Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) Disaster Recovery Program

Abstract Only - The Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) serves Harris County, Texas, a community of 4.5 million people which includes the City of Houston as well as 33 other municipalities. The mission of the HCFCD is to, “provide flood damage reduction projects that work, with appropriate regard for community and natural values.” HCFCD’s infrastructure includes 1,500 channels totaling 2,500 miles in length, across 22 watersheds totaling over 1,700 square miles. Freese and Nichols, Inc. (FNI) and Stuart Consulting Group (SCG) are serving as an extension of HCFCD staff to help manage their Disaster Recovery Program. HCFCD initially engaged FNI and SCG as program managers to respond to the infrastructure damages sustained by the April 2016 “Tax Day” storm event in Southeast Texas. The “Tax Day” storm, which occurred from April 17th to April 18th, yielded nearly 18-inches of rainfall over western and northwestern Harris County during a 24-hour period and was declared a federal flood disaster. FNI and SCG estimated the total repair cost for HCFCD’s infrastructure damages subject to federal reimbursement to exceed $30 million. Less than two years into addressing the “Tax Day” storm damages, Harris County was subjected to Hurricane Harvey, which was also declared a federal flood disaster. Hurricane Harvey brought approximately 47-inches of rainfall over a period occurring from August 24th to August 30th. FNI and SCG have worked diligently with HCFCD to adapt the Disaster Recovery Program to respond to Hurricane Harvey. The majority of damages sustained by Hurricane Harvey were documented by the program management team in approximately 6 weeks, and estimated infrastructure damages are expected to exceed $100 million. The execution of rapidly assessing and identifying damages on such a large scale is attributed to HCFCD’s emergency response plan for assessing critical infrastructure.