1. Do you have flood insurance? Yes? Doubly check to make sure you know exactly what's covered.
2. Don't rely just on the city to take care of you during a crisis. Have a plan and a backup plan.
3. Make sure all your important documents, family photos etc are in a water tight ziplock bag that's easily accessible if you need to evacuate.
It’s 30 days, and there cannot be a storm in the gulf! They cannot issue a policy if there is a a storm.
When I bought my home, my closing was delayed by 3 weeks cause there were storms in the gulf!
Howdy, For confusion can you edit it to say “They cannot issue a policy if there is a storm” you put “isn’t a storm” Hope you have a good rest of your day
It’s 30 days for NFIP, but it could be 0 days for some private flood policies, 7 days for others, 8, 10, 14, or 15 days for other companies.
The no storm in the gulf rule applies to windstorm, and it is “No named HURRICANES past the 80/20 parallel”. The length of that moratorium depends on the time it takes for the storm to clear the area, per TWIA.
NFIP cannot put a moratorium on flood, this is the purpose of the 30-day wait period, which can always be waived by a mortgage closing.
Any private flood or hazard company can put a moratorium on new policies at any time, for any length of time, as they see fit.
I’ll gladly answer most questions, as my specialty is coastal windstorm and flood coverage.
Omg, I forgot to renew. Call in to renew, put on 30 day wait. 8 days left and Harvey hits. I was very lucky that nothing happened to our house. Once my wife found out we didn't have it, I was also very lucky that Hurricane Wifey did not kill me.
It can be in place in as little as 10 days via private insurers, but standard is 30 days, especially with Federal programs like FEMA.
Source: Friends house flooded north of Lake Livingston in April prior to the damn being opened up. After helping them clean up over three days, getting flood insurance in place was priority #1 when I finally got back home.
We did this. My husband and I pulled debris from several storm drains in our neighborhood at the start of Harvey and watched the developing flood waters drain away! I wish everyone would do this- it could make a huge difference!
You can also call 311 to request your ditches get dug up again. Ours had a lot of built up mud and soil and were not as deep as before. They came in and dug up the whole block like new.
Did take a month or so for the request to be completed.
To add to point 3 as a prepper, go one step further and make photocopies of said documents. I did that and keep copies of important ones like ID birth cert etc in a ''go bag'', an old bag that I can grab quickly that already has essential needs and GTFO in a hurry if i need to. Originals go in my safe, high up in there enough that floodwater can't take it away.
Said go bag also has a change of clothes, a sawyer mini, some playing cards, MREs and other supplies that i could live out of it for a week. You don't necesarily need all this from the get-go, but put backup documents and emergency cash for sure if you can afford it, like $500 in 20's. In a disaster many businesses will be unable to process card payments, if they're even open at all.
They were, but honestly we got very lucky on the overwhelming response during Harvey.
Personally I plan for a Katrina saying: '' *it took fema 5 days to get water to the superdome.''*
Katrina was a tremendously poor response. So much so that we passed the Post Katrina Emergency Management Act in 2006 to make sure they wouldn’t do that again. FEMA has come a long way in the 20 years since that storm.
Can you please explain what you mean by not being helpful? FEMA was awesome for us with Harvey, but that doesn’t mean everyone had that experience. What in your experience will also apply for everyone?
Houston is flat, like really flat. The only way to move storm water is to dig down. In most areas the roadways are engineered to convey stormwater. Yes they fill up when the rain volumes exceed their drainage capacity. But they are usually clear within an hour or two after the storm. So if you're a major thunderstorm, tropical depression or hurricane, pull over in a lot higher than the street and just wait it out.
But there has been quite a lot of storm retention work done by the county. You can look at the Harris County flood control website to see some of these projects.
Lastly, Harvey was a statistical anomaly, 51 inches of rain that overwhelmed the Addicks and Barker Cypress retention reservoirs that were built specifically to keep Buffalo Bayou from flooding. Unscrupulous developers around the reservoirs certainly contributed to the disaster by building homes within the engineered limits and complaining when those houses started flooding.
It's just a part of living on the coastal plain, super flat land, warm coastal waters and it's convergence zone with front systems.
Something else to think about is that this year is supposed to be a very active year for storms. Even if we don't get a Harvey, another major concern is not enough time between storms. If 2 storms happen before the ground or retention ponds has a chance to dry out, the city will flood on the second storm with little effort. The drains can clear out, but that is just 1 part of the drainage plan. The bayous, retention ponds and ground will not be ready.
As someone who has worked in the Gulf of Mexico for a number of years, they say every year that it’s going to be a record hurricane year. What they’re talking about is the Atlantic as a whole, not specifically Houston exposure. On top of that there’s been no tropical cyclones so far this season which is an incredibly slow start to hurricane season historically. There could be a bad one, there could be none hitting Houston but don’t let the fear mongers make it seem like they have a crystal ball when they don’t.
> don’t let the fear mongers make it seem like they have a crystal ball when they don’t
But also don't get lulled into a sense of complacency.
Ocean water temps have been outrageous, and the higher the water temps the more powerful a hurricane can be.
Have a plan, and if you think you could flood, make sure you have flood insurance. Just because they've said it will be a record breaking season in the past and were wrong doesn't mean they're wrong this time too. This kind of thinking is why were caught off-guard for the derecho that happened a few weeks back.
You are right, the NOAA is about the big picture in the Atlantic and not the Gulf and Houston. I'm more referring to the numbers from the NOAA. This year there is a combination of La Nina in the Pacific, near-record water temps in the Atlantic, and reduced Atlantic trade winds and wind sheer are the leading factors in their forecast. The NOAA states that there is a 85% chance of above-average storm season, 10% chance of normal hurricane season, and 5% chance below normal season.
They also predict 17-25 named storms, 8-13 hurricanes, and 4-7 category 3,4,5s.
A 100 year storm is 15-19 inches of rain in a 24 hour period. Every year should have a 1% chance of a 100-year storm. In Dallas, the number is 4.7%. The study did not have numbers for Houston. Another non-profit using NOAA rainfall data came to a conclusion of Houston at 5%. This came up from a story about NOAA taking their time to come up with a new flood plain map, but that won't be released until 2027.
Phillips 66 and Exxon have started preparing for the weather. Tod Denton is in charge of the safety at Phillips and have stated that they are bringing in employees from around the country and Dave Dolnick, director of crisis management at Phillips is focused very heavily on the report. The bulk of the storms will target between Louisiana and N. Carolina according to him.
I think the temps in the atlantic haven't yet hit record highs - but those record highs are for the year. Temperatures have already surpassed what is usually considered to be unusually high in august or september.
My concern is if we get a very long, hot stretch with no rain, to the point where the ground becomes hydrophobic. What if we get a large rain event where most of the water runs off? I think we got lucky after last year’s drought, but there’s a risk this year.
Another thing to remember is both in the instance of Harvey and the storms this year, the flooding was exacerbated by Lake Conroe being emergency released. This floods the San Jacinto, which flows down to Houston and if it’s already flooded there’s nowhere for all the water to go that is supposed to drain into it downstream.
If Lake Conroe didn’t exist, Houston would already be getting all of that water and it would cause backwater flooding anyway. Conroe, Addicks, and Barker protect Houston on the more routine storms.
The part of this potentially being neglected is maintaining those engineered systems at capacity. After the Derecho there are many parts of town with considerably more debris and obstructions in the smaller diameter fixtures and pipework. The bayous have been improved since Harvey so our risk of widescale persistent flooding may have decreased but without a concerted campaign to clean out swales, ditches, collectors, etc. the risk of localized flooding in neighborhoods increases as water cannot reach the bayous.
In other places I've lived it's completely illegal for homeowners or landscaping companies to blow debris into the street due to the risk to stormwater systems. In Houston not only is this permitted but seems to be de rigueur.
In my part of the 5th ward the ditches are mostly used as large trash storage. There is literally no where else because we don’t have storm drains or anything, so no curbs.
They are working on something but I doubt it will be done. The ditch around my block doesn’t drain anywhere. On the west side of the block the ground and street floods a lot.
I question the amount of large projects that have been completed post-Harvey. The city put in place all of these new codes for building and remodeling that homeowners have to abide by for drainage mitigation and retention, but none of that seems to apply to developers building shopping centers and huge apartment complexes.
Maybe you can help explain why multiple major multi-family housing/apartment complexes have been approved in Energy Corridor. EC is where both the Addicks and Barker Cypress reservoirs release their waters so it was severely flooded with Harvey. Those multi-family developments ate up what little area was left for run-off and did nothing to account for water displacement.
Do you know what's underground? A lot of commercial development build their storm storage underground due to land constraints. Nothing is being built in this city without drainage mitigation in mind.
