Recovery

Recovering from Harvey
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Recovering from Harvey

Photo: Example of Harvey Repairs: General channel erosion repairs and sheet pile replacement on Horsepen Creek, HCFCD Unit U106-00-00

Photo: Example of Harvey Repairs: General channel erosion repairs and sheet pile replacement on Horsepen Creek, HCFCD Unit U106-00-00

Drainage Network Repairs After Harvey

Hurricane Harvey resulted in extensive and unprecedented damage to Harris County’s drainage infrastructure. As part of a countywide post-Harvey assessment, more than 1,200 individual damage sites were verified and prioritized. This included sinkholes, bank erosion, failed concrete, collapsed outfall pipes and other damage. In the weeks and months immediately following the storm, the Harris County Flood Control District completed approximately $5.4 million in post-Harvey emergency repairs (listed below), using available funding.

In addition to those immediate priority repairs, plus previously planned and executed repairs from earlier storms, the Flood Control District has used local funds to leverage requests for more than $84 million in grants for Harvey storm repairs from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency. While the focus is on areas that qualify for federal disaster funding, other areas requiring maintenance repairs have been added to the projects in some cases, and will be constructed using available local funding alone.

The Flood Control District considers a number of factors in prioritizing drainage infrastructure repair projects, including whether the damage poses an immediate and severe threat to residential or commercial areas, or to public infrastructure such as utilities or schools. Repairs such as sinkholes and slope failures, failed outfall pipes and concrete voids also are prioritized according to severity.

Map of Harris County depicting identified areas of concern

Identified Areas of Concern

In response to the historic flooding from Hurricane Harvey, the Harris County Flood Control District embarked on a county-wide assessment of all of our bayous, creeks, channels and stormwater detention basins. The purpose of this assessment was to identify damages caused by the flooding and to prioritize them for immediate and future repairs. This repair effort has been completed as of August 2019. See interactive map.

Given the immense scope of this effort, in-house Flood Control District engineers and maintenance crews were assisted by consulting engineers and contractors to prioritize, design and construct emergency repairs. The Flood Control District has prepared requests for millions of dollars in additional storm-related funding from federal partners such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

The Flood Control District considers a number of factors in prioritizing drainage infrastructure repair projects, including whether the damage poses an immediate and severe threat to residential or commercial areas, or to public infrastructure such as utilities or schools. Repairs such as sinkholes and slope failures, failed outfall pipes and concrete voids also are prioritized according to severity.

Activity Since Harvey

5th Year After Hurricane Harvey
Timeline 2021-2022

4th Year After Hurricane Harvey
Timeline 2020-2021

3rd Year After Hurricane Harvey
Timeline 2019-2020

2nd Year After Hurricane Harvey
Timeline 2018-2019

1st Year After Hurricane Harvey
Timeline 2017-2018

5th Year - Activities Since Harvey
Recovery Actions

4th Year - Activities Since Harvey
Recovery Actions

3rd Year - Activities Since Harvey
Recovery Actions

2nd Year - Activities Since Harvey
Recovery Actions

1st Year - Activities Since Harvey
Recovery Actions