HARVEY-RELATED ACTIVITIES
HARVEY-RELATED ACTIVITIES
HARVEY-RELATED ACTIVITIES
Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 25, 2017 near Corpus Christi, Texas. Over the next five days the storm devastated the Texas coast, dropping over 36 inches of rain over 2500 sq mi area and causing unprecedented levels of damage. Harvey is likely the costliest storm in U.S. history, exceeding Hurricane Katrina. Life-threatening flooding in the City of Houston and surrounding areas caught the world’s attention.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 25, 2017 near Corpus Christi, Texas. Over the next five days the storm devastated the Texas coast, dropping over 36 inches of rain over 2500 sq mi area and causing unprecedented levels of damage. Harvey is likely the costliest storm in U.S. history, exceeding Hurricane Katrina. Life-threatening flooding in the City of Houston and surrounding areas caught the world’s attention.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 25, 2017 near Corpus Christi, Texas. Over the next five days the storm devastated the Texas coast, dropping over 36 inches of rain over 2500 sq mi area and causing unprecedented levels of damage. Harvey is likely the costliest storm in U.S. history, exceeding Hurricane Katrina. Life-threatening flooding in the City of Houston and surrounding areas caught the world’s attention.
Severe Storm Prediction, Education, & Evacuation from Disasters Center
Storm Watch
San Jacinto River
by Elena Siemens
On May 2, 2024, northern Harris County, along with Montgomery, San Jacinto, and Walker Counties were hit with a large rainstorm, dropping over 10 inches of rain in the northern counties over the course of the day. Rainfall totals reached up to 24 inches over the course of the week prior (including the storm on May 2nd), leading to complete saturation of the soil with water, and creating runoff into the San Jacinto and its tributaries. The San Jacinto feeds into Lake Conroe, and the huge amount of rainfall/runoff led to a 4-foot increase in lake elevation level, from 201.03 ft to 205.13 ft. The maximum design elevation for Lake Conroe is 207 feet, and in order to ensure the dam was not overtopped, the San Jacinto River Authority increased releases from the dam to 71,835 cubic feet per second, 90% of the release rate during Hurricane Harvey. Dam releases had begun April 29th because of the storms earlier in the week and did not cease until May 6th.
The releases from Lake Conroe led to large increases in riverine flow downstream on the San Jacinto above Lake Houston, and in some areas the river was up over 20 feet. All the USGS gauges read river levels over those characterized by the USGS and NOAA as major flooding, which was consistent with what was observed. Large amounts of flooding occurred in Humble, Atascocita, Huffman, and Porter, and a total of over 1,600 homes were damaged, 800 or which were characterized as majorly damaged. The majority of the flooding occurring in San Jacinto County, where over 1,000 homes were damaged. Additionally, some communities faced boil water notices and power loss. Although 233 water rescues were performed, there were no reported deaths or injuries.