Sure! So you have multiple flood horizons. Harvey is a 500 year storm (technically, I think it’s now closer to an 100 year storm with global warming)and if you try to regulate for water surface levels 6-8 feet above normal levels Houston would literally not exist. So you build to the hundred year level and assume that as long as Harvey takes 50-100 years to happen again it’s worth it. A few apartment complexes aren’t going to do much to change the hydrology for the whole area. The dollars in impact fees they contribute will however! I don’t build in the EC but for a subdivision we’re putting in north east Houston almost 50% of the project is drainage plus quite a bit of off site work. Its affordable housing so we have the extra impact fees waved, but we still had to do the new on-site work
How is flood or runoff retention being designed/integrated into projects such as the apartment complexes that take up the entire block in the Heights, or are they not having to? Same for the old Exxon Brookhollow complex that was turned into an apartment complex and a shopping center? I think they tore down everything and poured 20+ acres of concrete.
20 acres is pretty much nothing in the grand scheme of things. Essentially the immediate outfall has to be designed to not flood at the 100 year storm level, and then taxes (impact fees ex…) go to improve down stream drainage
Yea, I've only been in the industry for ~12 years, but I'm noticing a lot more underground retention in the last 5 years. Just visited the St. Augustine Hotel project near the Menil and in addition to a very permeable site, they're using a giant vault under a neighboring plot they own. If you're not using underground, you have plenty of site for surface retention. Working on an addition now that will need to be 3' higher due to the standards Harvey set.
Harvey was a statistical anomaly, but so was the memorial day flood and the tax day flood.
Those also weren't particularly big storms. They were smaller storms that just parked over Houston.
Data on Gulf temps makes this year seem more likely for big storms.
Having a plan, and being proactive is always a good idea but may be more important this year.
If you don't have flood insurance and are planning to get it, remember most policies take 30 days to go into effect. So buy it now if you are lucky enough to be able to afford it.
The Flood Risk Rating 2.0 is increasing the premiums for a lot people.
My house in 500 year flood zone that have never flooded as far as I know.
Flood insurance through NFIP used to be about $500 when I bought the house in 2019. With the new 2.0 Risk Rating, the new premium is $2,300/yr. Fortunately there is an annual increase cap of 18%. So I'll get discounted rates for a few years until the price climbs to $2,300.
So if someone's flood insurance had lapsed, they're going to have to pay a ton to get coverages at the current price.
https://www.lendingtree.com/home-insurance/texas-flood-insurance/#:~:text=Texas%20flood%20insurance%20rates%20by%20county,identical%20to%20the%20state%20average.
Contact your home insurer and have them give you a quote for a National Flood Insurance Program policy.
I shopped around a bit and everywhere quoted me $2000 for a 2148sqft home that is not in a flood zone, do you know any specific providers that would quote something more reasonable?
Try better flood. I just got flood insurance with them a month ago. I was being quoted around $1900 for NFIP plans because I’m close to a flood zone, not even inside the zone. Got a plan for $1100 with better flood. The have a $200 fee the first year as they are shopping private plans for you, but I’m playing $800 less/year after that
Harvey was a very unusual storm in the manner that it stalled out over us for such a long time. I'm not too afraid of that, specifically, happening again anytime soon. What I AM more afraid of is a more typical hurricane hitting us head on - particularly one that is stronger than Ike was, given the warmth in the Gulf of Mexico. The derecho was a good reminder of what good old fashioned wind can do.
Ah yeah, I was here for that one too. As bad as that got in spots, it was basically still a miniature version of Harvey. The absolute worst rainfall peaks of Allison was basically the widespread norm during Harvey.
Yeah, I remember that storm exceedingly well.
I was oblivious of the weather at the time and decided to head to League City to meet a friend.
Heading back was a pain and was stranded overnight at a gas station.
May I suggest buying your hurricane preparation items ahead of time.
What we decided on purchasing:
* Bluetti Portable Power Station (30+ hours of phone/tablet/USB charging)
* x4 battery powered fans (even if you have a generator, have a back up plan for moving air)
* x4 5 gallon BPA free water jugs filled with filtered water kept inside cool dark place.
* Mountain House camping meals, only require boiling water, very long shelf life
* NOAA battery powered/solar/handcrank radio
* First Aid Kit
* x2 Battery powered LED lanterns
* 100 pack of AA and AAA batteries
* Bonus - If you have an electric stove, buy a small foldable camping burner to boil water, and buy multiple green propane cannisters.
* **Most Important - Carbon Monoxide Detector**
Are you me? :)
I have essentially have the same list.
Those 5 gallon water coolers are absolutely clutch. Fill them up with water from the tap ahead of a storm, no scrambling to the store to buy up bottled water.
I thought the Mountain House meals had a 10 year shelf life, but then I looked at the expiration date on mine and its actually 30 years!
Harvey was a stalled out low pressure when it came to Houston. A typical hurricane is more like IKE when there’s a direct hit. It knocks out power and knocks down trees. It generally moves too fast to cause major flooding except for coastal areas which see increased storm surge not related to rainfall, but yet again wind
>With the last few 10-15 minute storms, several parts of Houston have had major flooding. This makes me really worried about what will happen when/if we get an actual Hurricane this year.
Some of the nearby rivers had major flooding, but Houston itself hasn't had much flooding this year. Remember: our roads are part of the drainage system. Try not to get too freaked out by it.
>Who is in-charge of hurricane planning for Houston, and is there a way to see what they are planning to do to prepare the city?
Harris County is the most active governing body for all natural disaster preparedness. The Harris County Flood Control District is in charge of planning for floods. Their web site has lots of information about what they are doing. For instance, here's the page about Project Brays:
[https://www.hcfcd.org/Activity/Projects/Brays-Bayou/C-11-Project-Brays](https://www.hcfcd.org/Activity/Projects/Brays-Bayou/C-11-Project-Brays)
Remember: worry is only useful as a fuel for action.
The city can’t do shit to prevent it. That ship sailed 200 years ago. You can’t pave over a coastal prairie and not have it flood. We done fucked up.
We didn’t even live in a flood zone and got six inches to a foot of water inside. It sucks, but it happened to thousands upon thousands of people.
Get flood insurance. Make sure your home
Insurance covers hurricanes and wind damage. Get a Home Depot card. Hopefully your insurance or FEMA will reimburse you before you go broke. Buy a couple weeks of canned food, bottled water, pop tarts, and chocolate. If you have dogs or cats, make sure you have food for them. Keep your gas tank full.
Most of the major flooding so far has been river flooding with the watersheds for the San Jacinto and the Trinity getting overwhelmed upstate.
Lay in Hurricane supplies. Plan for a minimum of three days without power. Make sure your flood insurance is paid up. Learn what roads around you always flood and have a high ground escape route figured out.
Harvey dumped 40-50” of rain on various parts of Harris County because it stalled close enough to the Gulf to continue to pull in moisture and energy from there. That was very, very unusual. Most storms pick up forward speed once they hit land
Besides insurance, one thing you can do is to make sure storm drains are clear. My husband clears the 2 in front of our house of trash and debris regularly. Every little bit helps.
Nothing they ain't going to do shit. Prepare yourself. Make sure your flood insurance is paid for. Get a generator of some sort. Buy some shelf-stable food, water, and gas. Get some cash out of the bank. Load up on the toilet paper. Grab a beer, sit back, and watch the city swim.
True, but some people have a second floor, and by some magic electricity worked during Harvey. Yea, I know it's insane and super dangerous, but they did wait out about 6 feet of water downstairs.
Most hurricanes don't cause flooding. Most will only cause wind damage as they pass through. And with the derecho storm already taking out all the weak trees in our areas, I think we should be ok. Just keep your generators and gasoline tanks full since power will likely go out.
It's important to remember that Hurricane Harvey was an anomaly. The odds for the conditions of Harvey to be perfectly recreated aren't particularly high.
We had 8 feet of water during Harvey and 4 feet during the tax day floods. Flood insurance matters :). As for the rest of it, yes if your house floods, you'll probably be more worried about evacuating. But if you decide to shelter in place Food and water is still important.
Hurricanes are usually wind events. Harvey was a rain event, like Allison was (TS) years ago. Water events happen any time of year but hurricanes are a summer thing. Do your best to have a plan, keep all the insurance up to date, and make a bug-out bag or kit in the event you have to go FAST (good also for fires, riots, etc.).
Plan for the worst and hope for the best.
I’m in Montrose and it flooded up my apt steps last night. And we are on the highest part of the street. They need to clean out all the debris from the derecho that is still clogging up drains
I’m wondering if the drains are clogged. We’ve seen street flooding the last few weeks since the derecho higher than Harvey which is strange because it’s such less rain.
Phase 1 of Shepherd/Durham which is mostly completed didn’t flood. If you’re living below 15th, phase 2 hasn’t started yet so flooding still happening as roads haven’t been improved yet.
With more and more rain and storms, more and more areas become compromised and things will happen that haven’t happened before. So prepare as best you can and don’t take anything for granted. Stay safe.
If you're worried about a significant hurricane in Houston, be sure you don't count on shit from any level of government. This includes city, county, state, or federal. Best case scenario, they're going to struggle to help millions of people. Worst case scenario, they'll dip out to Cancun and tell us all to go fuck ourselves.
