July 4 flood spotlights post-Harvey challenges
‘Ike Dike’ receives $4 billion from Army Corps of Engineers, but recovery plans still vague
A long-discussed plan to create a 60-mile coastal barrier, known as the “Ike Dike,” to protect Texas’ Gulf Coast from major hurricanes received a major boost Tuesday when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it would provide nearly $4 billion for the project.
One day after an Independence Day rainstorm stirred memories of past Houston floods and underscored how the Houston-Galveston area remains vulnerable to natural disasters, the corps announced nearly $5 billion in funding for high-priority disaster recovery projects in Texas, much of it designed to spur flood mitigation and continued recovery from Hurricane Harvey.
The biggest-ticket item by far was $3.9 billion for a vaguely defined project to protect the southeast Texas coastline — referred to only as “Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay.”
U.S. Rep. John Culberson hailed the allocation as “an important step in developing a comprehensive coastal spine to protect the Texas coast.”
Jim Blackburn of Rice University's Severe Storm Prediction Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center said he looked forward to seeing how the $3.9 billion would be appropriated. He said the amount was not nearly enough to fund the “Ike Dike” project, the estimated cost of which runs upwards of $12 billion, but he said the money could be used to build levees on
Galveston and Bolivar islands. The corps has not yet approved a design for the coastal spine. A preliminary proposal is expected in the coming months.
“It is irregular to appropriate funds before the internal Corps review is completed,” Blackburn said. “With the amount of money at about $4 billion, that is not enough to build the gates across Bolivar Roads but you could build the levees with that amount of money. However, no one knows where the levee is to be placed — on the beach? Raising the roads? Behind the roads on Galveston and Bolivar? Usually there is not such uncertainty.”
There remained a lot of uncertainty about the Houston area’s preparedness for the next big storm after 7 inches of rain fell on parts of Harris County on Wednesday before tapering off in the early afternoon. The 6 inches recorded at Hobby airport set a record for the July 4th holiday, putting nerves on edge in a region still recovering from Harvey’s catastrophic flooding.
Even smaller storms hurt
Those totals fell short of the rainfall during the Tax Day and Memorial Day floods of 2015 and 2016, which each dumped more than a dozen inches on the area, and well short of Harvey’s 30 to 50 inches. Still, the rain fell hard and quickly Wednesday morning, flooding streets, stranding motorists, spurring Harris County to open its emergency operations center and forcing Houston to cancel its Freedom Over Texas celebration for the first time ever. Skies did clear in time for an evening fireworks show near downtown Houston.
“This was a relatively minor storm that almost reached catastrophic proportions,” Blackburn said. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in that these types of storms will occur more and more often.”
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said the July 4th flooding, from a mere 4 to 6 hours of rain, highlighted the need for a $2.5 billion flood infrastructure bond that will go before voters on Aug. 25, the one-year anniversary of Harvey making landfall. Some of the bond proceeds would go toward reducing street flooding in extreme rain events, according to the Harris County Flood Control District’s website.
Infrastructure weakens
Officials from Houston and Harris County said Wednesday that the preparedness level of first responders is the same or better than when Harvey hit, thanks to the addition of rescue boats and high-water vehicles to several agencies. But most of the flood infrastructure damaged by that historic storm has yet to be repaired, and weakens each time a new system batters the region.
“I would expect to see that where there were previous damages, they probably start to get incrementally worse,” said Alan Black, director of engineering for the flood control district. “Anytime you’ve got exposed slopes, the erosion just keeps on going.”
Blackburn said just 5 percent of the $150 million in needed infrastructure repairs has been completed. He estimated that crews will need until the end of 2019 to complete the rest. The projects that the flood control district has completed so far, at a cost of $6 million, have focused on damaged infrastructure that posed the greatest risk to public safety.
The “Ike Dike” funding came in response to a state request for $12 billion for what the governor’s office called the “Galveston County Coastal Spine Project,” according to a state presentation on post-Harvey needs.
