooding.

Said Mark Micheletti, one of the two new SJRA board members from Kingwood, “This is major initiative and it will provide temporary relief until permanent solutions are in place.”

Normally, the SJRA maintains the level of Lake Conroe at 201 feet above mean sea level (MSL).The board voted to lower Lake Conroe by one foot to 200 MSL from April 1 through May 31. The board also voted to lower the lake between August and October, the peak of hurricane season. Lowering would start on August 1, with a target of 200 MSL. SJRA would lower it another foot – to 199 MSL – between September 1 and October 31. It is unclear at this time whether additional rain that fell in late October would be released or whether it would be retained to begin bringing the lake back up to its normal level.

In summary, this keeps the lake one foot below normal in the spring, one foot below normal during August and an average of two feet below normal for most of September and October. This plan will be reviewed annually in February to make adjustments as needed.

At the Board Meeting, four Kingwood residents and a representative of the Lake Conroe Area Homeowners Association, all spoke in favor of temporary seasonal adjustments to the lake level as a way to mitigate flooding.

Not Yet a Done Deal

Kaaren Cambio, the other new SJRA board member from Kingwood, said, “The plan is contingent on approval from other bodies. The TCEQ must allow an exception for the diversion of water and the City of Houston will need to approve this initiative. Nevertheless, until permanent measures can be implemented, winning the SJRA board’s approval to lower the lake is a major step in the right direction.”

By Bob Rehak

Posted April 27, 2018, 241 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Jennifer Trimble’s Hurricane Harvey Experience

Jennifer Trimble in front of her nearly restored home

Seven months after Hurricane Harvey flooded her home in the middle of the night, Jennifer Trimble still cannot hear the sound of a helicopter or rain beating on her windows without choking back tears.

Trimble, a single mother of an 11 year old son, lost her job before Hurricane Harvey dumped 40 inches of rain on the Lake Houston area. Like most of her neighbors, she had no flood insurance. “Everyone said that it never flooded here, that we were safe.” Trimble lives more than a mile from the San Jacinto River, two blocks north of Kingwood Drive in an area that had escaped previous “500 year” rains in 1994, 2001, 2015, and 2016. But her luck ran out with Harvey.

“With some warning…I could have saved myself from most of this terrible experience.”

Now, while picking at some enchiladas in a TexMex restaurant (that had also flooded), she tells the story of the night when she stepped out of bed at 4:30 a.m. into muddy water and reached for a light switch. Reliving those moments of panic, her story careens from desperate attempts to escape to the kindness of strangers, her faith in God, contractor woes, the search for a new job, and the politics of flood mitigation.

Flying Into the Eye of the Storm

The week before Harvey, Trimble had gone to Illinois to visit her mother who had been hospitalized. She recalls reading about Harvey, then a tropical storm, while flying back to Houston on August 23rd.

“By the time we got back, the forecast had changed to a hurricane,” she said. When the storm made landfall on Friday, August 25, she still wasn’t very worried. After all, she had lived and worked through Katrina in Louisiana more than decade earlier.

Back then, she worked in personnel for an oil company and helped hundreds of employees who had lost their homes. “But I didn’t think anything like that could ever happen here,” she continued. “We are too far inland. I went to the grocery store and stocked up on food and batteries just in case, but I wasn’t worried.”

Worries Rise with the Water

“Each night through the hurricane, I woke up from the rain. By the 28th, water was coming up everywhere. The drainage ditch was overflowing onto Kingwood Drive. Water was coming up from the greenbelt. That night, we made plans to evacuate in the morning even though I still didn’t think we would flood,” said Trimble.

The street in front of Trimble’s home as she and her son were being rescued by boat.

“I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and stepped out of bed into floodwater. I was kind of groggy and didn’t realize what was happening at first. I turned on a lamp that was plugged into a power strip on the floor. The power was still on. I was lucky we weren’t electrocuted.”

“I froze. For a full minute. Then I called the next door neighbor to let them know that their house would be flooding, too. I posted on the NextDoor app that I was flooding.”

Neighbors and Social Media to the Rescue

Trimble continued. “Two people I didn’t even know offered to come to my house and help. One person made it to the house, but couldn’t get in because of water already chest deep in the street. My car in the garage had water over the tires. We were trapped.”

“My neighbor and another person from social media came at 5:00 a.m. They helped move small items like electronics, an end table – anything we could salvage – upstairs. Through all of this, I’ll never forget seeing my cat in the office, sitting on top of my desk as the water was rising.”

Temporary Escape to Neighbor’s House

“We finally escaped out of the front door to my neighbor’s house in hip-deep water. While moving things upstairs, I was in ‘go mode.’

It wasn’t until I was in my neighbor’s house looking back at my house that it hit me. There was so much water. My whole house was sitting in the middle of a lake – and I didn’t have flood insurance.”