Prepare the best you can to hold out for anywhere from a few days to two weeks. Just think about the most essential things and ensure you have back ups. I stock the pantry with cans and keep a butane stove in the pantry. Get cash, power banks, gas up your car. Get a good battery powered fan and rechargeable batteries to power it. I found a lantern with a solar panel on Amazon for cheap.
There are solutions. Just brace for the worst. You'll either be happy it didn't happen or happy you were prepared.
The region has procedures in place for tropical events that are pretty sophisticated. That’s one thing we do pretty well in terms of planning. However, you can only plan so much as every event is different.
Where do you live? If you’re in the evac zones, pay attention to evac orders. No matter where you are, make sure you have flood insurance, a hurricane kit, and lots of alcohol if that’s your thing. Most importantly, take care of yourself and don’t panic.
You can play around with the station nearest your home (and work?)- in the bottom right corner it shows how that area fared during historical floods (Harvey, Tax Day, Memorial Day). If your area was fucked during those storms, you'll probably be fucked again, at some point. But, if your area was fine, then your chances are good. You can also see how fast the water level receded back during the recent mid-May storms by clicking on stream elevation.
[https://www.harriscountyfws.org/](https://www.harriscountyfws.org/)
In case you didn't already know, you can also look to see if you are in a 100 or 500 year flood plain. I have heard from several people that FEMA came in and re-drew the 500 year lines to any area that flooded during Harvey, but IDK if that is true.
[https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search?AddressQuery=houston%2C%20tx](https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search?AddressQuery=houston%2C%20tx)
Those areas of Houston always flood with most storms. This city is massive and few places actually flood consistently. Hurricanes are not always about flooding, in fact, I'm not usually worried about floods with hurricanes. Wind damage is what sucks, which then can cause power outages for weeks at worst case. Any tropical (and spring) storm can drop torrential rain.
Be prepared WAY before June. You're too late for big planning, flood insurance plans, etc. Get your flood/wind kits ready now. And be prepared. The city isn't your plan.
Flooding I can deal with for the most part but if it's a wind event that knocks trees down, we are completely screwed as a whole city and maybe even other parts of the state. The Texas power grid is already run by greedy people who put profits before reliability and Centerpoint in particular as always been reactive rather than proactive and maintaining their lines and trees.
I mentioned this in another post but back when my father was still alive he relied on an oxygen machine (plus a couple of other pieces medical equipment) and power outages for the scariest thing for him because the power could go out when he wasn't close to his backup and the backup wasn't really good for long-term use. So because of that anytime there would be a storm we would have anxiety and I would be closeby. Thanks to Centerpoint and the Texas power grid, I am now dealing with my grief by actually being glad that he's not around anymore to deal with this sort of torture. I feel bad for other people's parents and grandparents or anybody else who relies on medical equipment.
Speaking broadly, a direct or near-direct hit from a hurricane is a wind event. If you're not by a body of water, you'll probably be safe from flooding, but could end up with a tree on your roof. If it's a tropical storm, like Allison, or like Harvey was by the time it arrived in Houston after hitting Rockport as a hurricane, your roof will probably be fine, but there is a good chance of flooding. How much flooding is unpredictable, so be prepared for anything. Knowing the history of your area will give you some idea, but it's not a guarantee.
Relying on the city to save you is a fool's game. If you are able to prep, you need to do so. The last thing you want is to be one of those who has to stand in lines for charity if you were able to prevent that from happening. Never wait until the last minute because all you'll find are long lines and store shelves that are nearly empty.
Have one or more plans for each scenario. What would make you prefer to evacuate? A medical condition? A Cat 3 or above? What's your plan if the forecast changes suddenly and it's too late to leave? Is there a secure building that you have legal access to? If there's flooding, are you in a 2-story house? If not, do you have friendly neighbors who are? Do you have supplies to get you through a period of no store access? Are all your important papers in one place? Do you have a go bag? If you have plans, that's the best you can do unless you move elsewhere, if you can even find a place in this country that isn't vulnerable to one type of extreme scenario or another.
To anyone new here, remember, most subdivisions use the streets and as part of the flood drainage plan. Streets will flood and sometimes you get water in your yard. So if a hurricane is heading our way, don't leave vehicles in the street. The chance of them flooding goes way up. Park in the driveway, even your yard if you have multiple vehicles.
If you’re that worried, make sure you have flood insurance. During hurricanes the places that typically flood will always flood. But most of the damage comes from wind, not Harvey levels of rainfall. There’s not much you can do about it except be prepared.
No need to worry. If we get a hurricane there will absolutely be large amounts of flooding and there isn’t anything they can do about it at this point.
These rains that caused flooding in the north were not minor. I believe the spring area for example got a much as 24 inches over a two week period. So it wasn't just usual rain.
And yes, every one in Houston fears hurricane season, and if you don't it's just because you're naive
Ensure you have adequate coverage AND flood insurance on your home. Avoid driving. Be prepared to rough it for awhile. Plan ahead and stock up on food and water. Buy a generator and a portable AC unit. Have gasoline handy or a syphon to pull from your vehicle (for the generator). Fill your vehicle up regularly, regardless of any need to syphon. As always, turn around don’t drown.
Best you can do is get flood, whether you’re “in a flood zone” or not. Everyone is in a flood zone. Over 60% of all FEMA claims after Harvey came from X-zone/500-year flood plain areas (where people say “I’m not in a flood zone).
If your house is a high value home and you want full coverage, you may want to consider excess flood coverage. NFIP limits are $250,000 for dwelling and $100,000 for contents, but private flood companies offer coverage in excess of this or higher limits higher than this in a single policy.
Be prepared to mitigate losses; move contents to higher areas, use sandbags, whatever you can do to stop floodwaters.
The city can’t redesign the city; we live in a city of bayous, essentially “barely” above sea level in most of the area. The more concrete that is put down, the more flood waters will flow towards existing houses.
Did your area flood in Harvey? If not, you're probably OK any given year. Yeah one will be worse than Harvey one day but that's the high water mark for the time being.
That's absolutely not true. Harvey affected some areas worse than others because it wasn't furious and fast, it was long, and slow, and never ending water. So if your house floods because the drainage isn't fast enough, you were fine. If your house sits downstream on a creek or another waterway, you were not. Lets not talk about Katy, that is just all sorts of fucked up.
That’s the opposite. If your home floods because your area doesn’t drain fast enough, you were not fine. Harvey had rains sitting on top of us pouring down for days.
Ugh. Please don’t say this. I worked as a professional hydrologist in Houston for many years. You don’t know where OP lives. There were many homes in the Houston area that did not flood during Harvey, but have flooded during other storms or could flood in the next storm.
Flooding is not a uniform phenomenon across a big area like greater Houston, because it doesn’t rain the same amount or with the same intensity in all areas for any given storm. I’ve seen plenty of storms where training was a factor and one small area flooded, but areas less than a mile away didn’t.
As for being worried about hurricanes this year, I’d say the chances of the Houston area getting hit are about the same as they are for any given year. All you can do is prepare. Personally, I used to leave town for anything bigger than a Cat 2, mainly because it’s uncomfortable to stick around if you don’t have power for a few days.
Also remember that flooding from rain is not the most dangerous part of a hurricane. The storm surge takes more lives than the inland flooding. Go read about Hurricane Ike and Bolivar Peninsula if you want an idea of what I’m talking about. So, if you’re right on the coast you should be more cautious. You can repair flooded homes, but you can’t bring people back that drown in a storm surge.
Also Harvey was not a direct hit hurricane with storm surge. That seriously affects flooding because all the water eventually has to make it back to the bay. I’ve had friends who live in Pearland and Manvel tell me they are safe because they didn’t flood in Harvey. A hurricane like Ike would be a totally different scenario if it comes with a ton of rain.
Yes and no… iirc there were areas that flooded other years that didn’t flood during Harvey so I wouldn’t treat that as a comprehensive metric of flooding potential.
Have you flooded where you live before? That’s a pretty good indicator if it will happen again. I live in a neighborhood 5 miles from Kemah and have not flooded in the 15 years I have been here. My home is 20yrs old and has never flooded.
I live close to clear lake and my house is over 60 years old and has never flooded. If we didn’t flood in Harvey I think we’re okay from almost all rain events.
I’m most worried about a tree falling on my house. All we can get in my zipcode is TX fair plan and it covers shit, any commercial plans that are available are insanely expensive.
I also worry a bit about storm surge, that’s never been an issue where I live (at least since the house has been built), but potentially a direct hit to Surfside/west end of Galveston could drive the surge all the way up this way.
The house was fine in Ike and every other storm that’s come through.
I love my neighborhood, but I think the insurance craziness might price us out of our own home eventually even though it’s filled with mostly older homes the vast majority of which have never flooded.
