Weather/Flood/Climate Related
NOAA Climate Prediction Center – Huge collection of climate data with emphasis on temperature and precipitation. Includes both near and long-term outlooks.
Houston Climate: Temperature and rainfall averages for 30 years. By day, month year, different reporting stations, etc.
TexasFlood.org A one-stop shop for flood preparedness anywhere in Texas. Brings together local information from all over the state. Check everything from stream gages to the status of evacuation routes. Even lets you see the spread of floodwaters and the structures that will be inundated when a gage reaches a certain height. Hosted by the Texas Water Development Board.
TWDB.texas.gov. A Texas Water Development Board sister site to the one above. It emphasizes water development, drought and flood planning. It also reports grants for flood mitigation projects and contains depth maps of all the lakes so you can measure sedimentation over time.
TWDB Community Assistance Here’s my post on another Texas Water Development Board website with dozens of links to just about every flood-related topic you can imagine. From building codes to flood insurance and advice for community officials, this page has it all.
Texas Water Newsroom Tells the stories of Texas water—the people, places, issues, and efforts. The site contains videos, articles, press releases, and more. Stories updated regularly. All content available for public use and reproduction for informational purposes.
Aaron Tuttle Weather. Download the app. Shows lightning within a 15-mile radius (very useful around pools), something other apps charge for. Also excellent for rotation alerts.
Advanced Hydrologic Prediction for Humble/Kingwood Area NOAA predictions for the West Fork at the 59 bridge. You can also navigate to predictions for the East Fork.
Climate Check – Estimates various types of climate-related risks for individual addresses. They include heat, storms, fire, drought and flood. Reports even include recommended mitigation measures.
Flash App. A trusted leader in the weather industry.
Harris County Flood Warning System. Real-time rainfall, and river-channel monitoring and forecasting. As of 6/11/18, the Warning System also contains near-real-time inundation mapping. For instructions on how to use it and a discussion of its limitations, see this post.
Interagency Flood Risk Management Toolbox – An interactive online application that provides maps and data that simulates the extent of flooding and shows historical flood extents. It can be used for analyzing potential scenarios, flood risk assessments, damage analysis, and more. By TWDB, USGS, FEMA and NWS.
Mariner’s Tropical Cyclone Guide – by Dylan J. Flynn of NOAA and the NWS. Updated May 2023. An excellent primer on tropical cyclone formation, climatology, monitoring and evasion (when at sea).
Mike’s Weather Page A cornucopia of weather models and forecasts from around the world often used by professional forecasters. If you are trying to connect different parts of the weather puzzle, this is a must-see site. Has hundreds of models and links for everything from sea-surface temps to earthquakes and El Nino.
MyFloodRisk.org Goes beyond traditional flood maps which may be outdated. Looks at risk from a number of other perspectives to give you a much more accurate assessment. Also includes a “Probable Damage Calculator” that lets you input the value of your home and contents. It then calculates the likely amount of damage you could expect for each inch of floodwater you get. Extremely powerful and simple to use site.
National Hurricane Center Forecasts and active storm tracking.
National Weather Service Get current weather info and warnings for our area.
National Weather Service Flood Risk Calculator – Input a “return period,” such as a 25-, 50- or 100-year flood. Then enter a number of years, such as 30 for the life of a typical mortgage. Click “convert” and this web page will calculate your risk of being flooded by a flood of that magnitude during any period you want.
RiskFactor.com Past events, current risks, and future projections based on peer-reviewed research from the world’s leading flood, fire, and climate modelers.
SJRA River Forecast Dashboard – Shows latest updates of levels on streams and rivers in the upper San Jacinto Basin. Get it at a glance. Very easy to follow. Also see SJRA’s Event Monitoring Page when floods threaten.
Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program: More than 120 years of weather data dished up in easy to use and search graphical formats. See where current weather ranks versus the long-term climate trends.
Texas Flood Viewer. Shows gages throughout Texas. Click on a dot and you can see current water level relative to various flood stages.
Tropical Tidbits A variation on the National Hurricane Center site with much more graphical information and historical logs of major storms. Includes pages for current storms, aerial recon, satellite imagery, forecast models and analysis tools.
USGS National Water Dashboard – Shows gage heights and discharge rates of streams across the nation including dozens in the Houston area. Useful to see where water is coming from and when peaks will arrive at a point near you.
U.S. Drought Monitor: Your weather within the bigger picture.
