Saturday, April 18, 2009
Rain Stories
7.9 inches in Newport. The streets in Newport are under water (about 4ft or better) and some homes may be fighting off the rising water. The Mayor said she was in deep water on Houston Ave. as well as the old part of town. The creek is rising because of the 6 inches received in Friendswood. Seems like Galveston is getting the tornadoes. While we had some very strong winds, I do not believe we had any tornadoes. Must get back to what I was doing... What is your storm story?
23 comments:
Chris,
My neighbors in Glen Cove report 5.75 inches in their rain gauge. Probably tons of yellow/tan mud sediment flowing from Cypress Bay development into Clear Lake impacting the environment.. Complaint after complaint to LC and USACE and still no effective sediment control. All so amazing. Looking for a way to publish photos.
Chris,
Cars parked on the media and off the road at entrances to South Shore Harbor. South Shore Streets flooded. Glen Cove and other nearby subdivision streets flooded.
WHY? Ask Jack Murphy at City Engineering.
Simple answer: City drainage leads to Clear Lake and Clear Creek. In South Shore Harbor much overflow drainage goes into the NRG Canal system which is now impacted by Cypress Bay Development.
For years all drainage plans have been “rubber-stamped” by the city engineering.
We got breeched. Had to pull all the downstairs carpet and the seats out of my car. We cut the sheet rock 6- 8" in the garage as most of the wet walls were adjacent. Letting it dry out and it looks like it will be okay. Not sure about the back, but I'm getting hardiplank thanks to Ike. (Yes, it takes forever between TWIA's pithy adjustment and a SBA disaster loan.) If things look ugly when I pull the back siding, then I'll take care of it then.
On the west side of town.... the Brittany Lakes, Bay, Clear Creek Heights, Newport subdivision areas..... although the water rose very quickly.... I must say it drained off very quickly too. The rise was no surprise with the tremendous amount of rain we received in such a short amount of time, but it is good to know that the drainage system works very well.
Some homes in Claremont flooded.
Paul,
It flooded all over. anytime input exceeds output you get backlog. Not everything is caused by Cypress Bay. Such statements only reduce the effectiveness of your presenting the truly valuable facts.
BHL,
You are a very nice person and
being gentle with Paulie was the
proper and gracious thing to do.
He does tend to play only one
string on his old banjo,making
it less than comfortable to listen
to his sad tale.Perhaps Paulie is
having trouble with his own "PUTS",
making him quite irritable.
Be Sweet
OK, I'm calling bullshit on Ida Mae, who evidently is the southern alter-ego to the New York born Chelsea.
There was 7.4 inches from my rain gauge. Mr. Smith your blaming Cypress Bay for the flood this Saturday is right up there with blaming Ike flooding on Cypress Bay. Your statements are unsupportable by facts, but heck I would like to hear how you substantiate such claims.
Reynolds Avenue was a lake, our parking lot had 16 inches of water in it. We had to move all our low vehicles to the loading ramp. I suggest that anytime we take that volume of water on already saturated grounds, we will see the same results.
What we really need in League City is a comprehensive hydrology study. After the comprehensive study, the process for development approval should contain a provision that requires a hydrology study, provided by the developer, on the proposed development and how it impacts the entire community’s hydrology. The City should consider any negative impact on drainage before the City’s approval is given.
BHL sorry to hear you got water.
Mr. Edelman,
Good to see you back and posting.
BTW the final rain total was 8.4 for the Newport area.
Thanks Marc, we'll get by. Good idea about the hydrology study.
Oh did I post under my name? I meant to post under my alter ego Ida Mae
NOT!
That was some of the worse flooding I have seen in LC since I have lived here over 30+ years.
I have never seen Countryside flood that bad. Even in past storms it did not flood that bad.
But has some one said has soon as the rain slowed a bit then with in 15 to 20 minutes the roads in Countryside where clear.
The biggest thing to remember is that Clear Creek is pretty long and lots of other streams and creeks feed into it. There is a ton of new homes in Manvel, Pearland, Friendswood and LC that now have storm run off into Clear Creek. This will only get worse as the more development is done.