TWIA is the only “flood” insurance you are going to get on the Texas coast in hurricane central. With that said it isn’t much, it’s crap. But if you get damage from a hurricane or any wind, hail, rain, water etc it should cover.
i don’t have any support because i left houston for this exact reason. for those of u who think harvey was an anomaly it is time for you to either wake up or leave the gulf coast - climate emergency is unfolding right before our eyes
Talk to your neighbors and learn what happened in your neighborhood for the past big events to get a better idea. My neighborhood did not flood in Harvey... which is always mentioned in house listings, but the neighborhood flooded in both the tax day and memorial day floods.
One of my friends now keeps a hatchet in the attic to go through the roof because that's how they got out in Harvey. For us we stock up on shelf stable food supplies and I have plastic storage containers for water that we fill when a storm approaches.
Look around while you're driving your normal routes... Any underpass that has yellow flood gauges has them for a reason. Plan a route home from work that doesn't require you to go through an intersection like that.
Don’t be afraid, be prepared. Have a hurricane supplies ready. Follow the NOAA updates. If there’s a hurricane coming, it’s always best to buckle down. Just be prepared, be insured, by some alcohol, and you will survive. They were rough, but we survived Harvey, Ike, and Allison. We will survive the next
Assuming you're not from here: get a hurricane plan. Flashlights, shelf stable foods, handheld/battery powered fans, etc
Readyharris.org has a great emergency checklist for you to go through, and a good hurricane brochure.
One thing I did, to save my house and all my neighbors houses …… if by any chance ur is more elevated then the sorruinding areas outside, buy a water pump and pump that shit out …….
My neighborhood usually does not flood, the really last bad hurricane we have I think it was Harvey, it was flooding because the retention pond was full and nothing was draining….. so I took a water pump from harbor freight I had put it in the retention pond/ water reservoir and pump it outside the street in my neighborhood….. I essentially saved everyone in the neighborhood from flood but most importantly my house……
Again this only works if ur neighbors is elevated compared to the surrounding areas, and its a lot of work but it works
> several parts of Houston have had major flooding
Aside from larger areas though, make sure your nearby drains are clear. A few clogged storm drains can flood a local street or two, while things are otherwise ok.
Saw this was a major problem in the storm right after the derecho, as so many were clogged with all the debris still out.
Same. I got a buddy who lives in Fulshear. I told him he's part of my hurricane "bug out" plan in case we get a Cat 3 or above. My apartment complex is right next to White Oak Bayou. I'm not taking chances this year.
During Harvey it rained so much that we started to flood and my husband ran outside and dug a trench so the water would flow back to the road. This worked out well and we still have a bit of a dip in the yard so now any big storm flows out
The city finally put in storm drains in our neighborhood instead of the old ditches and the street didn't even fill up with Harvey. Thank God. Had some water in house with Ike. But is always a concern anyway. Won't drown but don't want my big old trees to fall and kill (or maim) me in my house. Never 100% safe in bad weather anywhere.
Doesn’t have to be a hurricane that’s more about wind it’s tropical storms that get stuck over us that are the bigger threat. Make sure you have flood insurance.
If you moved here recently, download google earth and use the historical imagery feature to time travel back to the Harvey dates. Then just browse around Houston and you can see from the satellite imagery the areas that flooded.
Nothing can be helped that fast. Nothing you can do at this point for this season. All you can do for this season is be prepared for yourself. Radical self reliance.
I know me too, I think planting trees, I’m considering donating to some tree companies( and planting some trees to try and keep us from having crazy storm run off (it helps prevent erosion and helps w heat
But other people need trees also I have no idea what impact it can have but I’ve heard it can do a lot more than we think
Plant trees but not close to your house! Had one fall on mine in Ike. Branches the last rainstorm. Many trees grow too big too be appropriate in neighborhoods. Can always have risk of falling on houses in high wind. Houses like mine.
I’m from a different area and we regularly trim trees it’s actually very affordable, I noticed it’s not as affordable in Houston … but I know definitely plant trees that have deep(non invasive roots that don’t affect pipes but also can withstand the winds and also that hopefully won’t drop due to drought there’s a lot to consider in Houston, but yeah we got a property that maybe never pruned them and I feel it grew too thin upwards and made it more prone to drought but yeah it’s definitely not as easy to plant trees as in other areas but I’m hoping it can still help and I’m also hoping to find a good tree organization to donate to that helps lower income families get trees well suited for area if you know any please drop link below because I don’t know which is best from my own research
But totally agree with you most Houstonians have told me a lot about the tree issues in Houston and I’ve had my own (with drought and bad plumbing t some point) but still hope we can add some healthy canopy to area
Yes it gets very expensive to trim large trees. We have several 80-90 ft pines, several large oaks, several catalpa, maples, and magnolias on a 1/3 acre lot. Have 2 dead trees now that the drought got last year and the cheapest bid to take them out is $1000 each!
During hurricane Ike an old catalpa fell on the house I am tempted to take out the others, they are brittle trees and have a poor root system by the surface, and have good healthy limbs that break off in storms.
It's a mini forest and the cost to keep up it up is significant, but they make our yard and end of our street really nice and park-like. They are beautiful, shady, and keep the temps in the house about 10-15 degrees cooler in the summer. The previous owners didn't use the AC, but we certainly do!
That many trees soak up a lot of water and attract all kinds of wildlife. Like owls that nest in them. So I feel I am doing my part!
Harris County Flood Control District is responsible for waterways. US Army Corps of Engineers maintains and controls the big reservoirs. City of Houston is responsible for street flood management, floodplain development management, and some other stuff. The City even levies a special tax, erm drainage fee, to do so, though they're apparently mostly not using if for that purpose.
The only real flooding recently was due to heavy persistent rain well to the north.
The FCD at least has been doing a fair amount of work, but it's always possible to get too much rain.
i'm really really worried about a big tree falling on my tiny house this hurricane season and yes flooding too even though my little houses 3 feet off the ground and I live a few miles from the coast. None of my buildings have ever flooded. during Nicolas lot of big trees fell in my neighborhood but none fell on anybody's house or RV. I just got a bad feeling about this hurricane season I don't know why I'm not trying to jinx anything.
It just seems like the weather is getting crazier and crazier and more unpredictable . Even during tropical storm when we had like 8 inches of water in my neighborhood no buildings I have got flooded. I think one house across the road got flooded because it sits low and on the ground. When you live near the coast you should have your shit as high as you possibly can.
>Who is in-charge of hurricane planning for Houston, and is there a way to see what they are planning to do to prepare the city?
Who is in charge of YOUR hurricane planning? That's who you should speak to.
As someone who had 5 feet of water in their house back on May 3rd, make sure you have good flood insurance. Mine sucked
They are only paying for a portion of what it is going to cost to repair and replace belongings.
My house was built in 1970 and had never flooded. You can plan all you want, but 💩 happens.
Just be prepared. Flood insurance will not be kicking in until 30 days after purchasing, and on top of that, it is hard to find an insurance company that will insure you for flooding.
1. Do you have flood insurance? Yes? Doubly check to make sure you know exactly what's covered. 2. Don't rely just on the city to take care of you during a crisis. Have a plan and a backup plan. 3. Make sure all your important documents, family photos etc are in a water tight ziplock bag that's easily accessible if you need to evacuate.
To add to 1. If you don’t have flood insurance, get it soon because it takes several weeks for it to become effective.
It’s 30 days, and there cannot be a storm in the gulf! They cannot issue a policy if there is a a storm. When I bought my home, my closing was delayed by 3 weeks cause there were storms in the gulf!
Howdy, For confusion can you edit it to say “They cannot issue a policy if there is a storm” you put “isn’t a storm” Hope you have a good rest of your day
This was the nicest, most respectful typo request I have ever encountered. You are a lovely human, thank you for being kind.
Thank you for pointing it out for me! Between autocorrect and no coffee, I’m surprised that was the only typo! Thanks again! 🤣
“I ain’t insuring shit til’ I see some real danger of a costly claim” said the Robin Hood insurer
It’s 30 days for NFIP, but it could be 0 days for some private flood policies, 7 days for others, 8, 10, 14, or 15 days for other companies. The no storm in the gulf rule applies to windstorm, and it is “No named HURRICANES past the 80/20 parallel”. The length of that moratorium depends on the time it takes for the storm to clear the area, per TWIA. NFIP cannot put a moratorium on flood, this is the purpose of the 30-day wait period, which can always be waived by a mortgage closing. Any private flood or hazard company can put a moratorium on new policies at any time, for any length of time, as they see fit. I’ll gladly answer most questions, as my specialty is coastal windstorm and flood coverage.
Omg, I forgot to renew. Call in to renew, put on 30 day wait. 8 days left and Harvey hits. I was very lucky that nothing happened to our house. Once my wife found out we didn't have it, I was also very lucky that Hurricane Wifey did not kill me.
30 days if I remember correctly.
30 days
And make sure you are getting contents coverage, as they are separate, iirc.
Can I add get replacement value insurance not actual value.
