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Video of Mile-Long Sand Pit Leaking Into West Fork

Correction: This sand pit in this post was sold by Hallett to Riverwalk Porter LLC on January 23, 2024.

Last week, the West Fork San Jacinto rerouted itself through a mile-long sand pit at the five-square mile Hallett Mine in Porter. Some people reported problems understanding how all the images in that post related to each other and where the mine was. To help eliminate confusion, I returned to the site this morning show continuous video from one breach to the other. I’ve also included a wider map below.

Location of Mine and Path of Video

The map below shows the relationship of the pit “captured” by the river to the rest of the mine, Porter and Kingwood.

*Arrow indicates location and direction of drone video.*

Video and Still Shots of Captured Pit

Clouds were low and I was flying near the base of them. So, the video looks a bit hazy.

One-minute video shot morning of 5/3/24 while flying from south to north. First breach is exit from pit, second is entrance. Water flows toward the camera through the pit to the left of the channel.

Note several things as you watch the video.

Size of the entry and exit breaches. They’re impossible to measure precisely, but likely greater than 100 feet wide.
Depth of the pond that used to be filled with wastewater before the dikes broke. See exposed sides where vegetation did not grow.
Sand being washed downstream before the water receded.
Dune blocking the West Fork in the upper right near the end of the video.

Here are some still shots with more contrast that show those highlights and other aspects. I’ll arrange these in the reverse order, i.e., flying downriver in the opposite direction starting from the entrance breach..

*Giant dune has totally blocked off West Fork and diverted it into pit (upper left).* *Local residents say dune is 5-8 ft. high. People on either side of it cannot see each other.*

Water now takes the path of least resistance, flowing through the giant pond.

*Note freshly deposited sand in pit. The island (right center) is reportedly a burial ground for Native Americans.*

*Note color difference in water and how pond water now flows downstream. Also note height of pond walls.*

Have a cool, refreshing glass of Hallett.

This flows straight into Lake Houston.

Downstream Photos Taken on 5/13/23 at US59 Bridge

*Looking S across West Fork toward Humble. Note ripples in fresh layers of sand under US59 Bridge.*

The City of Houston is launching a new $34 million dredging program to remove another 800,000 cubic yards of sediment accumulating in the West Fork downstream from the bridge.

Hallett contends that sand cannot escape its pits and that this sand comes from river bank erosion on other tributaries such as Spring and Cypress Creeks.

Robin Sedewitz, Kingwood resident contributed the three photos and video below.

Note height of debris in bridge supports.

*Trees swept downstream in the May flood are forming a dam on the south side of the old bridge.*

*Trees caught under the southbound lanes of US59.*

30-second video by Robin Sedewitz panning from upstream to down showing accumulations of debris in bridge supports.

During Harvey, debris such as this got caught in supports for the old railroad bridge and dammed the river, backing water up into Humble and Kingwood businesses. The railroad ultimately built a new bridge that would let trees pass through. No trees got hung up on the new bridge supports during this flood.

Where to Report Problems

Harris County Flood Control now surveys the river after floods and removes debris. They just haven’t gotten to this debris yet.

If you see problems that need HCFCD’s attention, you can report them here.

The TCEQ regulates sand mines in the State of Texas. To report sand mine issues, visit: https://www.tceq.texas.gov/compliance/complaints/.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5.13.24

2449 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

Does Wet Spring Portend Intense Hurricane Season?

Does a wetter-than-normal spring say anything about Houston’s chances for a busier-than-normal hurricane season? According to Jeff Linder, Harris County’s meteorologist, the two correlate poorly. In the process of exploring that, I discovered some surprising facts about the intensity and seasonality of rainfall in the region.

So Far, Not So Much Wetter than Normal

“Harris County is running slightly above normal for 2024,” says Lindner. “But much of this can be traced back to the rains in late January.”

“I would likely attribute the winter and early Spring rains more to the El Niño pattern in the eastern and central Pacific,” he added. “They tend to bring above-normal rainfall to the southern plains in the fall, winter, and spring months.”

“As for the upcoming hurricane season, there is little correlation between slightly above average rainfall and any sort of potential activity on the Texas coast. With that said, conditions look highly favorable for an active hurricane season in 2024 including very warm sea surface temperatures throughout the Atlantic basin, the collapse of El Nino and development of La Niña.”

Lindner concluded, “That tends to create increasingly favorable conditions for tropical development, especially in the Caribbean Sea, and a wetter than normal pattern from the coast of Africa into the Caribbean.”

The graphs below explain Lindner’s characterization of the temperature and rainfall as “slightly” above normal as we head into hurricane season.

I pulled them from the climate page for Houston on Weather.gov. The National Weather Service (NWS) shows 35 different reporting stations in the Houston region and gives you nine ways to visualize daily, monthly and yearly data.

As I browsed the site, I discovered two interesting things. When you look at monthly averages:

Rainfall totals differ greatly depending on your part of Houston.
Seasonality of rainfall also differs depending on your area.

Let’s look at the two variables using data and graphs from the climate page above.

Rainfall YTD vs. Highs, Lows, Averages

Bush Intercontinental Airport received about 21 inches of rain (YTD through May 12). In late January and February, Bush was having the rainiest year on record. But since then, despite very heavy rains to the north, we’ve only beaten the average YTD figures by a slight amount, as Lindner observed.

