Anyone here been affected with the Brazos River rising? So far we are in the clear in our neighborhood...Wish I could say so for our detail shop in Richmond. Hopefully the water levels stay low! Richmond Tx 6/1/2016 Sugarland Memorial 6/2/2016 Sienna Plantation 6/2/2016
Was there something specific about this last week of rain that's brought the Brazos to this level? The past heavy rains I remember the turnaround at 59 and 99 being closed off, but I didn't know it was getting like this.
Combo of already overloaded creeks and bayous (no recovery time), saturated ground, and just the wrong amount of rain in the right place to run these rivers over.
Yes, for those of us in parts of Houston, we're still seeing rain, sure; but the heavy horrific rainfall has been mostly north (northern part of the city, Spring, Brenham). My stepdad called me yesterday to see "if ya'll (my wife and I) are all right". We live near Westheimer / Beltway 8. "Yeah, we're fine." But they have a shop in Ole Town Spring and live in Kingwood. Double whammy. Biblical rain.
Not personally affected, just my drive to work has doubled thanks to the road closures. It's scary, and sad to think about he devastation that is not 5 minutes from our location. Seeing all the videos, and driving over the brazos leaves me in awe....
My Neighborhood (Greatwood) is sustaining thus far, but the OEM for the neighborhood is getting concerned with another round coming.
I've had a couple of friends who have had families houses that have been covered by the water. Areas that hadn't flooded in over 100 years got underwater. Pretty sad to see.
As mentioned earlier, as bad as this has all been, this area is not ready for another hurricane or any tropical disaster. The Houston area has dodged lots of bullets since Ike. Many "experts" (FWIW) believe that this will be a very active hurricane season. So far, they have been right with 2 named storms already.
I was the Land Planner for Greatwood and worked closely with the civil engineers. The internal pumps are massive (been 20 years don't remember the exact details). If the river ever got high enough to top the levee, that whole part of the world would be flooded. The Brazos River is expected to crest at gauge height 53.5, Richmond (elevation 81.44 feet), but when it reaches Greatwood about 10-12 hours later, the elevation will be 73.75 feet. The lowest top of levee elevation in Greatwood is 77.1 feet which is along the back side adjacent to Rabbs Bayou. The highest levee elevation of the levee in Greatwood is 80.70 feet, which is along the frontage of the river. Even with the projected crest of 53.5 feet, the levee in Greatwood will still have approximately 3 feet of free board (the amount of distance from the water to the top of the levee). http://www.greatwooddistricts.com/
