TxDOT Discusses Possibility Of Cat. 5 Storm In June

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Skip down to where Brazoria County is mentioned...

SENATOR JACKSON: Thank you, Judge Willy and Commissioners, Chairman. I appear before you today -- we were here about two years ago I think it was -- and were talking about some of the needs of Brazoria County -- some of the concerns that I had and I still have. And I know you do as well.

And mainly what's going to happen when we get a Category 3, Category 4, Category 5 -- hopefully not -- hurricane out in the Gulf of Mexico and we have to evacuate Houston and the surrounding area. And it's really going to be a nightmare. And I know our Governor's come up with a plan. We're working on trying to streamline that.

But there are two areas in Brazoria County -- there are really two north-south main evacuation routes that we talked about here a couple of years ago, and that being Highway 36 and that being Highway 288.

We've been very, very lucky over the last 20 years on storms in the Gulf. And it's not a question of if; it's just going to be a question of when. It's going to be one of these days we know we'll have to deal with that.

SENATOR JANEK: Thank you, Judge, Commissioner, and members. Mr. Chairman and members, I want to thank you. I tell my three young boys that please and thank you go hand in hand. So, first, let me say thank you, not just for the global service that you provide to the people of the state, but for the specifics of what you've done for the Texas Gulf Coast and southeast Texas.

We had a nasty little brouhaha brewing along 610 Loop in Texas -- in Houston because it splits the city of Bellaire. Mr. Trietsch and TxDOT did a tremendous job in dressing up the 610 Loop, putting some aesthetic sound walls and other niceties over there that made it not only more palatable to the people that live there, but a lot nicer for the people that use the freeway.

COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Thank you, Judge. Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, we thank you so much for you allowing us the time to be here today.

So, you know, besides hurricanes, as you saw also, we have to worry about tropical storms. Allison was a tremendous blow to our area, and it really did stop our ability to move around for several days. That's going to always be with us, and we understand that. When you're 40 feet above sea level you've got a problem.

JUDGE WILLY: Thank you, Commissioner Harris. One thing that the videos did not show with regard to the evacuation routes -- first of all, there's two ways out. According to the Governor and the Department of Emergency Management through the Texas Department of Public Safety there are two ways out. East of the Brazos you go 288 to the Beltway and on up to College Station. West of the Brazos Highway 36 to Brenham -- or did I get that backward. Anyway, that's your two ways out.

But let me show you something that really brings to heart where we really are on an evacuation situation. The Texas Department of Public Safety, at the direction of our Governor, asked the Department of Public Safety to use a scenario that would tell us what would happen.

What they did they used the 1961 Hurricane Carla scenario where it was a Cat 4 storm with gusts up to 175, which would be a Cat 5. And the surge that occurred there created 34 deaths in Brazoria County and over $400 million in 1961 dollars.

What they did, they moved the hurricane from the Palacios area as a direct hit. They moved it up to Brazoria County to do a scenario and show what would happen. Now, what I'm going to show you does not include the damage from rainfall and flooding such as we received from Allison.

This is your base coastline map. Note that the Freeport industrial complex is right in the -- well, won't work on that -- is right there where it says Coastline Freeport. Then you have your Chocolate Bayou Plant and industrial complex over at Chocolate Bayou. That's your Monsanto/Solutia/Equistar/Lyondell. And then, of course, Sweeney is over to the west.

Here's what happened. Just -- I'm going to take the categories. A Category 1 storm with a 4.9-foot storm surge will cause some immediate damage. Note the inlets and the rivers starting to build.

Now, let's move to a Category 2, which would cause a 9.9-foot surge. Your petrochemical industry in Chocolate Bayou is under water. Fortunately, the area in Freeport has a levee that's going to keep it out of the water for a while longer.

Go to a Cat 3 with a 15.3-foot surge. See, already you're approaching West Columbia. Lake Jackson is going to be really suffering. Your plants at Chocolate Bayou are just about under water. Now, here we have -- where you have two-thirds of the total petrochemical activity in the United States in this area -- one-third of it's in Brazoria County. You've just inundated a portion of it.

