Harris County Residents: Learn To Use One Easy Site That Monitors Bayous Rising

   www.harriscountyfws.org

That's the Harris County Flood Warning System. Please view the page before continuing to read this post. If you enter from the main page, its usage is more or less obvious (except for one quirk), and considering, in every significant rainstorm, how many people here run their cars into deep water, it could be good for drivers (though not so good for car dealers) if everyone visited the site... frequently.

The quirk? The flood gauge boxes are named by nearest major street intersection. Once you've hovered over a flood gauge box to obtain a popup for the particular flood gauge you're interested in, you must mouse to its "more information" link WITHOUT crossing another flood gauge box! You'll doubtless do just that a few times until you learn to watch where you're driving mousing.

Click2Houston similar map

Yes, Click2Houston (broadcast TV Channel 2) has a similar map which provides some people similar info on bayou flooding (see thumbnail at right). It's great, IF you happen to wish to travel near one of its listed flood gauges, carry a 40" flatscreen TV in your car and are able to read very small print on a TV screen in a mere instant... it's not that the Harris County site is better, but that for unassisted home use to obtain info on a specific gauge it's probably more convenient.

NOTE: the web site calls the device a "gage"; please google that spelling ("define:gage") to see why I do not use it. I am confident a reader will correct me if there's an industry-specific reason for using the aberrant spelling. - SB