Jennifer Trimble’s home as seen from neighbor’s second story.

“Then my neighbor’s house started to take on water, too. At 9 a.m., another Kingwood resident rescued us by boat. I was so grateful.”

Search for Safety and Stability

As word of Trimble’s plight spread to friends, offers of help started coming in. Several offered her places to stay until she could recover. She and her son stayed with a friend in Mills Branch through the middle of October. “Then, we moved on to another friend.

“Because of my son’s allergies, we couldn’t move back in until all the drywall repairs were finished.”

My son has asthma and allergies, so we couldn’t get back into our house right away. We had to get rid of all the mold and mildew. The house had to dry out thoroughly and be disinfected. We also had to make sure the walls were up and textured. It took a long time. Sometimes I can talk about it, but other times I get emotional,” she said as tears welled up in her eyes.

Rebuilding a Home and her Life

“After the water receded, I had many people helping with demo work,” said Trimble. “Friends, friends of friends, strangers, people from my church. By Saturday noon, we were done. In two and a half days, everything was knocked out and gone.”

Flood debris ready for removal in front of Trimble home.

“When the San Antonio crews came to haul the trash away, I was happy, but cried my heart out. It’s so emotional to see your life being carried away. Our house is close to livable again. The master bath is the last major piece, though there are still lots of little details. Some things will just have to wait. Like the deck on the back of the house. We lost it altogether.“

“The hardest part for me is dealing with my contractors. Sometimes, I want to scream. I’m so frustrated. It seems like we always get up-charged. The cost never goes down if we substitute something cheaper. And then there are mistakes. For instance, we ordered a new door, but they trimmed excess height off the bottom instead of the top. So we had to order another. Seven months after the flood, we’re still waiting on the replacement. I’m tired of dealing with it,” said Trimble.

Making Do Until Making More

In rebuilding her home, Trimble received help from many unexpected sources.

“A Facebook page, Flooding Kingwood with Kindness, has been my source of sanity,” she says. There, people who have items to donate find people who need donations.

“My sister also started a ‘Go-Fund-Me’ page where friends and family could make donations to my recovery effort.”

“FEMA was very good to me. They gave me the maximum amount. My family and friends also kicked in. And I created an Amazon wish list to help offset expenses.”

“Still, I’m glad that I was a diligent saver. Without a job and without savings, we would have been sunk.”

“I’m frugal. With the exception of new bedroom furniture, I bought used things to replace furniture we lost. I just won’t buy everything for a while, until I build savings back up.”

Trimble recently started a new job. “It was a blessing that I wasn’t working during the recovery. There were so many things that went wrong. If I wasn’t there to address them right away, it would have been a disaster. As it was, I got my son off to school at 8 a.m. then worked all day on the house until 8, 9, or 10 at night for a long stretch.”

Trimble has been a single mother for nine years. “Rebuilding was overwhelming at times,” she said. “I lived through Katrina, Gustav and two surgeries, but this is the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. I look back now and think everything that came before was God’s way of preparing me.”

Natural disasters bring out the best in people

Much of Trimble’s interview focuses on the generosity of people around her. “Total strangers rescued us. Friends opened their hearts and homes. Neighbors washed laundry that had been flooded. Others helped tear out sheet rock and tile. My church started a support group. FEMA gave us help. Ted Poe broke through red tape. It’s all been amazing.”

Still, the trauma of Harvey makes sleeping difficult. How does she cope? “My experience as a single parent helped me get through this…and my faith in God. I don’t know how I would have made it without my faith!”

“I can’t do this again.”

Said Trimble, “I want to do what I can so that this never happens again.”

Trimble has participated in the Lake Houston Chamber’s Plea for 3 and Plea to See initiatives. She has also participated in the Lake Houston Area Grass Roots Flood Prevention Initiative and demonstrated outside the community center when Governor Abbott visited the area.

“When we got those flood warnings in February and March,” she said, “I felt horrible. I’m scared. I have angst about what will happen every time it rains.”

“We need to dredge. We need better communication. Clearly, we got no warnings. With some warning, I could have moved everything upstairs. I could have moved my car. My son and I could have gotten out. I could have saved myself from having most of this terrible experience,” she says, choking back tears.

“Clearly, there needs to be a better plan with permitting. They need to get to a place where they can lower the lake level. They’re fumbling right now; figuring everything out as they go. We need more coordinated flood control; all these entities don’t work well together.”

“Everybody underestimated the impact that this was going to have and how long it would last. The emotional and mental toll is draining. A disaster like this impacts daily life, the ability of people to hold a job, to parent their children, and to navigate through life in general.”

Interviewed by Bob Rehak,
Posted April 26, 240 Days After Hurricane Harvey