Meanwhile, Galveston started out with record rainfall. Only in the last two or three weeks did it fall behind the record year (1949). Galveston is still about 50% above its average total YTD.

In Conroe, rainfall totals have flirted all year with the record high year of 1935. They only dipped below average for a week or so in January.

Rainiest Months Vary with Distance from Coast

At Bush Intercontinental Airport, June (#1) and October (#2) are the rainiest months with May ranking #3.

But at Galveston’s Scholes Field, May is the ninth rainiest month and September the wettest. September is the peak of hurricane season.

In Conroe, May is the wettest month.

Spring rains play a larger role in the yearly total the farther north you go. But in Galveston, the totals jump up during hurricane season.

Not too much of a surprise there. Many fronts lose their punch before reaching the coast in the winter and spring months. Likewise, many tropical disturbances lose their punch 90 miles inland during the summer and fall – hurricane season.

What Data Illustrates

This data illustrates that it’s hard to generalize about the weather. You can’t take one storm (or even a series of storms) in one location and posit it as proof of a larger trend. Too many factors govern the weather to do that.

Moreover, my rain gage is reading 142% of the YTD figures from the nearest official gage at IAH just seven miles away.

That’s not uncommon. Sometimes a rain bomb lands on your home. Thunderstorms train over you for hours. Or a front stalls when it reaches your address. Those things can skew your perception of the weather.

That said, all the experts are still warning of a much higher-than-normal hurricane season this year. But for reasons unrelated to local flooding.

Happy Mother’s Day

Let me close this Mother’s Day with some beauty from Mother Nature. The son of a friend captured this image while flying around the storm that slammed north Houston on May 9th. He was at 30,000 feet and the clouds topped out at 70,000 feet as the sun was setting.

*Photo courtesy of reader.* *Used with permission.*

The power of the photo above should remind you. If you somehow missed it, we just finished Hurricane Preparedness Week. Have you made your preparations for hurricane season yet?

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/12/24

2448 Days since Hurricane Harvey

San Jacinto West Fork Reroutes Itself Through Giant Hallett Mine

Correction: This sand pit in this post was sold by Hallett to Riverwalk Porter LLC on January 23, 2024.

The San Jacinto West Fork has become totally blocked by sediment at the Hallett Mine in Porter and rerouted itself through the giant sand mine.

The old river channel has been sealed off by sediment. And the river now enters and exits one of the mine’s largest pits through large breaches in what used to be dikes. See below.

*White oval shows location of blockage. Blue line shows old route of river. Red lines show detours through sand pit.*

More than Normal Erosion

Rivers always move during floods through erosion. But this represents a far larger than normal amount of movement through a process called pit capture.

The river now runs through the Hallett pit instead of following its normal curving channel.
See photos below.

The loss of the dikes is likely the result of the SJRA releasing 71,000 cubic feet per second from Lake Conroe during the peak of the recent flood. That was the second largest release in the history of the SJRA.

Pictures taken just before the peak of the flood show the river already overtopping the pit’s dike. Dikes like walls that separate the river from the mine’s pits. They keep industrial wastewater out of your drinking water.

Weak Sand Mining Regulations Brought This On

Two other contributing factors are the depth of the pit compared to the river and the width of the dike.

The deeper the pit (compared to the river), the less stable the dike.
The narrower the dike, the weaker it is.

Until recently, Texas was one of the few states (if not the only one) that had no minimum setbacks of mines from rivers. Bill McCabe of the Lake Houston Area Flood Prevention Initiative was instrumental in lobbying for greater setbacks. The TCEQ adopted them in 2021, but this pit predated the new regulation. And the TCEQ did not enforce the regulation in this case.

In fact, this pit was open on its southern end since January. That breach was already expanding before the recent flood.

Pictures Taken Before and After Flood Show Pit Capture

Pictures taken during and after the flood show the impact.

Pre-peak on West Fork at Hallett Mine — *Hallett Mine San Jacinto West Fork on May 3, near peak of recent flood.*

*Same area photographed on May 11, 2024. Break in dike is circled in red.*

Following the river around to the right, you can see how much sand the river laid down. This likely happened when the volume of water moving through the channel decreased as the velocity decreased, allowing suspended sediment to drop out of suspension.

*The river which flows right to left, used to flow toward the bottom left. But now it flows into the pit (upper left).*

*Closer shot showing the river being diverted into pit* *on the left.*

This video shows the height of the sand deposited in the river bed when the river started flowing to the pit instead of following its normal channel.

Video courtesy of a fisherman, Jody Binnion. Listen to his narration.

*This shot also gives you some idea of the height of the sand now blocking the river.*

*Farther upriver but looking downriver, you can see how the river has been diverted. Note how narrow the dike is/was as it approaches the point of failure.*

*Note the ripples on the water flowing into the pit.*

*At the far southern end of the pond, the water exits back into the river through this breach that opened up in the January flood.*

*Between the new entrance and exit from the pond, the Northpark ditch enters the river from Oakhurst and Northpark Woods.*

Impacts Associated with Pit Capture

Without a river to remove sand from the confluence with the ditch, more and more sediment will likely build up here.

