The retreat of floodwaters has revealed the extent of the silt that Harvey-triggered flooding deposited along Buffalo Bayou. A beachgoing reader sends Swamplot these pics of the new dust-colored landscapes that have taken shape along Buffalo Bayou Park and adjacent former green spaces.
The silt-covered bench shown above sits across Buffalo Bayou from the Houston Police Officers Memorial, near Glenwood Cemetery. Here’s a view from further back:
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Here’s the footbridge that leads to the memorial:
And the re-colored zone around the memorial itself:
Here’s the view looking across to KHOU’s damaged studios:
Along Buffalo Bayou near Taft St.:
And in nearby Spotts Park:
Skidsteer loaders are already at work clearing the deposits, but there’s a lot of silt to move.
Photos: Swamplot inbox
The trash in those trees will be there until 2050
Aye brah! Ain’t no go to da bay when da beesh right here mon! Leave ya threads at home cuz day some in da trees brah!
How quickly nature would erase the ground-level remnants of civilization should we all suddenly perish.
I wonder what the plan is. If you leave it silted over around the trees, which are now 4 feet underground, they will smother and die. You certainly need your jogging trails, park benches and light posts back, so you kind of have to return to those areas to the pre-storm elevation grades. You can skid-steer all that silt around in piles, but won’t have a way to get rid of it. Maybe leave new mounds here and there out of the way and let vegetation grow over it? Also, I’m assuming that there are similar-sized wash-out areas that need backfilling, where hopefully you can just push this sediment back and end up with no major elevation changes.
Some company should use all that harvested silt to made some adobe walls about Houston…
All this silt had to come from somewhere, right?
Does this mean the upstream parts of the bayou are now significantly wider/deeper than before the storm?
I thought this blog was moderated.
Hard to tell Angostura, last I checked Buffalo Bayou in Katy is still only a few feet away from its top.
So sad to see!
@Angostura: That silt came from miles and miles of upstream bayou. I doubt there’s a big hole upstream that contributed all of that dirt. Instead, tiny amounts of dirt were washed away all along the bayou and the land that drains into it.
Have heard by reputable source that much of the silt/sludge left behind by the flood water is likely to be full of harmful bacteria and neuro-toxins. Might want to avoid, just a thought.