Helpful Weather Sources
Harris County Flood Warning System www.harriscountyfws.org
This website is extremely helpful during a rain event. It shows real time bayou levels and rainfall amounts at gages that have been installed along the bayous. Gage 445 is located in Westbury on the Willow Waterhole Bayou at the Landsdowne bridge. Gage 440 is located on Brays Bayou at S. Rice. A new tool just introduced is the ability to sign up for Flood Alerts by gage. Another tool available on the website is a Flood Inundation real time map that can help residents make critical decisions regarding life and property during events. If you are ever curious about the rainfall amounts and rate, you can also look up historical data. Willow Waterhole Bayou (WWB) Gages #445 – WWB at Landsdowne (Westbury) #435 – WWB at Willowbend Brays Bayou (BB) Gages #440 – BB at Rice Ave. #460 – BB at S. Gessner #465 – BB at Beltway 8 |
National Hurricane Centerwww.nhc.noaa.gov
If there is a chance of a named storm or there is a current named storm, the National Hurricane Center is your go-to source. During an active named storm, there will be multiple updates issued along with many different maps. These include the wind probability, the storm track cone, storm surge, tides, and many more. See helpful preparations below. |
Hype-free Weather Forecastwww.spacecityweather.com
This website is dedicated to covering Houston weather news and forecasting with accuracy and without hype. Space City Weather was founded in October 2015. This website isn’t about making money or getting “hits”, it is truly about providing residents and business owners a quality forecast to make informed decisions. Eric Berger and Matt Lanza provide the best forecast for Houston weather. You can also follow them on Facebook. |
Sign Up for Power Outage Alerts
A helpful service from Centerpoint is Power Alert Service (PAS) which can notify you, friends and family of a power outage, its restoration progress, and when the electricity comes back on. You can send alerts to up to five texts, five emails and five phone numbers. https://www.centerpointenergy.com
A helpful service from Centerpoint is Power Alert Service (PAS) which can notify you, friends and family of a power outage, its restoration progress, and when the electricity comes back on. You can send alerts to up to five texts, five emails and five phone numbers. https://www.centerpointenergy.com
FLOOD INSURANCE: EVERYONE NEEDS IT.
Harris County Flood Control District recommends that all Harris County residents become informed about their flood risk and have flood insurance no matter where they reside in Harris County. Insurance is available through the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program), as well as private insurance carriers. Contact your insurance agent for a quote.
Congress has mandated that federally regulated or insured lenders require flood insurance on mortgaged properties that are located within the 100-year floodplain. The 100-year floodplain can be located on the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). FIRMs show areas subject to flooding from a primary flooding source -- typically major rivers, bayous and their tributaries, and are meant to help determine the risk of flooding for a property due to that one flooding source.
Property owners who are mortgage-free, but own a home or business in the 100-year floodplain and those with a home or business outside the 100-year floodplain are not required to purchase flood insurance. However, those structures outside of the 100-year floodplain in Harris County are still at risk of flooding from multiple sources. Flood insurance premiums for those structures outside of the 100-year floodplain are typically cheaper than rates for homes and businesses within the 100-year floodplain. 68% of the Harvey flood claims were located outside of the 100 year floodplain.
Westbury residents learned firsthand that the devastating effects of flooding do not end when the stormwater recedes after a flood event. Flood insurance accelerates the rebuilding and replacement of personal property and fosters community resiliency as a whole.
Harris County Flood Control District recommends that all Harris County residents become informed about their flood risk and have flood insurance no matter where they reside in Harris County. Insurance is available through the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program), as well as private insurance carriers. Contact your insurance agent for a quote.
Congress has mandated that federally regulated or insured lenders require flood insurance on mortgaged properties that are located within the 100-year floodplain. The 100-year floodplain can be located on the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). FIRMs show areas subject to flooding from a primary flooding source -- typically major rivers, bayous and their tributaries, and are meant to help determine the risk of flooding for a property due to that one flooding source.
Property owners who are mortgage-free, but own a home or business in the 100-year floodplain and those with a home or business outside the 100-year floodplain are not required to purchase flood insurance. However, those structures outside of the 100-year floodplain in Harris County are still at risk of flooding from multiple sources. Flood insurance premiums for those structures outside of the 100-year floodplain are typically cheaper than rates for homes and businesses within the 100-year floodplain. 68% of the Harvey flood claims were located outside of the 100 year floodplain.
Westbury residents learned firsthand that the devastating effects of flooding do not end when the stormwater recedes after a flood event. Flood insurance accelerates the rebuilding and replacement of personal property and fosters community resiliency as a whole.
