In response to the devastating flooding of Hurricane Harvey, the Harris County Flood Control District has added several new rainfall and flood-stage gages – both inside and outside of Harris County – to the Harris County Flood Warning System www.harriscountyfws.org.
Seven new gages make a total of 163 stations strategically placed along bayous and tributaries, providing information that is used by the Flood Control District and by the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to inform the public of estimated flooding impacts across the region. Five of those new gages have been installed in the San Jacinto watershed, including the West Fork of the San Jacinto River, Peach Creek, Caney Creek, the East Fork of the San Jacinto River and the F.M. 1960 bridge over Lake Houston.
Of the seven new gages, three are in Montgomery County and one is in Liberty County. The system already includes gage locations just outside Harris County in Waller County, Fort Bend County, Brazoria County and Chambers County.
“While the majority of the flooding in Harris County comes from what falls directly on top of the county, we do get some water from locations to our north, including Montgomery County,” said meteorologist Jeff Lindner, head of the Flood Control District’s Hydrologic Operations Division. “Adding those new gages provides additional information that Harris County residents, as well as visitors from neighboring counties, need to make safety decisions during flooding events.”
New gage locations include:
- Gage 765: West Fork of the San Jacinto River at State Highway 99 in Montgomery County – Rainfall equipment added to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) water level device which was already in place
- Gage 785: Peach Creek at F.M. 2090 in Montgomery County – Rainfall equipment added to the USGS water level device which was already in place
- Gage 780: Caney Creek at F.M. 2090 in Montgomery County – Rainfall equipment added to the USGS water level device which was already in place
- Gage 795: East Fork of the San Jacinto River at FM 2090 in Liberty County – New rainfall and stage gage added
- Gage 740: Lake Houston at F.M. 1960 – Full weather station installed, providing rainfall, Lake Houston water level, wind direction and speed, temperature, humidity and barometric pressure
- Gage 2265: Buffalo Bayou at Piney Point – Rainfall equipment added to the USGS water level device which was already in place
- Gage 2115: Langham Creek at Clay Road– Rainfall equipment added to the USGS water level device which was already in place
In addition, Gage 755 on the West Fork of the San Jacinto River has been relocated to the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge. “At its previous location, the Kingwood Country Club, this gage was flooded multiple times in the last several years and was not operational when needed the most,” said Lindner. “The new location is above Harvey flood levels and should be able to provide continuous data to the residents of Kingwood during flooding.”
These gages are all currently live on the Harris County FWS website, www.harriscountyfws.org.
Since the Tax Day Flood of April 2016, the Flood Warning System has added a total of 21 additional gages, including several that are outside Harris County. Those new gages are within the watersheds of Cedar Bayou, Spring Creek, Cypress Creek, Langham Creek, Upper Buffalo Bayou, and the San Jacinto River.
HOW IT WORKS
- Go to www.harriscountyfws.org on your desktop or mobile device.
- Go to the "ADDRESS SEARCH" box in the lower left column and type your address.
- The map will zoom to the gage station nearest to your location of interest. The icon shows the amount of rainfall (in inches) received at that location in the past 24 hours.
- Click on the gage station icon for more detailed information.
- “MAP VIEW OPTIONS” allow you to add watershed boundaries, drainage channels and channel status icons to the county map. A new inundation mapping option provides information about areas of current bayou and channel flooding. (When there has been no rainfall, the inundation mapping feature will not be available.)
- You can also change the setting in the “RAINFALL DATA” section to see rainfall during various time periods, including historical rain events dating back to 2015.
- An instructional video that shows how to use the Flood Warning System is available on our YouTube channel
ABOUT THE HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT
The Harris County Flood Control District provides flood damage reduction projects that work, with appropriate regard for community and natural values. With more than 1,500 bayous and creeks totaling approximately 2,500 miles in length, the Flood Control District accomplishes its mission by devising flood damage reduction plans, implementing the plans and maintaining the infrastructure.