Water-On-The-Go App USGS stream-gage data surrounding you wherever you go in Texas. Location-aware app with historical information.
Weather.gov. Recommended by professionals.
WeatherBug. Popular and proven. Great for lightning alerts.
WeatherUnderground. Also a popular and proven app.
Floodplain Maps and Elevation
Floodplain Maps and Elevation:
City of Houston Water Flood Hazards Maps flood hazard extents for many smaller streams and ditches in neighborhoods that are not covered in other maps that focus mainly on river flooding.
ElevationMap.net. Check the elevation of your home or wherever you are standing. Works on geographic coordinates or allows you to input an address.
FEMA Estimated Base Flood Elevation Viewer Shows not only the extent but also the estimated depth of floods. Maps many areas not included in the National Flood Hazard Layer Viewer. See below.
FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer Viewer. Zoom into any part of the country. Wait a few seconds. And outlines for the floodway and 100-year flood plain will appear. This website has amazing investigative potential. With it, you can tell how far your home, business or sand mine is from flood threats.
FEMA Flood Map Service Center – Plug in any address and instantly see where you the property stands in relation to floodplains that may exist around it.
Flood Exposure and Other Mapping Tools. This particular tool is geared toward coastal areas but also covers all of Harris County. It includes FEMA’s flood hazard layers, plus dozens of other visualization tools, all in one website. Shows development density, wetlands, emergency infrastructure, and much, much more. Lets you vary opacity of different layers and save maps.
FloodMap.net. Enter an elevation (in meters) above current sea level to see what areas would be inundated by a flood of that height. See how floodwaters spread or recede as you increase or decrease the height. Helps visualize why some areas flood and others don’t.
Flood Decision Support Toolbox – A Texas Water Development Board/USGS site. Click on a river gage, select a flood depth, and see how far the waters would spread. Clicking on a location within the flooded area will also show you the estimated depth at that point. You can also turn on a layer that shows flooded buildings. Unfortunately, however, the number of gages is limited, and most are in northern Harris and southern Montgomery Counties.
Harris County Flood Control Flood Education Mapping Tool. Has fewer options, but is easier to use. Contains great list of FAQs related to flooding and flood insurance. For instance, did you know that of the 2500 miles of channels and streams in Harris County, only 1300 have mapped flood plains? It’s important to understand the limitations of this and similar tools.
MAAPnext. Harris County Modeling, Assessment and Awareness Project (MAAPnext) is developing the next generation of flood mapping, Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), and new tools for communicating flood risk. Will improve management and regulation of Harris County’s floodplains through better understanding.
MyFloodRisk.org. Input your address and it will tell you the elevation of your slab, your base flood elevation and calculate the difference for you. Contains many other powerful functions also. Together, they will give you a much more accurate assessment of risk than simple flood maps.
National Weather Service Inundation Viewer. Select a gage, then click on Inundation tab. Then select a flood level in the left hand column and click on any point in the flood zone. A pop up box will show you how much water you could expect to get at that location for the given gage height.
The Harvey Story in Montgomery County An interactive GIS (geographic information system) site by ESRI focusing on flood damage in Montgomery County Texas. Also includes flood damages from Memorial Day, Tax Day and 1994 floods. Zoom into any part of the county and see exactly how many homes flooded there.
Texas Watershed Viewer Not exactly a flood map, but extremely useful in figuring out where water comes from and how it converges.
Three Ways to Find Out if You Are in a Floodplain. Links to Harris County, Montgomery County and National floodplain viewing tools.
USGS National Map Viewer Lets you find elevations and slopes everywhere in the US. Works down to the individual property level. Find the elevation of your slab, the slope of your street, your elevation above street level, and more. Best of its kind. Here’s a post that explains more about it.
USGS Topographic Map Viewer. Contains current and historical elevation map features that let you see how sites have been altered over time.
Lake Reports
Preparedness and Mitigation
National Weather Service 2024 Official Southeast Texas Hurricane & Severe Weather Guide. Highly recommended. Concise and comprehensive.
National Weather Service link to a multitude of preparedness articles.
Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Presentation and links to preparedness info for most types of man-made and natural disasters.
FloodRiskReduction.org by the Association of State Flood Plain Managers outlines 39 different flood-mitigation strategies for individuals and communities.
Drinking water safety after a flood
Harris County Flood Control District Storm Center for monitoring conditions before, during, and after storms
Hurricane Readiness How to prepare for hurricanes and other disasters.