Academic literature discusses the impact of “pit capture” on:

River bed degradation
Bank erosion
Channel widening
Infrastructure damage or destruction
Loss of riparian vegetation
Habitat damage
Degradation of water quality.

In regard to the last point, sand mining also frequently stirs up heavy metals such as lead and cadmium, which have been documented in academic literature. However, I have no evidence that such chemicals are coming from the Hallett Mine.

This river, which now flows through the Hallett pit, flows into Lake Houston. And Lake Houston is the source of drinking water for more than 2 million people.

Posted by Bob Rehak on May 11, 2024

2448 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Debris Piles are Ba-aack

May 10, 2024 – The floodwaters have finally receded. The sun has come out. And the debris piles are ba-aack. People who flooded during the storms last week are taking advantage of the break in weather to muck out their homes, toss wallboard, and cart waterlogged furniture to the curb.

Nowhere in Kingwood was the flooding worse than on Dunnam Road where Taylor Gully, Caney Creek, White Oak Creek, Peach Creek and the East Fork San Jacinto all come together. At least six homes and a business flooded. And badly.

Today, I visited the area again to survey the damage and talk to the survivors. For the people who live there, it was like the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

Photos Taken 5/10/24 on Dunnam Road

This isn’t the first time that Dunnam Road flooded. And it won’t be the last. Part of it is low and close to the river.

The flooding seemed especially poignant this time, however, because the heaviest rains fell more than 60 miles away and worked their way downstream over a period of several days.

The floodwater even peaked briefly and started to recede. This may have given many people false hope that they wouldn’t flood, despite the Harris County meteorologist’s warnings to evacuate.

*West side of Dunnam is filled with debris piles.*

*East side is also filled with debris piles. Note how force of water pushed fence in.*

*I think they’ll be needing more buckets and scrub brushes.*

*This lady and her husband just moved here from El Paso by way of Tucson and LA. They wanted a place that wasn’t so dry and found Houston. She’s 5’6″ tall*. *So you can see how deeply their home flooded.*

*Carrying all your belongings to the curb.*

*Flooded closets and driers left people with only one option. The backyard fence.*

*This is a very patriotic community and many homes will need new flags.*

*Oblivious to the tragedy and just happy to be in Grandma’s arms as she surveys neighbors’ damage.*

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/10/24

2446 Days since Hurricane Harvey

They Clearcut 533 Acres, Then Got 17 Inches of Rain

Construction is always the riskiest period during a development project. Especially when you clearcut 533 acres and get 17 inches of rain … in a week. However, thanks to best practices and luck, most people surrounding the Sila development in Huffman narrowly escaped what could have become a major disaster.

As the people in Woodridge Village learned repeatedly on far less rain, best practices can make all the difference. They lived near a development where stormwater detention basins were not built before the rain; the people near Sila did.

The new 553-acre Sila Project in Huffman on the East Fork of the San Jacinto seems to have had considerably less impact on neighbors. This is a story of people caught between a rising river and sheet flow coming down a slope.

Sila’s Similarities, Differences with Woodridge

Several similarities with the Woodridge project exist. Sila is big. Built on an identical slope. And clearcut. But after 17 inches of rain last week, the outcome was dramatically different.

Instead of flooding hundreds of homes below the development as Woodridge did, most residents near Sila only got water in their yards. One fish pond was ruined. At least two vehicles flooded. And at least one garage flooded.

The big differences between Sila and Woodridge?

Sila had already built stormwater detention basins. When the rain hit, a series of berms and ditches helped funnel runoff to the basins and away from neighbors. Silt fences intercepted much of the runoff. And crews replaced the fences when silt started to spill over the top.

Before looking at pictures, first let’s look at some stats that put the rainfall in perspective.

5- To 25-Year Rainfall

After Sila weathered this year’s January rains, it got slammed again in the week between April 29 and May 5 with almost 17 inches of rainfall.

*Nearest official Harris County gage at FM1485 on East Fork San Jacinto showed* *16.68 inches of rain fell in the seven days from April 29 to May 5.*

That included 7 inches in one day. And half of that fell in one hour.

*Of the 17 inches, 7.12 inches fell on 5/2/24 alone, with 3.48 inches in one hour.*

NOAA defines a 7-day/17.1 inch rain in this area as a 25-year rainfall. Ditto for a one-hour 3.88 inch rain. Seven inches in one day, however, is only a 5-year event.

However, the East Fork peaked at FM1485 at a level equal to a 500-year flood according to Harris County Flood Control’s Flood Warning System. That’s because even heavier rain fell upstream in less time. It then reached FM1485 when heavy rains were falling there.

*East Fork peaked over 77 feet at FM1485 on May 5.*

*According to HCFCD, 77 feet is more than a 500-year rain.*

Also, according to HCFCD, to date, the area near FM1485 has received more than two thirds of a year’s average annual rainfall in about one third of the year – 34.72 inches!

Pictures Taken During Week of Heavy Rains

Northwood Country Estates resident Max Kidd provided many of the following photos taken at ground level during the flood.

They show mainly severe street flooding. Thankfully, Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s crews had just finished cleaning roadside ditches. Otherwise these photos might have told a much worse story.

*Water poured out of Sila across Northwood Country Road on 5/2, the day before the big rain.*

On 5/3 and 5/4/24, Kidd took these photos.

