Real live Spring Branch content

Last week I called the Harris County Flood Control Precinct office and asked for information regarding flooding in my new neighborhood. I have looked at a few houses and I have a couple of houses in mind, and I am worried about potential flooding. There was an article a couple weeks ago in the Chronicle Memorial/Spring Branch section mentioning Buttermilk Creek and a particular county employee by name, Fred Garcia. That waterway goes a couple blocks from one of the houses at the top of my list, so I was eager to speak with Mr. Garcia if at all possible.

It turned out to be an extremely informative conversation, and I found him to be very helpful. If you look at the   Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project site you will find a complete set of elevation maps for the county, including Spring Branch, including Buttermilk Creek, including the exact block and lot the house I am interested in sits upon. What I did not know until I spoke with Mr. Garcia, is that if you zoom that map enough the actual elevation above sea level contours are posted on that map. I told him I liked the flooding characteristics of the property there far more than up to the north in the area of the Brickhouse Gulley, and he said that the maps do not tell you everything. There is natural drainage for one thing, which you can read off the maps. But then there is the engineering drainage, where the sewers are not big enough to contain a torrential rainfall. When the houses in this neighborhood flood, it is not usually because Buttermilk Creek (or the other natural channels) overflow, so much as the intakes right on the block get overtaxed.

He told me further that this is publically documented, that the seller is obligated to disclose if water has ever been inside the house. And if there was no water inside the house during Tropical Storm Allison, that property is an excellent risk indeed. Still you must get flood insurance, and you have to be emotionally prepared that something freaky could possibly happen to you.

I moved here from Louisiana a couple of years ago, and I don't recall ever having such a helpful discussion with a government employee back there. My house hunting continues in the new neighborhood here, and I don't think I will be bashful about calling the government if I come up with any more questions. At the end of our conversation, he told me "do not hesitate to call back if you have any more questions."

My half-day at the People's Law School

On this past Saturday I spent the morning at the University of Houston at the  People's Law School. It was great. They have a menu of seven or eight items and you get to choose three. I chose legal research, consumer law, and business law. About forty students in a class and there was opportunity to ask questions. Good information, good questions, good answers. There is a link on their web site to the legal research powerpoint slide pack, and in there are links to many different web sites with legal information. Statutes, cases, &c. All free. Also they gave out a free copy of the book "Know Your Rights", by the People's Lawyer (Professor Richard Alderman).