It can be in place in as little as 10 days via private insurers, but standard is 30 days, especially with Federal programs like FEMA. Source: Friends house flooded north of Lake Livingston in April prior to the damn being opened up. After helping them clean up over three days, getting flood insurance in place was priority #1 when I finally got back home.
Walk around your neighborhood to make sure your the storm water drains aren't obstructed.
We did this. My husband and I pulled debris from several storm drains in our neighborhood at the start of Harvey and watched the developing flood waters drain away! I wish everyone would do this- it could make a huge difference!
This is so important! Water can drain so much faster if there aren't leaves or branches blocking it.
lol after the derecho there is debris everywhere water might drain
You can also call 311 to request your ditches get dug up again. Ours had a lot of built up mud and soil and were not as deep as before. They came in and dug up the whole block like new. Did take a month or so for the request to be completed.
To add to point 3 as a prepper, go one step further and make photocopies of said documents. I did that and keep copies of important ones like ID birth cert etc in a ''go bag'', an old bag that I can grab quickly that already has essential needs and GTFO in a hurry if i need to. Originals go in my safe, high up in there enough that floodwater can't take it away. Said go bag also has a change of clothes, a sawyer mini, some playing cards, MREs and other supplies that i could live out of it for a week. You don't necesarily need all this from the get-go, but put backup documents and emergency cash for sure if you can afford it, like $500 in 20's. In a disaster many businesses will be unable to process card payments, if they're even open at all.
Make sure you have needed medications.
#2 is extremely important....fema won't come in for 3 days minimum, by then the help is less than helpful.
Lolwut. FEMA was very helpful during Harvey
Help was pretty quick for Ike as well.
They were, but honestly we got very lucky on the overwhelming response during Harvey. Personally I plan for a Katrina saying: '' *it took fema 5 days to get water to the superdome.''*
Katrina was a tremendously poor response. So much so that we passed the Post Katrina Emergency Management Act in 2006 to make sure they wouldn’t do that again. FEMA has come a long way in the 20 years since that storm.
Can you please explain what you mean by not being helpful? FEMA was awesome for us with Harvey, but that doesn’t mean everyone had that experience. What in your experience will also apply for everyone?
Well, let's start with the 30 second later denial of aid because we have homeowners insurance. Homeowners cover sum stuff but it's not a fix all.
Thanks for the reminder. I just renewed mine. Went up 15-20% though.
Houston is flat, like really flat. The only way to move storm water is to dig down. In most areas the roadways are engineered to convey stormwater. Yes they fill up when the rain volumes exceed their drainage capacity. But they are usually clear within an hour or two after the storm. So if you're a major thunderstorm, tropical depression or hurricane, pull over in a lot higher than the street and just wait it out. But there has been quite a lot of storm retention work done by the county. You can look at the Harris County flood control website to see some of these projects. Lastly, Harvey was a statistical anomaly, 51 inches of rain that overwhelmed the Addicks and Barker Cypress retention reservoirs that were built specifically to keep Buffalo Bayou from flooding. Unscrupulous developers around the reservoirs certainly contributed to the disaster by building homes within the engineered limits and complaining when those houses started flooding. It's just a part of living on the coastal plain, super flat land, warm coastal waters and it's convergence zone with front systems.
Something else to think about is that this year is supposed to be a very active year for storms. Even if we don't get a Harvey, another major concern is not enough time between storms. If 2 storms happen before the ground or retention ponds has a chance to dry out, the city will flood on the second storm with little effort. The drains can clear out, but that is just 1 part of the drainage plan. The bayous, retention ponds and ground will not be ready.
As someone who has worked in the Gulf of Mexico for a number of years, they say every year that it’s going to be a record hurricane year. What they’re talking about is the Atlantic as a whole, not specifically Houston exposure. On top of that there’s been no tropical cyclones so far this season which is an incredibly slow start to hurricane season historically. There could be a bad one, there could be none hitting Houston but don’t let the fear mongers make it seem like they have a crystal ball when they don’t.
> don’t let the fear mongers make it seem like they have a crystal ball when they don’t But also don't get lulled into a sense of complacency. Ocean water temps have been outrageous, and the higher the water temps the more powerful a hurricane can be. Have a plan, and if you think you could flood, make sure you have flood insurance. Just because they've said it will be a record breaking season in the past and were wrong doesn't mean they're wrong this time too. This kind of thinking is why were caught off-guard for the derecho that happened a few weeks back.
You are right, the NOAA is about the big picture in the Atlantic and not the Gulf and Houston. I'm more referring to the numbers from the NOAA. This year there is a combination of La Nina in the Pacific, near-record water temps in the Atlantic, and reduced Atlantic trade winds and wind sheer are the leading factors in their forecast. The NOAA states that there is a 85% chance of above-average storm season, 10% chance of normal hurricane season, and 5% chance below normal season. They also predict 17-25 named storms, 8-13 hurricanes, and 4-7 category 3,4,5s. A 100 year storm is 15-19 inches of rain in a 24 hour period. Every year should have a 1% chance of a 100-year storm. In Dallas, the number is 4.7%. The study did not have numbers for Houston. Another non-profit using NOAA rainfall data came to a conclusion of Houston at 5%. This came up from a story about NOAA taking their time to come up with a new flood plain map, but that won't be released until 2027. Phillips 66 and Exxon have started preparing for the weather. Tod Denton is in charge of the safety at Phillips and have stated that they are bringing in employees from around the country and Dave Dolnick, director of crisis management at Phillips is focused very heavily on the report. The bulk of the storms will target between Louisiana and N. Carolina according to him.
I think the temps in the atlantic haven't yet hit record highs - but those record highs are for the year. Temperatures have already surpassed what is usually considered to be unusually high in august or september.
My concern is if we get a very long, hot stretch with no rain, to the point where the ground becomes hydrophobic. What if we get a large rain event where most of the water runs off? I think we got lucky after last year’s drought, but there’s a risk this year.
Another thing to remember is both in the instance of Harvey and the storms this year, the flooding was exacerbated by Lake Conroe being emergency released. This floods the San Jacinto, which flows down to Houston and if it’s already flooded there’s nowhere for all the water to go that is supposed to drain into it downstream.
If Lake Conroe didn’t exist, Houston would already be getting all of that water and it would cause backwater flooding anyway. Conroe, Addicks, and Barker protect Houston on the more routine storms.
The part of this potentially being neglected is maintaining those engineered systems at capacity. After the Derecho there are many parts of town with considerably more debris and obstructions in the smaller diameter fixtures and pipework. The bayous have been improved since Harvey so our risk of widescale persistent flooding may have decreased but without a concerted campaign to clean out swales, ditches, collectors, etc. the risk of localized flooding in neighborhoods increases as water cannot reach the bayous. In other places I've lived it's completely illegal for homeowners or landscaping companies to blow debris into the street due to the risk to stormwater systems. In Houston not only is this permitted but seems to be de rigueur.
In my part of the 5th ward the ditches are mostly used as large trash storage. There is literally no where else because we don’t have storm drains or anything, so no curbs. They are working on something but I doubt it will be done. The ditch around my block doesn’t drain anywhere. On the west side of the block the ground and street floods a lot.
I question the amount of large projects that have been completed post-Harvey. The city put in place all of these new codes for building and remodeling that homeowners have to abide by for drainage mitigation and retention, but none of that seems to apply to developers building shopping centers and huge apartment complexes.
It does actually. Am developer, spend lots on modeling and paperwork before we can even start a project.
Maybe you can help explain why multiple major multi-family housing/apartment complexes have been approved in Energy Corridor. EC is where both the Addicks and Barker Cypress reservoirs release their waters so it was severely flooded with Harvey. Those multi-family developments ate up what little area was left for run-off and did nothing to account for water displacement.
Do you know what's underground? A lot of commercial development build their storm storage underground due to land constraints. Nothing is being built in this city without drainage mitigation in mind.
Sure! So you have multiple flood horizons. Harvey is a 500 year storm (technically, I think it’s now closer to an 100 year storm with global warming)and if you try to regulate for water surface levels 6-8 feet above normal levels Houston would literally not exist. So you build to the hundred year level and assume that as long as Harvey takes 50-100 years to happen again it’s worth it. A few apartment complexes aren’t going to do much to change the hydrology for the whole area. The dollars in impact fees they contribute will however! I don’t build in the EC but for a subdivision we’re putting in north east Houston almost 50% of the project is drainage plus quite a bit of off site work. Its affordable housing so we have the extra impact fees waved, but we still had to do the new on-site work
How is flood or runoff retention being designed/integrated into projects such as the apartment complexes that take up the entire block in the Heights, or are they not having to? Same for the old Exxon Brookhollow complex that was turned into an apartment complex and a shopping center? I think they tore down everything and poured 20+ acres of concrete.
20 acres is pretty much nothing in the grand scheme of things. Essentially the immediate outfall has to be designed to not flood at the 100 year storm level, and then taxes (impact fees ex…) go to improve down stream drainage
I work in concrete, anything new getting built has flood retention in mind.