Now we go to a Cat 4 with 18.8-foot surge. And you see it's almost up to West Columbia and pushing toward Angleton and pushing toward Alvin.

Then in a true Cat 5, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety Emergency Management Office, a 22.4-foot surge would inundate even the Dow complex and the industrial complex in the Freeport area. And we have to move these people. That's where we are.

Now, that -- just in that scenario with Hurricane Carla it was 13,900 people that were affected -- over $3.5 billion in damages. And this just reinforces the need to try to save lives in the future.

If we started now it would take four to five years to get fully ready for a full evacuation in Brazoria County. That's five years of hurricane seasons or 30 months of sitting and waiting to see if it's going to happen. Each year we're not hit increases the probability of a storm for the following year.

In 1998 we were funded for Highway 36. In 2004 -- Highway 36 was scheduled for letting in 2004 for the entire corridor from Highway 59 to the Port of Freeport. This project was pulled in 2003 and rescheduled for 2014, except for that portion from Fort Bend to Highway 35.

We came to see you in HGAC -- our Council of Governments -- and said, Here's our problem. We need help on the State Highway 288 expansion and the State Highway 36 widening. Two years ago TxDOT told us we -- what we needed to do, and we came back to make sure we heard you right. Last year we were told that we had every reason to be successful, and we appreciate the positive comments.

We took to heart when we were told that all indications -- we had this right to be successful. We didn't make a pledge to our voters without input and approval from the MPO and overlaying our plans on that of TxDOT. We didn't make a pledge to our voters without the input and positive feedback from TxDOT.

TxDOT and HGAC score their projects on the basis of regional significance. So I present to you a unanimous resolution of support from HGAC and our MPO signed by Judge Eckles.

TxDOT and HGAC have scored projects based on leveraged value. So I present you a check for $50 million on behalf of the citizens of Brazoria County. With the special districts chipping in I present you a check for $100 million. I think we've satisfied that leveraged value.

MR. WILLIAMSON: Hey, if you're in the Legislature that's one check for $150 million. That's what that is.

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So expansion plans were shelved on 36 for other projects around the area?

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If you visit the www.h-gac.com website, you can search for term TIP. The first document you will find has about 340 pages of how H-GAC, using TEA-21 criteria, prioritizes its' projects. Even if SH 36 had met all of the criteria listed, it still needed to meet its' 20% matching funds to be provided by Brazoria County, which explains why Senator Jackson came before TxDOT's TTC recently with his statements below. BTW, if you're interested, you can visit TIP viewer website and type in street names you'd like to learn more about and their plans, and it pops right up for you. For instance, I just recently found out that Gosling Road that dead-ends at F.M. 242 today, will soon by heading right up to F.M. 1488, thereby paralleling I-45 North for quite some distance indeed.

In 1998 we were funded for Highway 36. In 2004 -- Highway 36 was scheduled for letting in 2004 for the entire corridor from Highway 59 to the Port of Freeport. This project was pulled in 2003 and rescheduled for 2014, except for that portion from Fort Bend to Highway 35.

We came to see you in HGAC -- our Council of Governments -- and said, Here's our problem. We need help on the State Highway 288 expansion and the State Highway 36 widening. Two years ago TxDOT told us we -- what we needed to do, and we came back to make sure we heard you right. Last year we were told that we had every reason to be successful, and we appreciate the positive comments.

We took to heart when we were told that all indications -- we had this right to be successful. We didn't make a pledge to our voters without input and approval from the MPO and overlaying our plans on that of TxDOT. We didn't make a pledge to our voters without the input and positive feedback from TxDOT.

TxDOT and HGAC score their projects on the basis of regional significance. So I present to you a unanimous resolution of support from HGAC and our MPO signed by Judge Eckles.

TxDOT and HGAC have scored projects based on leveraged value. So I present you a check for $50 million on behalf of the citizens of Brazoria County. With the special districts chipping in I present you a check for $100 million. I think we've satisfied that leveraged value.