I-10, the flooding and massive amounts on concrete. (Houston, Katy: to buy, construction)

[RTFI]

Westres1, I must disagree... the Heights did flood during Allison, during the last deluge around 0600 that morning. I know, because it woke me up and I lived there. The water did not enter the houses on the street, but was up to the front porch steps, and the street was filled ... flooding and totaling the cars. My neighbor even swam the backstroke down the street. The water was so high running from the back yard that it reached the bottom of my car parked in the driveway.

White Oak and Buffalo Bayous were overflowing and the 42+ foot inundation of I-10 at Shepherd was another fun event that day.

As I recall, that was the first time the Heights had flooded other than the typical street intersection and mild ditch flooding that would tend to occur during heavy downpours. The recent construction along I-10 was given a large part of the blame ... whether correct or not, I cannot say. I moved out of Houston just after and what has transpired in the Heights since I cannot say.

[EasilyAmused]

The only houses that floodedin my subdivision were the ones that backed to a little area of new construction. Theory is that the houses were built up and now the water drains down to them.

Apparently my house flooded in 1991, pre-buffalo bayou remodel, it must have been a whopper because we only got water up to the curb on half the yard, dry on the other half. I'm counting myself very lucky.

The reworking of Buffalo Bayou around here has helped a lot in my opinion. Unimproved sections in Piney Point got flooded. Gessner and Briar Forest was a nightmare again even after all that work they did.

Question: Is the reason Sugarland doesn't flood is because there aren't any rivers or bayous down there affected by other regions rain flow? Other than Oyster Creek, isn't everything else man made? I think that have more to do with it than anything.

[Poltracker]

Originally Posted by our_truth

IMO street flooding is directly related to how old the neighborhood is.

No, it is not. It is directly related to the amount of water falling from the sky, the capacity of the drainage system, and the geographical location. New neighborhoods are not exempt from flooding, especially if you get a large enough amount of water in a short time. i.e. the new (less than 1 yr old and not in flood zone) neighborhood in Deer Park during TS Erin, 12 inches in 2 hours was just too much. The water drained with 2 hours after the rain subsided but the initial surge was too much. It was not that the drainage had reached capacity, it was just too much water trying to go down all at once. Picture turning the faucet in your bathroom sink on high. The sink will back up slightly while the water drains.

those years of dumping lawn clippings and blowing debris into the sewers.

This certainly restricts flow and blocks drains but leaf debris does break down biologically after time. Bigger problem is polluters. Those folks that throw out plastic bottles and garbage in the ditches. Take a trip to the Ship Channel (lower Buffalo Bayou) after a major rain...tomorrow would be good. You will see flotillas of plastic soda bottles and other garbage washed down from the bayous and storm sewers. There will be oil slicks too. The Mighty Tidy does its best to clean this up (bet the crew is working overtime now) but it is better to prevent this from getting into the system.

[Poltracker]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

The only houses that floodedin my subdivision were the ones that backed to a little area of new construction. Theory is that the houses were built up and now the water drains down to them.

Apparently my house flooded in 1991, pre-buffalo bayou remodel, it must have been a whopper because we only got water up to the curb on half the yard, dry on the other half. I'm counting myself very lucky.

The reworking of Buffalo Bayou around here has helped a lot in my opinion. Unimproved sections in Piney Point got flooded. Gessner and Briar Forest was a nightmare again even after all that work they did.

Question: Is the reason Sugarland doesn't flood is because there aren't any rivers or bayous down there affected by other regions rain flow? Other than Oyster Creek, isn't everything else man made? I think that have more to do with it than anything.

Wanna bet Sugarland would flood with the right amout of rain?
It did not get enough rain this time and is a completely different watershed (Brazos River) than the rest of the Metro.

[jfre81]

The right amount of water will flood any place. Just because this one didn't do it doesn't mean it will never happen.

It's like the people who say Katy is safe from hurricanes because of how it handled Ike, of which Katy and the greater west side was squarely on the clean end.

[our_truth]

Originally Posted by jfre81

Right, then the older neighborhoods that have been maintained properly aren't necessarily going to flood any easier than a new subdivision, especially if the drainage wasn't done right there in the first place. The same stuff will happen underneath every development that pops up. New is the next old. You were planning on staying where you are for awhile, right?

right IF you discount higher standards and overall better engineering. moving the drainage from the side gutters to middle of the street has a lots of advantages. its farther from trees, garbage cans/bulk junk, streetcleaning truck. its covered by a grill so anyone can inspect and report issues. you need less because it is bigger and can handle a lot more waterflow.
newer subdivisions are also plumbed to a retension pond and levelled a lot higher than city streets

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by our_truth

right IF you discount higher standards and overall better engineering. moving the drainage from the side gutters to middle of the street has a lots of advantages. its farther from trees, garbage cans/bulk junk, streetcleaning truck. its covered by a grill so anyone can inspect and report issues. you need less because it is bigger and can handle a lot more waterflow.
newer subdivisions are also plumbed to a retension pond and levelled a lot higher than city streets

Hmmmm. Well, aparently the I-10 Beltway 8 interchange was built "with a higher set of standards" and look what it got them.

There are neighborhoods on the westside that have been TOTALLY redone drainage, sewer, runoff wise.........they flooded.

I agree, with the theory sometimes its just too much rain and nothing you can do will stop it. And that IKE was a DRY HURRICANE. That was a cakewalk rainfall wise compared to some.

[Poltracker]

Originally Posted by our_truth

right IF you discount higher standards and overall better engineering. moving the drainage from the side gutters to middle of the street has a lots of advantages. its farther from trees, garbage cans/bulk junk, streetcleaning truck. its covered by a grill so anyone can inspect and report issues. you need less because it is bigger and can handle a lot more waterflow.
newer subdivisions are also plumbed to a retension pond and levelled a lot higher than city streets

Your engineering is a bit off. Most sewer drains on the side curbs of streets are plumbed to a main drain in the center of the street. They do not have parallel pipes running along either side of a street.

[our_truth]

Originally Posted by Poltracker

It was not that the drainage had reached capacity, it was just too much water trying to go down all at once. Picture turning the faucet in your bathroom sink on high. The sink will back up slightly while the water drains.

I think you contradict yourself there.

notice there are 2 drainages for a really good sink/tub.

There is a limit on how much rain that can really come down and thats how the number of drainage an area needs is determined. note that this system can work for 35 years and would start showing problems after that.

some people would report a slight puddle before it becomes a lake on a night like we just had. some are just que sera sera

[our_truth]

Originally Posted by Poltracker

Your engineering is a bit off. Most sewer drains on the side curbs of streets are plumbed to a main drain in the center of the street. They do not have parallel pipes running along either side of a street.

I was just talking about the entry points