Policy Changes Made In Houston's 311 System After Flood

HOUSTON — Last weeks severe rain event, as well as the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and the 2016 Tax Day Flood, have made it necessary for the City to recommend and create policy changes within the 311 system.

According to Houston City Councilman Dave Martin's office, the city has launched a program to created event-specific service request numbers in 311 to collect city-wide flooding and storm debris data for FEMA reporting.

"Last week's storms were not as widespread, but still generated localized flooding and storm debris. This created some confusion among 311 operators on how to record flooding and debris reports," Martin said in a press release.

Under this policy change, reports of flooding or storm debris into the 311 system will create a service request number and send it to the appropriate department to process.

During this last rain event, intense rainfall rates greatly exceeded internal and primary drainage systems capabilities resulting in significant and at times deep street flooding and sheetflow that was especially evident in the Kingwood area on Tuesday afternoon. On May 8, City of Houston contractors, as well as Harris County Flood Control, investigated their designated drainage systems and determined the flooding was potentially caused by development upstream in Montgomery County that sent large volumes of sheetflow into the subdivision and Taylor Gully , which is maintained by Harris County Flood Control.

The City of Houston contractors have reviewed several thousand feet of sanitary sewer and storm water drainage lines since May 8 that have shown no blockages or debris. This lack of blockage and debris points to again the system being overloaded due to the amount of rain that was experienced in a short period of time. .

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