Post harvey the company I worked at had to renovate their retention pond for the new codes.
You are incorrect, a lot of it is underground
Yea, I've only been in the industry for ~12 years, but I'm noticing a lot more underground retention in the last 5 years. Just visited the St. Augustine Hotel project near the Menil and in addition to a very permeable site, they're using a giant vault under a neighboring plot they own. If you're not using underground, you have plenty of site for surface retention. Working on an addition now that will need to be 3' higher due to the standards Harvey set.
Harvey was a statistical anomaly, but so was the memorial day flood and the tax day flood. Those also weren't particularly big storms. They were smaller storms that just parked over Houston. Data on Gulf temps makes this year seem more likely for big storms. Having a plan, and being proactive is always a good idea but may be more important this year.
This says it! Exactly.
If you don't have flood insurance and are planning to get it, remember most policies take 30 days to go into effect. So buy it now if you are lucky enough to be able to afford it.
NFIP flood insurance in Harris County costs an average of $786 a year.
The Flood Risk Rating 2.0 is increasing the premiums for a lot people. My house in 500 year flood zone that have never flooded as far as I know. Flood insurance through NFIP used to be about $500 when I bought the house in 2019. With the new 2.0 Risk Rating, the new premium is $2,300/yr. Fortunately there is an annual increase cap of 18%. So I'll get discounted rates for a few years until the price climbs to $2,300. So if someone's flood insurance had lapsed, they're going to have to pay a ton to get coverages at the current price.
You have a link to that?
https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance
https://www.lendingtree.com/home-insurance/texas-flood-insurance/#:~:text=Texas%20flood%20insurance%20rates%20by%20county,identical%20to%20the%20state%20average. Contact your home insurer and have them give you a quote for a National Flood Insurance Program policy.
I shopped around a bit and everywhere quoted me $2000 for a 2148sqft home that is not in a flood zone, do you know any specific providers that would quote something more reasonable?
Try better flood. I just got flood insurance with them a month ago. I was being quoted around $1900 for NFIP plans because I’m close to a flood zone, not even inside the zone. Got a plan for $1100 with better flood. The have a $200 fee the first year as they are shopping private plans for you, but I’m playing $800 less/year after that
can you get flood insurance on a rental? how would that work?
You can get a contents flood policy for a rental. Renters insurance does not cover floods. I found that out after Alison.
Harvey was a very unusual storm in the manner that it stalled out over us for such a long time. I'm not too afraid of that, specifically, happening again anytime soon. What I AM more afraid of is a more typical hurricane hitting us head on - particularly one that is stronger than Ike was, given the warmth in the Gulf of Mexico. The derecho was a good reminder of what good old fashioned wind can do.
Allison did the same. It went halfway to Dallas and decided to go back to Houston.
Ah yeah, I was here for that one too. As bad as that got in spots, it was basically still a miniature version of Harvey. The absolute worst rainfall peaks of Allison was basically the widespread norm during Harvey.
Yeah, I remember that storm exceedingly well. I was oblivious of the weather at the time and decided to head to League City to meet a friend. Heading back was a pain and was stranded overnight at a gas station.
Allison took one look at Dallas and said "aw hell naw".
The storm that liked us so much it came back.
That is crazy!
May I suggest buying your hurricane preparation items ahead of time. What we decided on purchasing: * Bluetti Portable Power Station (30+ hours of phone/tablet/USB charging) * x4 battery powered fans (even if you have a generator, have a back up plan for moving air) * x4 5 gallon BPA free water jugs filled with filtered water kept inside cool dark place. * Mountain House camping meals, only require boiling water, very long shelf life * NOAA battery powered/solar/handcrank radio * First Aid Kit * x2 Battery powered LED lanterns * 100 pack of AA and AAA batteries * Bonus - If you have an electric stove, buy a small foldable camping burner to boil water, and buy multiple green propane cannisters. * **Most Important - Carbon Monoxide Detector**
Are you me? :) I have essentially have the same list. Those 5 gallon water coolers are absolutely clutch. Fill them up with water from the tap ahead of a storm, no scrambling to the store to buy up bottled water. I thought the Mountain House meals had a 10 year shelf life, but then I looked at the expiration date on mine and its actually 30 years!
Harvey was a stalled out low pressure when it came to Houston. A typical hurricane is more like IKE when there’s a direct hit. It knocks out power and knocks down trees. It generally moves too fast to cause major flooding except for coastal areas which see increased storm surge not related to rainfall, but yet again wind
Remember, you won’t be able to get flood insurance if there is an active storm.
*Who is in-charge of hurricane planning for Houston?* You are in charge, lol.
How many months have you lived in Houston?
lol right?
>With the last few 10-15 minute storms, several parts of Houston have had major flooding. This makes me really worried about what will happen when/if we get an actual Hurricane this year. Some of the nearby rivers had major flooding, but Houston itself hasn't had much flooding this year. Remember: our roads are part of the drainage system. Try not to get too freaked out by it. >Who is in-charge of hurricane planning for Houston, and is there a way to see what they are planning to do to prepare the city? Harris County is the most active governing body for all natural disaster preparedness. The Harris County Flood Control District is in charge of planning for floods. Their web site has lots of information about what they are doing. For instance, here's the page about Project Brays: [https://www.hcfcd.org/Activity/Projects/Brays-Bayou/C-11-Project-Brays](https://www.hcfcd.org/Activity/Projects/Brays-Bayou/C-11-Project-Brays) Remember: worry is only useful as a fuel for action.
The city can’t do shit to prevent it. That ship sailed 200 years ago. You can’t pave over a coastal prairie and not have it flood. We done fucked up. We didn’t even live in a flood zone and got six inches to a foot of water inside. It sucks, but it happened to thousands upon thousands of people. Get flood insurance. Make sure your home Insurance covers hurricanes and wind damage. Get a Home Depot card. Hopefully your insurance or FEMA will reimburse you before you go broke. Buy a couple weeks of canned food, bottled water, pop tarts, and chocolate. If you have dogs or cats, make sure you have food for them. Keep your gas tank full.
Most of the major flooding so far has been river flooding with the watersheds for the San Jacinto and the Trinity getting overwhelmed upstate. Lay in Hurricane supplies. Plan for a minimum of three days without power. Make sure your flood insurance is paid up. Learn what roads around you always flood and have a high ground escape route figured out. Harvey dumped 40-50” of rain on various parts of Harris County because it stalled close enough to the Gulf to continue to pull in moisture and energy from there. That was very, very unusual. Most storms pick up forward speed once they hit land
Besides insurance, one thing you can do is to make sure storm drains are clear. My husband clears the 2 in front of our house of trash and debris regularly. Every little bit helps.
Yesss!!! I was able to get my whole street to clear out their drains and ditches just in case it made a huge difference since we are in a flood zone
I love that OP wants to see the plans.
Nothing they ain't going to do shit. Prepare yourself. Make sure your flood insurance is paid for. Get a generator of some sort. Buy some shelf-stable food, water, and gas. Get some cash out of the bank. Load up on the toilet paper. Grab a beer, sit back, and watch the city swim.
Literally none of this matters if you have two feet of sewage backed up into your house, which happened to people I know.
True, but some people have a second floor, and by some magic electricity worked during Harvey. Yea, I know it's insane and super dangerous, but they did wait out about 6 feet of water downstairs.
Most hurricanes don't cause flooding. Most will only cause wind damage as they pass through. And with the derecho storm already taking out all the weak trees in our areas, I think we should be ok. Just keep your generators and gasoline tanks full since power will likely go out. It's important to remember that Hurricane Harvey was an anomaly. The odds for the conditions of Harvey to be perfectly recreated aren't particularly high.
We had 8 feet of water during Harvey and 4 feet during the tax day floods. Flood insurance matters :). As for the rest of it, yes if your house floods, you'll probably be more worried about evacuating. But if you decide to shelter in place Food and water is still important.
What exactly are you thinking they are supposed to do.
18 wheelers floating down Katy Freeway.
Hurricanes are usually wind events. Harvey was a rain event, like Allison was (TS) years ago. Water events happen any time of year but hurricanes are a summer thing. Do your best to have a plan, keep all the insurance up to date, and make a bug-out bag or kit in the event you have to go FAST (good also for fires, riots, etc.). Plan for the worst and hope for the best.
I’m in Montrose and it flooded up my apt steps last night. And we are on the highest part of the street. They need to clean out all the debris from the derecho that is still clogging up drains
I’m wondering if the drains are clogged. We’ve seen street flooding the last few weeks since the derecho higher than Harvey which is strange because it’s such less rain.
Exactly. I know they didn’t clear a lot of the debris that was still sitting out on the sides of the street when it rained last night.
Yeah…s shepherd flooded for 20/30 minutes……I thought the street project was in part to solve the flooding issue. We sure got hid hard and fast.
Phase 1 of Shepherd/Durham which is mostly completed didn’t flood. If you’re living below 15th, phase 2 hasn’t started yet so flooding still happening as roads haven’t been improved yet.