Kidd believes the home above likely flooded from the East Fork. However, Sila runoff may have added to the flood depth.

Photos Taken After the Storm

Sila is so big that it’s hard to get it all in one shot. The aerial shots below were all taken on 5/6/24 after the rain ended.

*Looking E across the southern portion of Sila. St. Tropez, a separate development is at very top of frame* *across FM2100*. *But Sila drains to the East Fork, and St. Tropez drains to Luce Bayou.* *Luce later re-enters the East Fork near its mouth at the headwaters of Lake Houston.*

Sila had a swale behind the erosion to slow water running down a hill out of frame to the left. However, that swale filled in with sediment, according to Kidd. And water then flowed into a ditch behind the fence filling it with sediment, too.

*Still, some sediment flooded into the backyards of neighbors.*

*A series of detention basins caught and channeled runoff through the development*.

*Shortly after the rain ended, it appears that bulldozers graded perpendicular to slopes to help retain or slow down any additional rain that might fall.*

In the photo below, also note the forested corridors that break up Sila runoff. While large portions have been clear cut, those that haven’t help retain sediment.

*Detention basin was holding water and emptying it slowly, presumably at the pre-development runoff rate.*

*Still, some sediment escaped the development. Note roadside ditch filling in at peak of triangle.*

As I left after this photo session, I noticed workers replacing and reinforcing the silt fence above. But the photo below shows the volume of the sediment that escaped despite their efforts. A lot!

*Kidd’s fish pond is no longer habitable* *by fish* *due to Sila runoff that polluted it.*

*Lowest of the detention basins at southwestern edge of development was sending stormwater into a wetland mitigation bank before it reached the East Fork.*

*Contractors had put silt fence at the outfall of the detention basin to help retain sediment.*

*But then they pumped water toward the river, through a mass of muck, creating more erosion.* *(Can’t win ’em all.)*

*Along the way to the river, some of the dirt will get a chance to settle out in the wetland mitigation bank.*

*Regardless, the East Fork was running orange on 5/6/24*.

No doubt, several sources contributed to the discoloration. They include Sila, other upstream developments, sand mines and natural, river-bank erosion.

Few developments that I have observed go to as much trouble to control runoff as Sila. And few bother to leave trees these days. I wish more did. We might have less sediment clogging our rivers and contributing to downstream flooding.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/9/24

2445 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

Flood Photos Raise Disturbing Sand-Mining Issues Again

Photos taken during last week’s flood raise disturbing questions all over again about sand mining so close to the San Jacinto.

Are:

Dikes strong enough? No.
Dikes high enough? No.
Setbacks from the river far enough? No.

Can:

Current flow through the mines? Yes.
The river stir up sediment? Yes.
The sediment escape the mines? Yes.

Will:

Miners convince legislators that the answers above are false? Yes.
More sediment in the river reduce conveyance downstream? Yes.
Anything change? No.

The sand mining photos below show dramatically that the river breached dikes, flowed through pits, stirred up sediment and carried it downriver. I have hundreds more, but these make the point.

Photos Taken May 3/4, 2024

In the picture below, the drainage channel bisects two abandoned sand mines that sit just downstream of the massive Hallett mine (out of frame to the left). Note current flowing from left to right and mixing with the clearer water in the drainage channel.

*Northpark Channel approximately 3,000 feet back from where it normally enters West Fork beyond bottom of frame.*

This photo and those below say at a glance how much sediment is being washed through and out of the sand mines.

Reverse angle in same area shows how large the mine complex is. At this point it is more than a mile wide (E to W) and 2.5 miles from N to S. River flows from upper right to upper left. Can you even tell where the river is?

*Leak in dike of Hallett Mine into San Jacinto West Fork. Note water flowing over another dike into another pond in the background.* *River flows between the foreground and background.*

*Higher, wider shot from same area as above. Notice how river has penetrated Hallett pit on right in multiple places.*

*River flowed through that pit at the Hallett Mine on the San Jacinto West Fork*.

*Breach at far end of Hallett pit above has been open since January. Note river current cutting through pit and back into river at lower left. River flows from right to left.*

Sediment Contribution to West Fork

The West Fork will remain above flood stage through tonight. It will be interesting to see how much new sediment works its way downstream. We will need a new river survey to document that.

The SJRA may also have to revise the conclusions of its recent sedimentation survey.

Luckily, the City of Houston has just started another dredging program to remove another 800,000 cubic yards of sediment above FM1960 where the East and West Forks come together.

*Callan Marine getting ready to dredge northern part of Lake Houston*

Good timing on that one.

Last question. Will the City be able to keep up with all the sediment coming downstream? No, in my humble opinion. At least not if we permit the sand mines to continue operating the way they do.

Gage readings at SH99 and US59 on the West Fork suggest that this was a 25 to 50 year flood. But the dikes should have been built to withstand a 100-year flood.

And while the mines above are built right next to the river, most other states require setbacks ranging from 100 to 1000 feet.

The Never-Ending Story

During Harvey, these same sand mines were implicated in contributing to the formation of sandbars downstream which reduced the conveyance of the West Fork. According to the Army Corps, the West Fork was 90 percent blocked in the area below. And that contributed to the flooding of thousands of homes and businesses.

