Tag Archives: flooding

Don’t let the mosquitoes bite

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

That’s going to be a challenge. Mosquitoes don’t breed in flood waters. They drown in them, said Dr. Mustapha Debboun, director of the Mosquito Control Division at Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services. But it’s after the flood waters … Continue reading →

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Don’t expect any flood project funding from Congress, either

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Nice thought, but ain’t gonna happen. As the flood threat across much of the Houston region lessened Friday, local leaders began shifting their focus to recovery and two Houston congressmen announced legislation to fund more than $300 million worth of … Continue reading →

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Disaster declaration made

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office today confirmed that President Obama has approved the governor’s request for a federal disaster declaration for Fayette, Grimes, Harris and Parker counties. The action paves the way for federal recovery assistance to … Continue reading →

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Don’t expect Congress to pay for a Gulf Coast floodgate system

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I sure don’t. After nearly a decade of bickering and finger pointing, Texas scientists and lawmakers finally seem to agree that building some version of a “coastal spine” — a massive seawall and floodgate system — would best help protect … Continue reading →

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Storm debris collection begins in Houston neighborhoods

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Beginning Saturday, April 23, 2016 the City of Houston Solid Waste Management Department and private contractors working on the City’s behalf will begin storm debris collection in the single-family neighborhoods impacted by Monday’s flooding. This includes the … Continue reading →

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The Greater Houston Storm Relief Fund

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: After receiving calls from corporations and others who want to help financially, Mayor Sylvester Turner is establishing The Greater Houston Storm Relief Fund, to accept flood relief donations. “We’ve been hearing from residents who are confused about … Continue reading →

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On drainage and flooding

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Two items of interest from Gray Matters, both on the subject of the week. First, from Cynthia Hand Neely and Ed Browne of Residents Against Flooding: Man-made, preventable flooding has surged dirty, sewage-ridden water through Houston living rooms three times … Continue reading →

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How you can help or get help in Houston

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Via email from State Rep. Gene Wu: I hope this email finds you safe after yesterday’s flooding. While we are seeing most of the high water receding from our neighborhoods, there is still a good deal of cleanup work to … Continue reading →

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Ghosts of Allison

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I sure hope everyone made it through yesterday’s ferocious rain all right. The storm that flooded the greater Houston area on Monday – drenching the region with the most rain since Tropical Storm Allison dumped more than 24 inches in … Continue reading →

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Not everyone likes the latest hurricane surge protection plan

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Yet another obstacle. A new proposal to protect the Houston area from hurricanes is reigniting controversy, and potentially diminishing the odds that a consensus will emerge anytime soon on the best plan to safeguard the nation’s fifth-largest metropolitan area. Since … Continue reading →

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Those damn dams

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

In case you didn’t have enough to worry about. Here’s the deal with what could be a terrible threat to Houston: most of the time, it isn’t. In fact, it’s a 26,000 acre recreational greenspace on Houston’s west side. It … Continue reading →

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Storm protection is expensive

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

But then so would be getting hit by a truly bad storm. Building a storm surge protection system along the Texas Gulf Coast could cost between $7.9 billion and $11 billion, and likely would not be completed for about two … Continue reading →

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Back to square one for ReBuild Houston

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. A state district judge on Thursday voided the 2010 charter referendum that enabled the city to create the ReBuild Houston program, muddying the fate of the multi-billion-dollar funding scheme to dramatically improve Houston’s streets and drainage. … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Bonds, five bonds

Posted on October 17, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

There are four Harris County bond issues on the ballot this fall. The Chron supports them all, with some reservations. I’m just going to focus on the first one, since it’s by far the biggest and the one for which … Continue reading →

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Who needs wetlands?

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Development is all that matters, right? More than 38,000 acres of wetlands vanished in greater Houston over the past two decades despite a federal policy that “no net loss” can be caused by encroaching development. That’s an area about the … Continue reading →

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What now for road projects?

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

What do we do with road projects that were going to use ReBuild Houston funds now that the Supreme Court has ruled the 2010 referendum to have been illegal? A necklace of neighborhood streets encircling Hudnell’s home is among the … Continue reading →

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Bell wants Meyerland flooding investigated

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a story about flooding and the Mayor’s race, but not the story about flooding and the Mayor’s race you might have been expecting. Mayoral candidate Chris Bell on Sunday called for an independent investigation into why so many Meyerland … Continue reading →

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ReBuild Houston and the Mayor’s race

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’s all about the conservative voters, because no one cares what anyone else thinks. When the most conservative candidate in the Houston mayor’s race dropped out two months ago, the battle to win over right-leaning voters became a two-man show: … Continue reading →

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ReVote Houston?