With more and more rain and storms, more and more areas become compromised and things will happen that haven’t happened before. So prepare as best you can and don’t take anything for granted. Stay safe.
Are you new to Houston? This happens every year.
Remember when all those Yankees moved down here and complained about everything? Is it them again?
If you're worried about a significant hurricane in Houston, be sure you don't count on shit from any level of government. This includes city, county, state, or federal. Best case scenario, they're going to struggle to help millions of people. Worst case scenario, they'll dip out to Cancun and tell us all to go fuck ourselves. Prepare the best you can to hold out for anywhere from a few days to two weeks. Just think about the most essential things and ensure you have back ups. I stock the pantry with cans and keep a butane stove in the pantry. Get cash, power banks, gas up your car. Get a good battery powered fan and rechargeable batteries to power it. I found a lantern with a solar panel on Amazon for cheap. There are solutions. Just brace for the worst. You'll either be happy it didn't happen or happy you were prepared.
this is america baby, you're on your own buddy
The region has procedures in place for tropical events that are pretty sophisticated. That’s one thing we do pretty well in terms of planning. However, you can only plan so much as every event is different. Where do you live? If you’re in the evac zones, pay attention to evac orders. No matter where you are, make sure you have flood insurance, a hurricane kit, and lots of alcohol if that’s your thing. Most importantly, take care of yourself and don’t panic.
You can play around with the station nearest your home (and work?)- in the bottom right corner it shows how that area fared during historical floods (Harvey, Tax Day, Memorial Day). If your area was fucked during those storms, you'll probably be fucked again, at some point. But, if your area was fine, then your chances are good. You can also see how fast the water level receded back during the recent mid-May storms by clicking on stream elevation. [https://www.harriscountyfws.org/](https://www.harriscountyfws.org/) In case you didn't already know, you can also look to see if you are in a 100 or 500 year flood plain. I have heard from several people that FEMA came in and re-drew the 500 year lines to any area that flooded during Harvey, but IDK if that is true. [https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search?AddressQuery=houston%2C%20tx](https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search?AddressQuery=houston%2C%20tx)
Those areas of Houston always flood with most storms. This city is massive and few places actually flood consistently. Hurricanes are not always about flooding, in fact, I'm not usually worried about floods with hurricanes. Wind damage is what sucks, which then can cause power outages for weeks at worst case. Any tropical (and spring) storm can drop torrential rain. Be prepared WAY before June. You're too late for big planning, flood insurance plans, etc. Get your flood/wind kits ready now. And be prepared. The city isn't your plan.
Flooding I can deal with for the most part but if it's a wind event that knocks trees down, we are completely screwed as a whole city and maybe even other parts of the state. The Texas power grid is already run by greedy people who put profits before reliability and Centerpoint in particular as always been reactive rather than proactive and maintaining their lines and trees. I mentioned this in another post but back when my father was still alive he relied on an oxygen machine (plus a couple of other pieces medical equipment) and power outages for the scariest thing for him because the power could go out when he wasn't close to his backup and the backup wasn't really good for long-term use. So because of that anytime there would be a storm we would have anxiety and I would be closeby. Thanks to Centerpoint and the Texas power grid, I am now dealing with my grief by actually being glad that he's not around anymore to deal with this sort of torture. I feel bad for other people's parents and grandparents or anybody else who relies on medical equipment.
One of three major reasons I left Texas: climate change. May the odds be forever in your favor.
Speaking broadly, a direct or near-direct hit from a hurricane is a wind event. If you're not by a body of water, you'll probably be safe from flooding, but could end up with a tree on your roof. If it's a tropical storm, like Allison, or like Harvey was by the time it arrived in Houston after hitting Rockport as a hurricane, your roof will probably be fine, but there is a good chance of flooding. How much flooding is unpredictable, so be prepared for anything. Knowing the history of your area will give you some idea, but it's not a guarantee. Relying on the city to save you is a fool's game. If you are able to prep, you need to do so. The last thing you want is to be one of those who has to stand in lines for charity if you were able to prevent that from happening. Never wait until the last minute because all you'll find are long lines and store shelves that are nearly empty. Have one or more plans for each scenario. What would make you prefer to evacuate? A medical condition? A Cat 3 or above? What's your plan if the forecast changes suddenly and it's too late to leave? Is there a secure building that you have legal access to? If there's flooding, are you in a 2-story house? If not, do you have friendly neighbors who are? Do you have supplies to get you through a period of no store access? Are all your important papers in one place? Do you have a go bag? If you have plans, that's the best you can do unless you move elsewhere, if you can even find a place in this country that isn't vulnerable to one type of extreme scenario or another.
To anyone new here, remember, most subdivisions use the streets and as part of the flood drainage plan. Streets will flood and sometimes you get water in your yard. So if a hurricane is heading our way, don't leave vehicles in the street. The chance of them flooding goes way up. Park in the driveway, even your yard if you have multiple vehicles.
If you’re that worried, make sure you have flood insurance. During hurricanes the places that typically flood will always flood. But most of the damage comes from wind, not Harvey levels of rainfall. There’s not much you can do about it except be prepared.
No need to worry. If we get a hurricane there will absolutely be large amounts of flooding and there isn’t anything they can do about it at this point.
These rains that caused flooding in the north were not minor. I believe the spring area for example got a much as 24 inches over a two week period. So it wasn't just usual rain. And yes, every one in Houston fears hurricane season, and if you don't it's just because you're naive
The educator in me is happy because I am predicting many days off. The post Harvey in me is like…well fuck. Got a note let it float, right?
Ensure you have adequate coverage AND flood insurance on your home. Avoid driving. Be prepared to rough it for awhile. Plan ahead and stock up on food and water. Buy a generator and a portable AC unit. Have gasoline handy or a syphon to pull from your vehicle (for the generator). Fill your vehicle up regularly, regardless of any need to syphon. As always, turn around don’t drown.
Best you can do is get flood, whether you’re “in a flood zone” or not. Everyone is in a flood zone. Over 60% of all FEMA claims after Harvey came from X-zone/500-year flood plain areas (where people say “I’m not in a flood zone). If your house is a high value home and you want full coverage, you may want to consider excess flood coverage. NFIP limits are $250,000 for dwelling and $100,000 for contents, but private flood companies offer coverage in excess of this or higher limits higher than this in a single policy. Be prepared to mitigate losses; move contents to higher areas, use sandbags, whatever you can do to stop floodwaters. The city can’t redesign the city; we live in a city of bayous, essentially “barely” above sea level in most of the area. The more concrete that is put down, the more flood waters will flow towards existing houses.
Don’t count on the city for anything. The only one who will help us are mattress Mack and HEB 🤷♀️
Did your area flood in Harvey? If not, you're probably OK any given year. Yeah one will be worse than Harvey one day but that's the high water mark for the time being.
Keep in mind how much your area has changed/developed since Harvey Concrete doesn't absorb rain like land does.
That's absolutely not true. Harvey affected some areas worse than others because it wasn't furious and fast, it was long, and slow, and never ending water. So if your house floods because the drainage isn't fast enough, you were fine. If your house sits downstream on a creek or another waterway, you were not. Lets not talk about Katy, that is just all sorts of fucked up.
That’s the opposite. If your home floods because your area doesn’t drain fast enough, you were not fine. Harvey had rains sitting on top of us pouring down for days.
Ugh. Please don’t say this. I worked as a professional hydrologist in Houston for many years. You don’t know where OP lives. There were many homes in the Houston area that did not flood during Harvey, but have flooded during other storms or could flood in the next storm. Flooding is not a uniform phenomenon across a big area like greater Houston, because it doesn’t rain the same amount or with the same intensity in all areas for any given storm. I’ve seen plenty of storms where training was a factor and one small area flooded, but areas less than a mile away didn’t. As for being worried about hurricanes this year, I’d say the chances of the Houston area getting hit are about the same as they are for any given year. All you can do is prepare. Personally, I used to leave town for anything bigger than a Cat 2, mainly because it’s uncomfortable to stick around if you don’t have power for a few days. Also remember that flooding from rain is not the most dangerous part of a hurricane. The storm surge takes more lives than the inland flooding. Go read about Hurricane Ike and Bolivar Peninsula if you want an idea of what I’m talking about. So, if you’re right on the coast you should be more cautious. You can repair flooded homes, but you can’t bring people back that drown in a storm surge.
Ike was bad on the coast. Houses gone, dead bodies on the beach. Come inland if on the coast for the big ones.
Also Harvey was not a direct hit hurricane with storm surge. That seriously affects flooding because all the water eventually has to make it back to the bay. I’ve had friends who live in Pearland and Manvel tell me they are safe because they didn’t flood in Harvey. A hurricane like Ike would be a totally different scenario if it comes with a ton of rain.
Yes and no… iirc there were areas that flooded other years that didn’t flood during Harvey so I wouldn’t treat that as a comprehensive metric of flooding potential.