*South of the Kingwood Country Club’s Island Course, Hurricane Harvey deposited several feet of sand. It took the Army Corps months to dredge this area.*

We seem to have developed a system whereby taxpayers subsidize miners. That only seems to encourage them to adopt more dangerous behaviors.

As one long-time resident who lives near the mines told me, “If Hallett thinks they can get away with something, they will try.”

In the miners’ defense, they claim they support the area’s growth. But that also entails clear-cutting thousands of acres. And you guessed it! That creates more erosion that clogs our rivers with even more sediment. More on that tomorrow.

The question is not whether we can live without sand mining. It’s whether we can have more responsible sand mining and development practices.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/7/2024

2443 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

Flood Damage Revealed as Waters Recede, Please Report It

5/6/2024 Part II – Flood damage to an unknown number of homes and businesses is being revealed around Lake Houston as waters recede. Most of the serious flood damage seems confined to low-lying homes around rivers and streams.

As I drove around the headwaters of Lake Houston this afternoon from Kingwood to Huffman to Porter and back, I saw plenty of those.

In this post, I will first show some of those photos.

Then I will make a special request that could help this area receive federal assistance. Filling out a simple survey for the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) could help neighbors without flood insurance. But first the photos.

Photos From Harris and Montgomery County Taken on 5/6/24

Dunnam Road, Kingwood

Submitted by Sharai Poteet.

Northwood Country Estates in Huffman

Submitted by Max Kidd.

*Northwood Country Estates, Huffman*. *By Max Kidd.*

River Club Estates, Porter

Lakeside, Kingwood

Sadly, many of the homes I photographed today had been flooded before. And they hadn’t unflooded yet. As I write this on Monday May 6 at 9 PM, the gage at US59 still records a flood level of 53 feet – 10.5 feet above the normal river level for this area. So, some homes remain underwater and inaccessible.

The worst of the flooding may be over. But the West Fork is still at the major flood stage! It should go down to the moderate flood stage on Tuesday and the minor flood stage on Wednesday.

Request from Officials to Report Flood Damage

Elected officials called me today to request assistance. They’re not certain whether there will be enough damage from this storm to qualify for a disaster declaration and Federal assistance.

So please follow these instructions to report damage if you have it.

Go online to the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
You should be at a page that says, “Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) Damage Surveys.”
Click on the “Spring Storms” link.

Why It’s Important

The objective of this survey is to help state and local emergency management officials across Texas identify and gain an understanding of flood damage that has occurred. If there are enough qualifying damaged structures in your county, residents of your county could qualify for Federal assistance.

Only one survey per family. And the surveys can only be filled out online. They are very simple and you should be able to do them from a phone if your laptop or desktop was destroyed. It should take no longer than five minutes if you have damage photos ready.

They give this guidance for photos.

\✅	Take multiple photos from different angles including close-up photos of specific points of damage and photos of the entire structure.
✅	Make sure your photos aren’t blurry or obscured.
✅	Double-check your address as well as the location pin on the in-survey map.
❌	Don’t submit reports of non-residential structures or outbuildings (barns, carports, fences, or cars).
❌	Don’t submit multiple iSTAT entries for the same residence.
❌	Don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation in order to take photos or submit an iSTAT entry.

Reporting damages to TDEM is a voluntary activity. It is not a substitute for reporting damage to your insurance agency, and does not guarantee disaster relief assistance.

Why You Should Take Survey Even if You Have Flood Insurance

Since Harvey, people who are uninsured and not required to have insurance may qualify for FEMA benefits. However, 500 people per county must qualify before anyone in the county gets anything.

Individuals may qualify for SBA loans, housing assistance, etc. It just depends on whether the thresholds are met. This survey is the first step in assessing needs.

As I drove around the headwaters of Lake Houston today, I saw several pockets of damage, usually close to the rivers. And I am sure more exist.

So please share this post with everyone you know to make sure all residents with qualifying damages report them to TDEM. Even if you have insurance, your neighbor may not. Beating that 500 minimum per county could help them and help your neighborhood recover faster.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/6/2024

2442 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Where The Water Came From: May Flood Dissected

May 6, 2024, Monday 2 AM – Flooding in the Houston area during the first week of May 2024 caused quite a stir. It made national headlines most days last week. Twenty percent of the region’s annual rainfall fell in two or three days in several places upstream from Lake Houston.

Water rose quickly along the West and East Forks of the San Jacinto. Several homes flooded in Kingwood. But thousands more were on the verge of flooding when water finally started to recede yesterday.

Thankfully, rainfall Sunday in most places was on the low side of predictions. And at this hour, all gages continue to head downward with the exception of one or two far upstream to the northwest.

As last week wore on, people rode an emotional roller coaster from uncertainty to anxiety, fear, relief and, for some, anger. If lives weren’t destroyed, they were certainly upended. Many are searching for someone to blame for sleepless nights.

So let’s try to dissect what happened during this event. Then, let’s try to draw some conclusions and identify questions that remain to be answered.

How Much Rain Fell Where

Fortunately, the Harris County Flood Warning System, USGS National Water Dashboard, and SJRA have put a lot of tools at our disposal.

The first thing to check is how much rain fell where. HarrisCountyFWS.org makes that easy.

