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Flash Flood in Harris County, Texas

Flash Flood August 26, 2017 – August 29, 2017 · Harris County, Texas

38
Deaths
$10.0B
Damage as recorded
$100K
Crop damage

Where the report was made, with tornadoes recorded within 15 miles over the years.

What the National Weather Service wrote

There were numerous water rescues within Houston and the surrounding suburbs. Flood waters completely inundated thousands of homes and businesses. Roads and highways in and around Houston were flooded and therefore closed for long time periods. Catastrophic flooding occurred on nearly every one of the 22 watersheds in Harris County. 10 out of the 19 bayous in the county reached record crests and flooding. There was widespread flooding along Buffalo Bayou and upstream and downstream of both Addicks and Barkers Reservoirs due to record level pool elevations. There was major flooding of hundreds of homes within numerous neighboring subdivisions along the San Jacinto River and the East Fork of the San Jacinto River.

There were numerous water rescues within Houston and the surrounding suburbs. Roads and highways in and around Houston inundated and closed due to flash flooding.

Some of the reported flooded roads in Pasadena were Vista Street, Shafer Street, Fairmont Drive and Strawberry Road.

The wider storm

Harvey made landfall as a category 4 hurricane near Rockport, Texas during the evening of August 25th. The storm then weakened to a tropical storm and slowed, looping back and tracking over SE Texas then back over the Gulf of Mexico making a second landfall along the Louisiana coast during the early morning hours of August 30th. Over that 5 day period over Southeast Texas TS Harvey produced catastrophic flooding with a large area of 30 to 60 inches of rain, 23 tornadoes, tropical storm force winds and a moderate storm surge near Matagorda Bay. In some of the heavier bands rain fell at a rate of over 5 inches per hour. This copious record amount of rain over a led to catastrophic flooding. Thousands of homes, businesses, and roads were flooded due to flash flooding and sheet flow from long duration intense rain. Main stem rivers and adjoining tributaries, creeks and bayous reached full capacity and came out of their banks and this also contributed to the massive flooding across southeastern Texas.

Began near Joyce (29.5688, -95.0139).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

21 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 720861. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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