Has for South Shore that was cow pastor and flood plain before the area was built. The only real dirt work I ever saw was near the hotel and that only built up around the lake by digging out for the marina.
When you build up land and disrupt the natural flow of run off to a natural source what will happen a a flood.
For those that want to say I don't know sorry lived in LC long enough to remember all that has cow pastor even Meadow Bend. Even parked cars for Scout fundraiser on the dirt work they did by the lake for the Speed boat Races they use to have on Clear Lake.
Marc sweetheart,you sound like such
a delightful young gentleman,you just
tickle my fancy.
I received some feed back on the statement I made about the need for a comprehensive hydrology study. Some have said that it is a great idea; others have been less enthusiastic about it. I am going to ask to have it placed on the next agenda for commissioners comments at planning and zoning. If you agree with me, please contact city council members to let them know you think it is time for a comprehensive hydrology study that provides our city engineers with real data to evaluate new development and its impact on our drainage system..
BHL
You are correct. My post was of an extreme tone. I thought about a deletion but let it ride.
Older neighborhoods are most impacted by these flood/high water events. It is not only about my area but many others. The problem is not all about new construction but these concerns are compounded by impact of subsidence as well as other drainage related issues. Correct me if I am wrong, but most of the city drainage goes to Clear Creek and Clear Lake.
Engineers will say that such events are extraordinary and only so much can drain. I am no engineer but I think much of LC probably lies between 8 ft to 20ft above Mean Sea Level (MSL). We live in a tropical zone and within the watershed of one of the largest cities in the country. Flooding events are not so rare and existing drainage standards may be inadequate.
Maybe the engineering standards this community relies on may be faulty and inadequate and need to be reconsidered. I have heard FEMA is updating flood hazard zones (flood zones) in Galveston County.
My post was made in haste and with an attitude. Residents along the south side of Clear Lake watched a tan-colored mud flowing from Cypress Bay development over take Glen Cove and flow into CLEAR Lake. I will not address the environmental impact of this event. Maybe only a few citizens even care about the lake and bay environment.
Ton’s of run-off silt were deposited into the Clear Lake as a result of improper silt control and lack of enforcement of clean water standards by League City. This is not the first time and probably will not be the last time.
Well I just learned that the drainage bayou between Ellis Landing and Newport was basically dammed up with debris that had been there since Ike. One of my neighbors took pictures (I haven't seen them yet) showing the differencial.
If such is indeed the case, then the city was negligent and should bear some portion of my expenses, as I did not carry flood insurance (yes, shame on me) because everybody who's lived there for 20+ years said it never floods.
Déjà vu...
As the development system is used right now, drainage is looked at one parcel/one project at a time. Each parcel must show its outflow of drainage in the "correct" direction flowing south most of the time to a small ditch or larger ditch. The issue really becomes that we have too much property that has become built with hard surfaces that do not absorb water and hold it.
Retention Ponds can ease flooding but when they become full they are ineffective. The retention ponds once designed as amenities or dry detention get full and then start draining and adding to the problem themselves.
There were two cars flooded out last night after 3 inches of rain in my neighborhood. Flooded Again from 3 inches in 2.5 hours? We should not be flooding with 1.2 inches of rain an hour. The city’s antiquated and inadequate system of hydrology management time has come to an end and we need a new era of hi-tech Hydrology management. There are very sophisticated systems that use modeling to manage watershed. storm water management software The old way of a city engineer looking at the plan and nodding his head with acceptance has to go. We need to get this problem understood in the large scale/bigger view and fast or it is going to drown us.
Dear Dena,assistant emergency management
coordinator said,"In League City,which
appears to be the hardest hit in the
northern part of Galveston County,
300 houses flooded."
LC Website
The EMO encourages residents to
purchase flood insurance.
Oh Dena,is that the best that you
can do?Will you be answering all
difficult situations in this
same vein?
Don't fret,just buy insurance,that
should solve all of the past,present
and future difficult situations.
How about making each resident of
League City buy a bottle of
horse liniment?
Be Sweet
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