Go to the home page.
Under Site Selection/Sites by Agency, select All.
Under Rainfall Data, select Last 7 days.
Click the Watersheds option in the View tab (top left)

You should get a map that looks like this.

*From Harris County Flood Warning System, 5/5/24 at 10PM*

Note the extreme figures:

18.16″ and 17.8 inches that fell above Lake Conroe’s Dam
16.52 inches south of the Lake Conroe Dam
17″ in the Peach and Caney Creek Watersheds,
16″ in the East Fork Watershed
15.4″ in the Luce Bayou Watershed.

How Runoff Converged

To get a better feeling for how these watersheds connect, consult the map below without all the visual interruptions. I’ve circled the area that drains into Lake Houston in red.

From this you can see that the upper San Jacinto watershed draining into Lake Houston is immense.

The Texas Water Development Board provides some statistics. The size of the:

Entire river basin is 3976 square miles.
Area circled in red is 2828 square miles.
Area draining into Lake Conroe is 445 square miles.

So…

71% of the entire river basin drains through Lake Houston. Only 15.7% of the area draining into Lake Houston comes from above the Lake Conroe Dam.
Calculations based on TWDB data.

There are no other dams in the watershed. So, 84.3% of the area is beyond the control of the SJRA including everything on the East Fork.

But still, did SJRA save the water up too long and then release it in a giant pulse that swamped Humble, Kingwood and Atascocita? That’s a little harder to tell. We’ll come back to that later.

But USGS gives you a fast, simple way to learn where and when water peaked.

Peak Flows Compared from Different Tributaries

Go to the USGS National Water Dashboard. It’s a central repository for all gages that measure discharge rates.

Note: the term “discharge” applies not only to water released from a dam. Hydrologists also use the term to describe water flowing under a bridge. Discharge is measured in Cubic Feet Per Second (CFS).

Let’s look at how major streams in the watershed compared.

East Fork and Tributaries Above Lake Houston

*East Fork at FM1485 in New Caney peaked at 68,000 CFS on Friday, May 3, 2024 *6:45 PM* .*

*Luce Bayou peaked on Friday May 3 at 4PM at 12,100 CFS.*

*Caney Creek peaked at 18,900 CFS Friday May 3 at 12:15AM.*

*Peach Creek in Splendora peaked at 10,300 CFS on May 3 at 9:30 AM.*

Peak discharges are not directly additive because the peaks occurred at different times.

West Fork

I won’t post graphs for every tributary on the West Fork. But let’s look at two key points: below the Lake Conroe Dam and at US59.

That’s the only portion of the river system that SJRA controls. All other West Fork watersheds, such as Spring, Cypress, Little Cypress, Willow and Lake Creeks, enter the river below there. They all peaked at different times.

But by the time water got to US59, the combined peak was slightly higher – 82,700 CFS.

*West Fork at 59. Peak discharge of 82,700 CFS occurred on May 4 at 10AM.*

Main Stem of San Jacinto Below Lake Houston

And by the time all the water from the East and West Forks went over the Lake Houston dam, the San Jacinto downstream in Sheldon peaked at 157,000 CFS.

*San Jacinto River at Sheldon downstream from Lake Houston peaked at 157,000 CFS on Saturday, May 4 at 11:30 AM.*

Conclusions

Several things should be clear at this point.

The SJRA release from Lake Conroe wasn’t responsible for all the water flowing into Lake Houston.
SJRA doesn’t control any water on the East Fork where the worst home flooding apparently occurred. Official damage reports may take weeks.
The broken gate on the Lake Houston Dam (one of four with a combined release rate of 10,000 CFS) made no difference at the peak of the flood. By then, the 3160-foot-wide spillway was discharging a 5+ foot wall of water every second – more than 150,000 CFS, compared to 2,500.

Unanswered Questions

Having said that, I believe we definitely need to do an “after-action report” on this flood. Engineers need to answer questions, such as:

How much sooner should we have started pre-releasing water from Lake Houston to have made a difference?
Did SJRA wait too long to start releasing? Would an earlier release at a lower rate have made a difference?
Did the new SJRA strategy of throttling back releases every 2 hours help downstream? Or harm anyone upstream?
Why is it taking so long (almost 7 years) to figure out how to add more floodgates on Lake Houston?
Why don’t we have more upstream detention yet, one of the basic mitigation strategies identified after Harvey?
What was the role of Colony Ridge in the East Fork flooding? It covers an area 50% bigger than Manhattan and has virtually no detention basins holding water back from the East Fork. How did they pull that off?
When this flood recedes, will we see that sediment has once again reduced conveyance?
Why is the Lake Houston Area, which drains an area bigger than Harris County (and which has the most severe flooding in the county) getting so little help from Harris County? We’ve received only $39 million out of more than $1.9 billion spent since Harvey on flood mitigation. That’s 2%.

We need to start these conversations now.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/6/2024

2442 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Worst of Kingwood Flooding May Be Over, But More Heavy Rain On Way

May 4, 2024 Part II – The worst of this week’s Kingwood flooding may be over, but more heavy rain is on the way.

At 2 PM today, flooding on the East Fork and West Fork San Jacinto Rivers was finally receding. Early even. And lower than expected.