National Weather Service flood safety tips and resources
Emergency Preparedness. How to disaster-proof your home.
Generator Maintenance Checklist
Important Legal Documents Checklist
Repair
Water Damage Advisor connects victims with help.
Dangers of asbestos in floodwater. Mesothelioma risks.
How different natural disasters can affect your home’s asbestos if present and the steps you should take if you suspect asbestos in your home. lanierlawfirm.com/mesothelioma/asbestos-exposure/homeowners/
Governmental
Harris Country Flood Control Contains an entire section now devoted to Kingwood. Click on the link at the bottom of the page. It includes an internal drainage assessment map. The map highlights trouble spots and gives you the status of repairs.
Houston Office of Emergency Management Emergency alerts, preparedness and news.
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Administration’s site.
Coastal Water Authority Monitors Lake Houston water levels and provides water to area cities, industries and farms. See graphs of current Lake Houston levels.
San Jacinto River Authority The agency responsible for Lake Conroe and the rest of the San Jacinto River Watershed. Now has two new directors from Lake Houston area: Kaaren Cambio and Mark Micheletti.
San Jacinto River Authority Studies Document library for various SJRA studies, including sand traps, sediment removal and drainage improvements.
TranStar Website and free apps show how to navigate around accidents and flooded roadways. Can save your car and your life. Download their Mobile App at the Google Play or Apple App store.
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Information relating to USACE projects in the Houston/Galveston Regio. The Corps also supports other information sources: Twitter: www.twitter.com/USACEgalveston, Facebook: www.facebook.com/GalvestonDistrict, and a video hub: www.dvidshub.net/units/USACE-GD.
United States Geological Survey Explore water-quality, reservoir and streamflow data for Lake Houston.
Community
Community:
Kingwood Service Association Focused on homeowner issues in the Kingwood area. Contains links to community associations representing 70,000 people. See flood-related news at bottom of home page.
Houston-Galveston Area Council Area resources for dealing with floods/hurricanes. Includes sub-links to hurricane evacuation maps, Harvey recovery, and financial information about emergency and disaster planning.
Houston-Galveston Area Council Water Resources Information Map. The Water Resources Information Map (WRIM) is designed to display H-GAC’s Clean Rivers Program water quality data. The main goal of the Clean Rivers Program is to ensure safe, clean surface water for the region by providing high quality data. H-GAC works with seven partner agencies to collect and analyze data from over 450 monitoring locations throughout the region.
West Fork Watersheds Partnership. A coalition of the H-GAC, EPA, TCEQ, Galveston Bay Estuary Program, and other concerned groups and individuals. Dedicated to improving water quality on the West Fork of the San Jacinto and its tributaries by disseminating information.
City of Houston How to find services by department.
City of Houston GIS Maps Numerous kinds of interactive maps that help you understand the world around you. Especially useful: the land-use map that shows types of development in the City and ETJ, as well as the status of plat applications and changes.
City of Houston Planning and Development
City of Houston PlatTracker – Track approvals of new developments near you.
City of Humble Home page. Guide to city services and events.
Bayou City Initiative Information about planning a flood-resilient Houston and the Galveston Bay Park Project.
Bayou Land Conservancy A conservation group preserving land along streams for flood control, clean water and wildlife. Very active in north Houston.
Cypress Creek Coalition. The chronicles of residents looking for ways to stop the flooding along Cypress Creek in north Houston.
Save Buffalo Bayou A long-standing site about one of the larger bayous in Houston, its history, and the struggle to protect it from relentless encroachments.
Contact Your Representatives
John Whitmire, Houston Mayor
Fred Flickinger, Houston City Council Member, District E
Twila Carter, Houston City Council Member At Large Position 3
Lina Hidalgo, Harris County Judge, 713-274-7000
Rodney Ellis, Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner, 713-274-1000
Adrian Garcia, Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner, 713-755-6220
Tom Ramsey, Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner, 713-274-3000
Leslie Briones, Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner, 832-927-4444
Charles Cunningham, Texas State Representative, District 127, 512-463-0520
Brandon Creighton, Texas State Senator, District 4
Greg Abbott, Texas Governor
Dan Crenshaw, U.S. Congressman, Texas District 2, DC (202) 225-6565, Kingwood 713-861-1117, email his assistant Kaaren Cambio at Kaaren.cambio@mail.house.gov.
John Cornyn, U.S. Senator
Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator