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	October 2006 One of Wettest on Record for Harris County TV News Coverage of October Rains: > October 16: KPRC TV 2 > October 17: KHOU TV 11 > October 17: KPRC TV 2 > October 18 KTRK TV 13 > October 18 KHOU TV 11 > October 18: KPRC TV 2 > October 18: KTRK TV 13 > October 19: KHOU TV 11 To view these news stories, you must have Adobe Flash Player installed on your computer. You can download the Flash Player on Adobe's Website. October 31, 2006 October 2006 will go on record as the fourth wettest in Harris County History. Thunderstorms on the 10th produced wind damage in Washington, Harris and Galveston counties, but torrential downpours developed on the 15th and 16th resulting in flooding conditions in several areas of Harris County. Over 11 inches of rain fell near north Harris County on the 16th. Additional heavy rain fell on the 18th with more flooding concerns. The month did not end quietly, as one more round of rain occurred on the 26th and 27th, once again threatening areas that were already saturated. Heavy rain events are not uncommon in Harris County during October. Flooding rains occurred back in 1949 and again in 1994. October 1994 is still the rain of record for many locations in southeast Texas. Below are the five wettest Octobers for the Houston/Harris County area: Houston Area Rain Records for October 17.64 - 1949 16.05 - 1984 14.65 - 2002 14.53 - 2006* 10.62 - 1994 While some house flooding was reported during the October 2006 rain events, Harris County's bayou system performed remarkably well. Below are summaries from some of the affected areas: White Oak Bayou The White Oak Bayou watershed was one of the hardest hit in the October rain events, receiving 6-10 inches of rain in 24-hour period on the 16th. That event closely resembled Tropical Storm Frances, which dropped the same amount of rain over the White Oak Bayou watershed over the same amount of time in 1998. Tropical Storm Frances flooded more than 2,000 homes in the White Oak Bayou Watershed. During the event on the 16th, the Harris County Flood Control District received no reports of flooded homes in the White Oak Bayou watershed. The District credits this success to a newly-completed project that has widened and deepened White Oak Bayou and built eight massive stormwater detention basins along the channel. This event was a major test of this project. Flood Control District calculations estimate that the project spared 1,400 homes from flooding during the event on the 16th. > Learn more about flood damage reduction in the White Oak Bayou watershed > Learn more about flood damage reduction along Vogel Creek in the White Oak Bayou watershed Cypress Creek Nearly 300 homes along Cypress Creek were spared from flooding during the October 16 rain event, because of a voluntary home buyout program that has enabled homeowners to move to higher ground. The District has purchased nearly 2,500 homes county-wide and about 400 in the Cypress Creek watershed alone. Homes purchased through the home buyout program are typically located hopelessly deep in the floodplain. > Learn more about flood damage reduction in the Cypress Creek watershed Sims Bayou Mimicking its success back in June, Sims Bayou, which is being widened three times its initial size, successfully handled the 7-plus inches of rain it received on October 16. Without a $344 million federal project to widen the bayou and dig three massive stormwater detention basins, the District estimates 500 homes would have flooded during the October 16 rains. > Learn more about flood damage reduction in the Sims Bayou watershed Brays Bayou All four stormwater detention basins along Brays Bayou combined held approximately 1 billion gallons of stormwater on October 16. Brays Bayou came briefly out of its banks near Lawndale St. But the $450 million effort to widen the bayou and excavate stormwater detention basins proved successful. > Learn more about the Brays Bayou Flood Damage Reduction Project (Project Brays)