But another storm could drop heavy rainfall on the area tonight. As a result: the National Weather Service (NWS) is keeping a flood watch in effect through Sunday night. NWS predicts that we could get another 1-3 inches with locally higher amounts of 4-8 inches possible.

Earlier and Lower Peaks than Previously Expected

The National Weather Service revised its previous estimate for the West Fork downward shortly after the gage indicated water at US59 was receding. The West Fork was not supposed to peak until early tomorrow morning. And then it would have peaked almost 4 feet higher.

*NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, Sat. 5.4.24 at 5PM.*

The East Fork started receding last night at FM1485. Water in the Lake Houston Area started trending down late this morning as predicted. That limited Kingwood flooding somewhat.

Even the water level at the dam is going down (though it’s still six feet above normal).

This is welcome news for all Kingwood residents and their manicurists.

But whether Kingwood flooding continues to go down will depend on the amount of new rain we get. Mother Nature can be a tease sometimes.

Little Housing Damage, Rampant Street Flooding

This morning, I journeyed out with a drone and a Nikon. The most housing damage I saw was on Dunnam Road. I heard of other housing damage, i.e., in Woodstream, Atascocita Point, Kingwood Lakes and Kingwood Greens. But it tended to be isolated.

That’s little consolation for the people who got wet. But it’s a great relief for the vast majority of people who didn’t.

The Dunnam Boat Launch’s Self-Serve Bait Shop was under 17 feet of water according to the owner, who intends to rebuild. Much of her equipment was swept downstream.

Street flooding, however, was rampant and widespread from Woodstream down to Royal Shores on the East Fork and all along the West Fork, past US59.

I also saw lots of floodwater creeping toward homes. But most stopped short of entering homes.

As a consequence, this storm may become the future benchmark for Kingwood flooding. It will set the standard for how much floodwater the area can handle without major housing damage. The saving grace was homes elevated above street level.

Kingwood Flooding In Pictures

Here are more than three dozen shots that summarize what Kingwood flooding looked like on the ground today. Some impacted areas were the direct result of the river overflowing. Others were caused by “backflow flooding.” That’s when high water in the river keeps won’t let channels, streams and storm drains empty.

Please note: I couldn’t get everywhere because of blocked streets and the range of my drone.

*Entrance to East End Park near Riverchase*

*Looking W toward the Docks shopping center and HEB in distance.*

*Memorial Hermann Northeast Convenient Care Center (left) on Kingwood Drive. Parking lot under water.*

*West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge over Bens Branch.*

*Approach to West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge under water. Police closed off road.*

*West Lake Houston Bridge over West Fork closed to traffic due to approaches being under water.*

*Kings Harbor. Riverwalk under water. River up to Raffa’s, Zammitti’s and Sharky’s.*

*Looking east along Hamblen Road and West Fork San Jacinto*

*Looking N across Hamblen Road toward Laurel Springs RV Resort and Lakewood Cove.*

*Old Humble ISD Ag Barn at Deer Ridge Park*

*West Side of 59 looking south toward Deerbrook Mall and Costco. Note submerged cars (lower right).*

*Lakeside Area near confluence of Spring Creek (left) and West Fork (splitting off to right)*

*Looking E across 59 toward Lake Houston. Note Railroad Bridge in Background. NO logjams since new construction.*

*Photo by Melissa Balcom on Hamblen Road*. *Her son and dog evacuating on foot.*

Please Share Your Flood Pics

If you have dramatic flood photos, please send them in through the Submissions page on this website so I can share and archive them.

Let’s pray that the worst is over for now.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/4/24

2440 Days since Hurricane Harvey

When Flood Peaks Will Arrive, How High They Will Get

(Updated 8:30 AM 5/4/24 with current inundation map) This post explains when flood peaks will arrive in the Humble-Kingwood-Huffman Areas and how high they will get. It also includes evacuation advice from local officials and a photographic look at flooding so far.

Peaks Arriving at Separate Times

After almost 20 inches of rain this week in the headwaters of the East Fork and West Fork San Jacinto rivers, the runoff has finally worked its way down to the Lake Houston Area. Luckily, the crests will arrive at separate times. That should reduce flooding somewhat. The peaks won’t build on top of each other.

The National Weather Service has already reduced its predicted peak for the West Fork by one foot. And the SJRA has reduced its release rate from Lake Conroe to about a third of what it was yesterday morning.

East Fork Flood Crest Moving to Lake Houston Tonight

The East Fork crest has moved into Harris County at FM1485 and should arrive in Lake Houston tonight.

*East Fork at FM1485 at county line. Peak of 77.75 feet arrived near 7 PM tonight after rising 11.5 feet through the day.*

The waters will spread out somewhat as they approach Lake Houston, reducing their height. But 11.5 feet is a hefty rise in one day!

Farther upstream in Cleveland, the East Fork flood peak started trending down last night. By this morning, it had fallen 9 feet.

Expect rapid, radical rises on the East Fork as the flood peak moves toward Lake Houston.

West Fork Peak Migrates Downstream

The West Fork flood peak should reach the US59 bridge sometime tomorrow night. Today, the crest moved past SH99.

*In 24 hours the West Fork crest rose 12 feet* *at SH99.*

By tomorrow, the river at SH99 should start receding and fall below flood stage early Sunday morning.

In the meantime, downstream at the US59 bridge, the West Fork is at 56.38 feet and should rise to 61 by midnight tomorrow.