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Mayoral candidate Bill King calls for a do-over on Renew/ReBuild Houston. Houston mayoral candidate Bill King wants to put ReBuild Houston, the city’s controversial streetand drainage program, back up for a vote. […] King, the most vocal opponent of ReBuild … Continue reading →

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New litigation against ReBuild Houston

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

To be expected at this point. A class action lawsuit has been filed against the city, seeking to reimburse residents who pay the drainage fee that helps fund ReBuild Houston, the multibillion-dollar streets and drainage improvement program that voters narrowly … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court deals a blow to ReBuild Houston

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Ugh. Houston’s divisive, multibillion-dollar effort to fund two decades of street and drainage improvements faces an uncertain future after the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the ballot measure voters narrowly approved in 2010 obscured the nature and cost of … Continue reading →

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Flooding as election issue

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I suppose this was inevitable. As thousands of Houstonians recover from the recent storms, the flooding is emerging as a political issue. Mayoral candidates are criticizing the city’s drainage infrastructure, attacking an unfinished project along Brays Bayou – around which … Continue reading →

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On the environmental challenges to the Houston region

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I turn the mic over to Jim Blackburn, in a reprint of an article he wrote for Offcite in 2014. The future of the City of Houston might be more affected by extreme weather events than by any other factor. … Continue reading →

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Time to stock up on mosquito repellent

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I feel itchy already. It is on, mosquitoes. This sopping spring guarantees Houstonians will have to be more vigilant against the pests than ever. The mosquito kills about 1 million humans a year, chiefly from malaria, making it by far … Continue reading →

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Bayou battle

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Another one of our local disputes that has been picked up by national interests. A Harris County Flood Control District proposal, submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers in April, would reconfigure and stabilize about a third of the semi-natural … Continue reading →

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On the bayou and erosion

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

A portion of the work being done on Buffalo Bayou, known as the Memorial Park Demonstration Project, is drawing opposition for being too big a change to the natural state of the bayou. Borne of a 2010 workshop hosted by … Continue reading →

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Ike floodgate update

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Call it Ike Dike 2.0 if you want. Five years after Hurricane Ike devastated the upper Texas coast, a group of Houston scientists presented details Tuesday about a proposed gate to protect the Houston Ship Channel and much of the … Continue reading →

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Your feedback requested on Chapter 9

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the Inbox, from CM Noriega: Council Member Melissa Noriega announces a Special Called Transportation, Technology & Infrastructure Committee meeting Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. TTI committee members will review the changes to Chapter 9, Stormwater Design Requirements, Chapter 13, … Continue reading →

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So long, Skylane Apartments

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is happening in my neighborhood, and it’s already generated a lot of interest from the locals. The aging Skylane Central apartments, perched near the entrance of the Woodland Heights neighborhood, are headed for demolition as a developer makes plans … Continue reading →

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Developer impact fee approved by Council

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I did not know that this hadn’t been done yet. Developers will join property owners in paying drainage fees following City Council’s approval Wednesday. The developer impact fee was included in the voter-approved 2010 city charter amendment now known as … Continue reading →

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Hear more about flooding in Houston

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Ed Browne, the President of Super Neighborhood #10 and the Chair of Residents Against Flooding and the Flood and Drainage Committee of the Super Neighborhood Alliance, sent me the following announcement: Collusion or Incompetence: Flooding in West Houston On March … Continue reading →

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When the landed gentry squabble

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Am I a bad person for thinking this is funny? Was it sewer sabotage or self-defense? That was the question hanging in the genteel air of two of Houston’s toniest suburbs [last] Thursday after Hunters Creek Village city officials verbally … Continue reading →

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Brown v Rodriguez

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been wondering how new Council Member Helena Brown’s style will play at Council meetings. I didn’t have to wait long to find out. Councilwoman Helena Brown and Councilman James Rodriguez squared off publicly Wednesday in the kind of bare-knuckled … Continue reading →

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CM Costello on fixing water leaks

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

CM Stephen Costello writes a letter in response to the Chron story about leaks in the city’s water pipes. The article “City lost millions to water leaks” (Page A1, Dec. 30) was a timely discussion of our aging water/sewer system. … Continue reading →

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