The first one appeared in 1690 in a London publication called The Athenian Gazette. The name of the publication was actually inspired by a Bible verse from Acts 17:21. The first “one” I’m talking about was an “Advice Column.” The column was called The Athenian Society and was written by a “society of experts” formed by the editor to answer questions of all kinds for its readers. There are many advice columns of all kinds today. Some are satirical and a joke … some are serious and helpful – answering questions and issues on a plethora of subjects. My Answers by Billy Graham, Dear Prudence, Dear Abby, Ask Dr. Ozzy, and many more advice columns are in newspapers and on the internet.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to share with you readers a helpful home maintenance tip every month and would like to open this column up to receive your questions. Send us an e-mail at the address below, go to our website and write us, or send us a letter in the old-fashioned US Mail. Some of the questions may be used for a future article. If you have a question, someone else has it too. So please write to us – we’d love to hear from you!
A client for whom I recently performed an inspection is moving to the area from New Jersey, sent me an e-mail with the following question:
I have just a question about the area and want your personal experience and opinion. I was surveying the area yesterday as the sky opened up with torrential rain. I was amazed at how quickly the roads on and around Gosling in Spring begin flooding. However, as I got back in The Woodlands I was really amazed at how quickly the water drained. There seems to be a big difference in drainage between the two areas. Can you offer me a perspective?
My edited response for you, sprinkled with a little history:
My family has been in this area for over a century. You’re moving to the Gulf Coast region, and Houston is a mere 50 feet above sea level. My maternal great-grandfather immigrated from Ireland in 1895, went through Ellis Island, and then sailed around the coast and arrived in Galveston. Galveston was known as the “Wall Street of the South” prior to 1900, and that’s when the greatest natural disaster in the history of the United States happened, called “The Great Storm.” My great-grandfather and his young family (my grandfather was less than 6 months old) survived miraculously and moved inland to Houston.
Houston is known as the “Bayou City” for good reason. Hurricanes, torrential rains, and flooding in Houston are a regular occurrence. You learn to prepare for them, avoid them, and live with them. Different areas will flood depending on how the rain falls. You’ll want to add a weather and traffic app to your smart phone and check them all the time. With all the construction and growth of Houston, flood plains are altered and rising water happens in places that have never flooded before. The main purpose for “lakes” in subdivisions being built these days is not for beauty, but they’re for flood control. Playground areas, baseball fields, and soccer fields are in many places for the same purpose. Some areas that flooded in 1974 and 1975 never flooded again until this and last year. Some areas that have never flooded then flooded for the first time this or last year.
We have seen large amounts of rain this year and last around Houston. The reservoirs in west Houston experienced flooding this year like never before since they were built almost 80 years ago. Portions of freeways get bottlenecked with traffic, and then rising water from bayous turns the freeways into rivers with cars totally submerged and people stranded on top of their cars. Some people who were finishing up the renovations from 2015 flooding were flooded again in May of this year – it’s heartbreaking. I personally had a house that had ten inches of water from a tropical storm in 2001 and had to gut my house to the studs and rebuild it. Portions of the newly constructed Grand Parkway experienced extreme flooding this year after it had just opened – that was a big oops! You get the idea…
Water can and will rise on some streets and in some intersections very quickly. In your area and for areas where you will travel, you’ll learn those. You’ll learn when it’s wise to stay home and not travel around town. And yes, as you’ve already seen, rising water can subside very quickly also. In areas where there is a lot of new construction, like the area where your house is, it would be difficult to predict what it could be like because it’s still so new. Ask some of the neighbors what’s been their experience. The developers of your subdivision hopefully did an outstanding job in the engineering of the drainage system. But then, the developers of new construction in a nearby area can affect the development and flood control of older construction.
When an area floods, the flood control people will hopefully study that area to rectify the situation to control it better in the future. Flood control personnel in Houston will always have job security. You may wish to look into flood insurance. It’s very inexpensive. It’s NOT a benefit of your standard home / property insurance policy, but it’s an extra policy.
Whether you’re looking to buy a home in a newly developed area or a home in an older established neighborhood, I hope that may be helpful for you too. Send us your question on any home related topic. Stay informed my friends.