*The West Fork won’t drop from major flooding to moderate until Monday, May 6.*

NWS doesn’t compile similar graphs for the Lake Houston Dam. But tonight a five foot wall of water was going over the spillway.

Here’s how that will affect people below the dam.

*At Sheldon, the river will stay above major flood stage until Monday night.*

Mayor Prioritizes Kingwood Second Day in Row

Mayor John Whitmire, Council Member Fred Flickinger, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey and State Representative Charles Cunningham held another press conference this afternoon in Kingwood to urge people in at-risk areas to evacuate.

Their primary messages:

Humble, Kingwood and Huffman are in the eye of this storm. We are the most affected watershed in Harris County: the place where the two biggest rivers converge at the tip of a massive funnel.
Floodwaters can build rapidly and cut people off.
High-water rescues can put both you and first responders at risk.
Better safe than sorry.

Local officials plan flood response strategy at Firehouse 102 in Kingwood. L to R: Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey, PE; Houston Mayor John Whitmire; State Rep. Charles Cunningham; and City Council Member Fred Flickinger.

How bad could it get? See the inundation maps and photos below.

Compare These Two Inundation Maps

To underscore their points, compare these two inundation maps, from the Harris County Flood Control District’s Flood Warning System.

Just three days ago, the upper Lake Houston Area looked like this.

Yesterday, the map looked like this.

*Saturday 5/4/24 at 8am*. *From Harris County Flood Warning System.*

Flood waters can build rather quickly, stranding those who dally.

You can use the historical feature in the inundation mapping tool to see where the crest was near your address in previous floods. But make sure you know when the crest arrived. Who can remember the exact day and hour when Harvey’s flood peak arrived near you?

Experiment. Look at several days before and after when you think the flood peaks arrived.

Specific Advice from Harris County’s Meteorologist

Here’s evacuation advice from Harris County Meteorologist Jeff Lindner by watershed. It has not changed since yesterday. So if you read it then, skip down to photos taken today as the flood started to build.

East Fork San Jacinto

Peak of flood wave is moving into NE Harris County. Widespread severe flooding is in progress. Numerous water rescues have been conducted today. The river continues to quickly rise as the crest moves downstream..

Impacted subdivisions:

Idle Wilde
Idle Glen
Cypress Point
River Terrace
Magnolia Point
Northwood Country Ests

Eastern portions of Kingwood (lowest areas closest to the river):

Riverchase
Woodspring Forest
Woodstream

West Fork San Jacinto River near SH99 and I-45:

Major flooding is in progress upstream and downstream of I-45 including large portions of River Plantation and portions of Woodloch downstream to SH 242 and SH 99. The river is at crest and will begin a slow fall tonight with a more rapid fall on Saturday.

West Fork San Jacinto River at Humble (US 59)

River is rising from upstream inflows… Widespread low land flooding is in progress and will worsen through the night into Saturday. The river will peak Saturday afternoon and evening with a long flat crest and slow recession. The river will rise another 5-6 feet into Saturday.

Flooding of streets and structures near the river and its tributaries is likely along the river. Portions of the following subdivisions are likely to be impacted with the greatest impacts nearest the river.

Belleau Woods
Rivercrest
Northshore
Forest Cove (nearest the river)
Kings River Estates
Atascocita Shores
Kings Point
Kings Harbor
Kings River
Kingwood Greens
Fosters Mill
Kingwood Lakes
Barrington
Trailwood
Deer Ridge Estates

The following areas will be completely flooded with several feet of water: Deerwood Country Club, Deer Ridge Park, River Grove Park, Kingwood Country Club.

Elevated residents near the river should be prepared to be cut-off through the weekend.

San Jacinto River Near Sheldon

Major flooding is expected at all locations along the lower portions of the river.

Rio Villa is now cut-off as well as low-lying, river-bottom areas around Highlands and HWY 90.

High velocity flows may damage vessels and barges near I-10 and result in loss of mooring.

Flow may approach the I-10 river bridge west of the river crossing. Additionally, high flows will result in the suspension of Ferry service.

Kingwood Photos Taken Before Peaks Arrived

I took these photos this morning and afternoon.

Let me start with one from the West Fork. It shows the area near the Hallett mine between Northpark Drive, FM1314, Sorters-McClellan Road and the river.

This photo is farthest upstream of this group, all taken on the West Fork and hints at what’s headed our way. Note how the river reaches the treetops. Can you even see where the river is?

*Bens Branch at Kingwood Town Center. Left branch comes from Montgomery County. Right originates in Kingwood.*

*Kings Harbor riverwalk was already under water. Raffa’s could be threatened tomorrow.*

*Edgewater Park at US59 and West Fork. Turnaround under bridge was closed.*

*Flooded homes near confluence of Spring and Caney Creeks, and West Fork.*

*Hamblen Road flooded yesterday cutting off homes.*

*Homes flooded to second floor on Riverbend.*

*River Grove Park Soccer Fields and Boat Launch.* *Approximately 2 PM.*

*Paddleboard at Kingwood Country Club on the driving range.*

Paddleboard will probably not be safe in the coming days. But after looking at heartbreak all morning, it brought a smile.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/4/2024

2440 Days since Hurricane Harvey