By: Rev. Robert A Crutchfield
The Loft at Kingsland Baptist hosted a large crowd Thursday night to discuss not only the flooding during Harvey, but how best to protect our area from floods of all sizes moving forward.
The meeting was coordinated by Wendy Duncan who also serves on the Board of Directors for the Willowfork Drainage District, and of course has in-depth knowledge herself of local drainage issues.
Leading off was Steve Robinson, a local attorney who represents WFDD among other local government entities. He spoke about what happened during Hurricane Harvey in particular, but also used that storm as an illustration of the challenges involved in moving water around the area during large rain events. He reviewed various viable plans that have been on the drawing board as far back as the 1940’s for addressing these challenges. He stressed the idea of finishing the job. In finishing his remarks he emphasized the importance of flood insurance for everybody.
Next up was Augie Campbell the President and C. E. O. of the West Houston Association. Campbell began his remarks by seconding what Robinson said about flood insurance. He noted that 68% of the homes in the City of Houston that flooded during Harvey did not have flood insurance. The bulk of his presentation centered on what citizens can do to advocate for better flood control in our area. He used as examples the work already being done by groups like the West Houston Association and Houston Stronger are already having on this issue.
The meeting closed with organizers encouraging those present to join and keep in contact with the new Barker Reservoir Flood Prevention group. The group has its own Facebook page, and that is currently the best way to reach them. In the short term organizers called for two things. 1) Aggressive support for Harris County’s August Bond Election, both to show strong local support and to provide matching funds for state and federal grants. 2) De-silting and deepening both Barker and Addicks Reservoirs (Barker being the more urgent of the two.)
There was also about 30 minutes of questions and answers where members of the audience often asked about specific issues in their neighborhood. Duncan and the other presenters remained after the meeting to answer even more questions.