Harvey a year Later

I personally got lucky and didn’t get water in the house, but it was getting pretty damn close.




I remember the Texans were playing a preseason game, but wasn’t interested in it. The real deal was the mayweather/mcgreggor fight. I went to my friends apartment to chill for a bit. She wasn’t home. But I was just there watching her tv. She lives by south belt/45 and that area got flooded real bad. I kept checking the radar to see where the rain bands were at. I left 30 minutes too late. 45 going into downtown became ass. I tried cutting through Washington Avenue and that place was flooded, real bad. I had to crisscross through streets in rice military. Couldn’t cross to i10 because I was afraid it would be flooded down there. I made it to the other side of i10 and tried going through those neighborhoods. West 11th was flooded towards Hempstead and there was no way to pass through. It took me an hour to figure out what to do. I said **** it and decided to get on i10. My car made it. And I cut through some neighborhoods in spring branch to get to 290. Wasn’t that bad from there. I actually stopped at a parking lot to find a periscope of the fight.


Thats my Harvey story.

 

Living in the heart of The Woodlands, I was lucky to not have to deal with any flooding at my home. I remember sitting in my garage in the evenings as I typically do to unwind from the day and just thinking as it was happening how surreal it was. The rain just never stopped. Going to HEB and having to stand in line like that, with the empty shelves was something I never thought I would see in person. Hearing the helicopters near by rescuing people from their homes in the priciest of neighborhoods around here was unreal. I didn't have too many friends or family affected. One friend, who's house floods in a light drizzle, obviously was destroyed. The flow from Spring Creek actually relocated his detached garage about 100 yards away from its original location. He was still renovating from the floods the year prior.

Over the year, I've tried to explain to people not from here what it was like. I like to tell them the stat that it was so much water in the region, that the Greater Houston area actually sank for a period of time. I think it was something like a centimeter or 2. Not a huge number but when you think about the scale of that, it's pretty incredible.

 

Year later and I still have doors to replace.

 

I know some folks who just moved back in. Crazy to think that there's still a lot of homes not repaired.

Also interesting though, because you don't hear about it now. Remember the questions from out of towners about if they'd even be able to drive through Houston 3 weeks after the fact?

 

my mom, sister and brothers houses each took b/t 3' & 5' of water - brother was first to get back in his house in may and my mom only got back in earlier this month.

new housing development coming up next to my moms neighborhood and they are trucking in dirt and building up the land which will only make it that much worse for the pre-existing homes around them when the next flood hits...assholes.

 

My in-laws got 5 feet of water in their house in Beaumont. That’s where I rode out the storm with my wife and kid, because we thought it would be safer than Clear Lake. We ended up getting rescued by boat. At least it was an experience. My in-laws just got their kitchen cabinets put in about a month ago.

 

While I was really fortunate, I live and work in a community on the west side of town that was heavily affected by the releases of the reservoirs. Lots of my kids' friends still aren't back in their home.

 

Sooo their houses should be flooded too just to prevent an extra inch of water from entering the other areas?

 

The rule and logic is drainage needs to be accounted for, so new lots need like these new driveways that are made of rock instead of concrete or homes built-up like in the elevated ones in Bellaire / Meyerland. It's ridiculous to turn retention areas into new hills with homes on top. Old homes that got demolished aren't always on slab, but many times over a crawl space.

I live by Memorial Park and this is happening around here too. Neighbors b**** and moan and the city gives violation notices unrelated to the dirt build-up. Neighborhood associations even get involved, but I guess there's no enforcement mechanism other than a civil lawsuit down the road. All the imported dirt is documented. Screw this corrupt administration and their crooked deals with builders. I was centimeters away with Harvey (other neighbors weren't so lucky) and the drainage will be much worse the next time. Looking to sell and get out before that becomes a reality.

 

One year later... still not back in my home. Or close to it. Driving by the outside still looks like a war zone. I'm expecting to be back in another three to four months.

 

Holy Moly, I live near Cypresswood Drive and I see quite a few homes still being worked on, are you doing the work yourself? Prayers to you and your family!!

 

I completely agree they should stop building and turn many of these places into retention ponds. Im not apposed to building these neighborhoods higher and then eventually buying out the ones that are flood prone and turn those into retention ponds. Its so far past the point of no return that w/out demolition many of these houses, there is little point.

The city needs to stop approving these subdivisions, insurers need to stop insuring and people need to stop buying.

 

sooo the people who have been in their neighborhood for 40-50 years should get screwed over even more by a new housing development in an already flood-prone area?

based on your previous post i dont think you do.

sooo the people who have been in their neighborhood for 40-50 years should have to move so that new home developments can be built in flood-prone areas? how is that fair?

ive heard this argument a bunch and it really pisses me off...my family doesnt want to move. they rebuilt their houses and want to stay there...why should they have to have their homes bought out, but allow an entire new housing development to be built next to them?

 

So your answer is to demolish all the new homes, turn them into retention ponds so you can keep your old house? The problem is here to stay, regardless if all future building is stopped. The solution is not to keep rebuilding homes that are always being flooded. If I am buying a house in Houston, Im going to make sure its well above everyone elses house.

 

delete

 

Building new is fine if done properly, like the nice million dollar homes in Bellaire. Unresearched, I believe it doesn't even need to be high end to be done right and properly elevated. Importing dirt and creating new hills violating code because the builders pay off the city is just corruption that hurts in the long run.

 

The thought is we shouldn't be doing new construction on a grand scale. We should be turning the property into retention ponds to 'lessen' the impact on homes built in flood zones since they existed for half a century. The reality is most of these homes should have been elevated when they were built decades ago.

 

I get that. Specifically speaking to my circumstance though, old homes (which weren't built on slab) are being torn down and new homes are taking their place. Prior to the slab going down (which reduces drainage space), builders are importing dirt to create elevated lots (which reduces more drainage space). Builders are cutting costs by greasing the city instead of properly elevating new homes and no matter how many complaints the neighborhood association sends to the city, no action gets taken. I understand that a properly elevated home costs more money, but doing it right instead of passing the costs on the neighborhood by increasing everyone's flood risk is 3rd world bullshit corruption that makes me hate this city's government.

 

I'm in the Westbury/Meyerland area. My rehab is all done save for my usual small home improvement projects. I was pretty lucky. The insurance company was slow but paid adequately on the first try. I had a family member who could act as my general contractor as well, so the work was done pretty quickly and the swindling was kept to a minimum. The neighborhood still has a way to go though. People who were lifting their houses seem to be quasi-done -- that is, done enough that they are living in the home, but they still have finishing to do. People who tore down and are building anew are still at it. I see a lot of framed-out houses, but not many done. And, I know of quite a few houses where still no work seems to be done. The character of the neighborhood, especially in Meyerland, is changing a lot because all these houses are 5+ feet taller than they used to be. House flippers are active. Long-time residents have moved. A lot of the change is good, really -- new housing stock, more flood hardening, new school and other public amenities. But the successive floods also wiped out some of the old culture and community there.