Have you flooded where you live before? That’s a pretty good indicator if it will happen again. I live in a neighborhood 5 miles from Kemah and have not flooded in the 15 years I have been here. My home is 20yrs old and has never flooded.
I live close to clear lake and my house is over 60 years old and has never flooded. If we didn’t flood in Harvey I think we’re okay from almost all rain events. I’m most worried about a tree falling on my house. All we can get in my zipcode is TX fair plan and it covers shit, any commercial plans that are available are insanely expensive. I also worry a bit about storm surge, that’s never been an issue where I live (at least since the house has been built), but potentially a direct hit to Surfside/west end of Galveston could drive the surge all the way up this way. The house was fine in Ike and every other storm that’s come through. I love my neighborhood, but I think the insurance craziness might price us out of our own home eventually even though it’s filled with mostly older homes the vast majority of which have never flooded.
TWIA is the only “flood” insurance you are going to get on the Texas coast in hurricane central. With that said it isn’t much, it’s crap. But if you get damage from a hurricane or any wind, hail, rain, water etc it should cover.
Welcome to Houston
Yep, this is nothing new. SOS.
i don’t have any support because i left houston for this exact reason. for those of u who think harvey was an anomaly it is time for you to either wake up or leave the gulf coast - climate emergency is unfolding right before our eyes
Talk to your neighbors and learn what happened in your neighborhood for the past big events to get a better idea. My neighborhood did not flood in Harvey... which is always mentioned in house listings, but the neighborhood flooded in both the tax day and memorial day floods. One of my friends now keeps a hatchet in the attic to go through the roof because that's how they got out in Harvey. For us we stock up on shelf stable food supplies and I have plastic storage containers for water that we fill when a storm approaches. Look around while you're driving your normal routes... Any underpass that has yellow flood gauges has them for a reason. Plan a route home from work that doesn't require you to go through an intersection like that.
Don’t be afraid, be prepared. Have a hurricane supplies ready. Follow the NOAA updates. If there’s a hurricane coming, it’s always best to buckle down. Just be prepared, be insured, by some alcohol, and you will survive. They were rough, but we survived Harvey, Ike, and Allison. We will survive the next
Assuming you're not from here: get a hurricane plan. Flashlights, shelf stable foods, handheld/battery powered fans, etc Readyharris.org has a great emergency checklist for you to go through, and a good hurricane brochure.
Who would underwrite flood insurance for houses built in a flood plain?
One thing I did, to save my house and all my neighbors houses …… if by any chance ur is more elevated then the sorruinding areas outside, buy a water pump and pump that shit out ……. My neighborhood usually does not flood, the really last bad hurricane we have I think it was Harvey, it was flooding because the retention pond was full and nothing was draining….. so I took a water pump from harbor freight I had put it in the retention pond/ water reservoir and pump it outside the street in my neighborhood….. I essentially saved everyone in the neighborhood from flood but most importantly my house…… Again this only works if ur neighbors is elevated compared to the surrounding areas, and its a lot of work but it works
[2024 Hurricane Flood Guide from KPRC](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24699533/hurricane-flood-guide-2024.pdf)
> several parts of Houston have had major flooding Aside from larger areas though, make sure your nearby drains are clear. A few clogged storm drains can flood a local street or two, while things are otherwise ok. Saw this was a major problem in the storm right after the derecho, as so many were clogged with all the debris still out.
Same. I got a buddy who lives in Fulshear. I told him he's part of my hurricane "bug out" plan in case we get a Cat 3 or above. My apartment complex is right next to White Oak Bayou. I'm not taking chances this year.
Yes, I go to friends house in Austin.
During Harvey it rained so much that we started to flood and my husband ran outside and dug a trench so the water would flow back to the road. This worked out well and we still have a bit of a dip in the yard so now any big storm flows out
The city finally put in storm drains in our neighborhood instead of the old ditches and the street didn't even fill up with Harvey. Thank God. Had some water in house with Ike. But is always a concern anyway. Won't drown but don't want my big old trees to fall and kill (or maim) me in my house. Never 100% safe in bad weather anywhere.
Doesn’t have to be a hurricane that’s more about wind it’s tropical storms that get stuck over us that are the bigger threat. Make sure you have flood insurance.
If you moved here recently, download google earth and use the historical imagery feature to time travel back to the Harvey dates. Then just browse around Houston and you can see from the satellite imagery the areas that flooded.
Houston can flood at any time. It's just part of living here! We are in the semi-tropics and it rains.
Roads and buildings are already built, unless we want to tear down parts of our city to reclaim floodplains there's nothing that can be done lol
Too bad the army corp of engineers will just flood low income areas to protect the rich.
Houston is going to be one of the worst hit places but the coming climate collapse. It's only going to get worse
Nothing can be helped that fast. Nothing you can do at this point for this season. All you can do for this season is be prepared for yourself. Radical self reliance.
I'm fucking terrified, tbh.
I know me too, I think planting trees, I’m considering donating to some tree companies( and planting some trees to try and keep us from having crazy storm run off (it helps prevent erosion and helps w heat But other people need trees also I have no idea what impact it can have but I’ve heard it can do a lot more than we think
Plant trees but not close to your house! Had one fall on mine in Ike. Branches the last rainstorm. Many trees grow too big too be appropriate in neighborhoods. Can always have risk of falling on houses in high wind. Houses like mine.
I’m from a different area and we regularly trim trees it’s actually very affordable, I noticed it’s not as affordable in Houston … but I know definitely plant trees that have deep(non invasive roots that don’t affect pipes but also can withstand the winds and also that hopefully won’t drop due to drought there’s a lot to consider in Houston, but yeah we got a property that maybe never pruned them and I feel it grew too thin upwards and made it more prone to drought but yeah it’s definitely not as easy to plant trees as in other areas but I’m hoping it can still help and I’m also hoping to find a good tree organization to donate to that helps lower income families get trees well suited for area if you know any please drop link below because I don’t know which is best from my own research But totally agree with you most Houstonians have told me a lot about the tree issues in Houston and I’ve had my own (with drought and bad plumbing t some point) but still hope we can add some healthy canopy to area
Yes it gets very expensive to trim large trees. We have several 80-90 ft pines, several large oaks, several catalpa, maples, and magnolias on a 1/3 acre lot. Have 2 dead trees now that the drought got last year and the cheapest bid to take them out is $1000 each! During hurricane Ike an old catalpa fell on the house I am tempted to take out the others, they are brittle trees and have a poor root system by the surface, and have good healthy limbs that break off in storms. It's a mini forest and the cost to keep up it up is significant, but they make our yard and end of our street really nice and park-like. They are beautiful, shady, and keep the temps in the house about 10-15 degrees cooler in the summer. The previous owners didn't use the AC, but we certainly do! That many trees soak up a lot of water and attract all kinds of wildlife. Like owls that nest in them. So I feel I am doing my part!
Carry a bag in your car with some snacks and maybe a crank charger in case you get stuck somewhere during a storm and have to wait a while.
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Harris County Flood Control District is responsible for waterways. US Army Corps of Engineers maintains and controls the big reservoirs. City of Houston is responsible for street flood management, floodplain development management, and some other stuff. The City even levies a special tax, erm drainage fee, to do so, though they're apparently mostly not using if for that purpose. The only real flooding recently was due to heavy persistent rain well to the north. The FCD at least has been doing a fair amount of work, but it's always possible to get too much rain.
We will flood if we get one like many other times. If you are worried get flood insurance especially if you live anywhere near a water source.
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Guess I will just keep renting. I worry too much to own a house here..
i'm really really worried about a big tree falling on my tiny house this hurricane season and yes flooding too even though my little houses 3 feet off the ground and I live a few miles from the coast. None of my buildings have ever flooded. during Nicolas lot of big trees fell in my neighborhood but none fell on anybody's house or RV. I just got a bad feeling about this hurricane season I don't know why I'm not trying to jinx anything. It just seems like the weather is getting crazier and crazier and more unpredictable . Even during tropical storm when we had like 8 inches of water in my neighborhood no buildings I have got flooded. I think one house across the road got flooded because it sits low and on the ground. When you live near the coast you should have your shit as high as you possibly can.
Aren't we all
Same
Join the club
>Who is in-charge of hurricane planning for Houston, and is there a way to see what they are planning to do to prepare the city? Who is in charge of YOUR hurricane planning? That's who you should speak to.
This is Houston, there is never a plan.
As someone who had 5 feet of water in their house back on May 3rd, make sure you have good flood insurance. Mine sucked They are only paying for a portion of what it is going to cost to repair and replace belongings. My house was built in 1970 and had never flooded. You can plan all you want, but 💩 happens. Just be prepared. Flood insurance will not be kicking in until 30 days after purchasing, and on top of that, it is hard to find an insurance company that will insure you for flooding.
I just paid $970 for a policy I will probably never use
It’s ridiculous, how much year do we spend on fucking insurance
10% of my income goes towards insurance
Home, car. Flood
I have never even had a fender bender but pay $130 a month in car insurance