“This project is part of a larger coastal spine proposal also known as the ‘Ike Dike,’” the presentation said. “The Ike Dike is a coastal barrier that, when completed, would protect the Houston-Galveston region including Galveston Bay from hurricane storm surge.”
A spokesman for Emmett said Thursday that the county judge “was pleased with the coastal spine funding announcement, and looks forward to learning how it can be spent.”
Follow-up calls to Abbott and Culberson were not immediately returned. Galveston County Judge Mark Henry, who has been an advocate for the Ike Dike project, did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Thursday.
Governor praises funding
Gov. Greg Abbott said in a written statement that the bulk of this third round of flood mitigation funds would “go a long way toward future-proofing Texas against another hurricane and strengthening our infrastructure to withstand dangerous flooding.”
The funding includes $295 million for a Clear Creek flood damage reduction project; $75 million to complete construction of the Brays Bayou flood damage reduction project, plus $1.75 million to repair damages to the project; $65 million to complete construction of the Hunting Bayou flood damage reduction project; $45 million to finish the White Oak Bayou flood damage reduction project, plus $1.75 million to repair damages to the project; and $30 million for maintenance dredging of the Houston Ship Channel.
Other allocations include $11.7 million to repair damage to Buffalo Bayou and its tributaries, plus $6 million to study options to reduce the bayou’s flooding risk, including making changes to the Addicks and Barker dams, as well as $1.5 million to complete the Addicks and Barker dams safety project; $3 million apiece to study flood risk management options in Houston, excluding Buffalo Bayou, and the Brazos River; and $1 million to repair damages to the Sims Bayou flood damage reduction project.
Use of Tinsley Park at issue
A day after Wednesday’s downpour, workers cleared tree limbs from roadways and towed flooded vehicles. They also trudged through the vast green space of Eleanor Tinsley Park on the south bank of Buffalo Bayou, still muddy and submerged in areas, to deconstruct tents, fencing and a main concert stage.
For the second consecutive year, floodwaters had canceled concerts planned for the site near downtown Houston. Just upstream, the Johnny Steele Dog Park was swamped for the first time since Harvey and less than a month after it reopened following renovations. Each of the next seven days carries a chance of more rain, the National Weather Service predicts.
Blackburn questioned the logic of continuing to hold events in places like Eleanor Tinsley Park, a popular recreational space near downtown that nevertheless has a documented history of flooding.
“There is a very real risk there,” Blackburn said. “We all still think we can play the odds and we’ll win, and right now we’re not winning.”
Susan Christian, Houston’s director of special events, said the city estimates a loss of several hundred thousand dollars of revenue due to the cancellation of Freedom Over Texas. Still, she said organizers are not considering relocating.
“We’ve produced this event there for 31 years,” Christian said. “Our intention is to move forward at this point in the manner that we have.”
Downtown was ‘a no-go’
Blackburn said he believes Houston and Harris County leaders need to more aggressively oppose development in floodplains, and said they should consider buyouts of tens of thousands of homes. The flood bond, as proposed, includes funding for around 3,600 buyouts.
Their sneakers caked with mud, Gianna Maggiani, from near Cypress, and Kristen Washington of Austin walked along Buffalo Bayou Thursday morning. When they saw heavy rain in Wednesday’s forecast, they knew to steer clear of the Fourth of July celebrations near downtown.
"We knew coming downtown was pretty much a no-go," Maggiani said. "Since Harvey, I think any kind of rain scares anyone."
Message therapist Claudine Yao lives with her family in a townhouse near Buffalo Bayou park. She had planned to attend Freedom Over Texas, and said she has learned that storms far weaker than Harvey can force the bayou out of its banks. Though her townhouse stayed dry during the August storm, she knows the streets in her neighborhood can quickly become impassable, and she often worries when forecasts call for wet weather.
Said Yao, "If we needed to evacuate, we would have no way to escape.”