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COMMENT OF THE DAY: ALL FLOODING BUCKS PASS THE SAME DIRECTION 
“Every solid thing built in a floodplain displaces water to the surrounding areas and to downstream. Houston just keeps screwing its southeast neighbors.” [movocelot, commenting on Elan Heights Shows Off Its 4 Floors of Apartment Flooding Insurance]
A few folks at the Halstead apartments surveyed the scene along Brays Bayou late yesterday morning, catching sight of all kinds of action in the water. The video above captures the part of the lonely journey of an unmoored porta-potty floating away from the site of the under-construction Starbucks on the former gas station corner next door; the trip was also also tracked from further upstairs in the complex, where another photographer was documenting the flood:
What’s In The Water?
A scattering of drones took to the air across Houston yesterday as the rain slowed to do some sight-seeing around the brand new 9-county disaster zone declared by governor Abbott in the afternoon. Filling up during floods is standard operating procedure for Buffalo Bayou Park, as demonstrated prior to the park’s first planned official opening last spring. That’s not part of the sanctioned protocol for all of Houston’s bayou corridors, but it’s hard to argue about it in the moment —above is the overhead view of Brays Bayou venturing out into broader Meyerland.
More footage comes from northwest Houston, circling around White Oak Bayou at N. Houston Rosslyn Rd. in Inwood Forest —  west and downstream of some the areas that got the most rainfall:
Drones Around Town
- More Flooding Possible as Thunderstorms Hit Houston Area Today [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Losses Could Be in the Billions After ‘500-Year Flood’ [Houston Chronicle]
- At Least 4 Deaths in Harris County, 1 in Waller County Blamed on Flooding as Hundreds Flee Their Homes [CNN]
- Eyewitness News Reporter Helped Rescue Man Trapped in High Water on Studemont Street on Live TV [abc13]
- Capturing Houston’s Flooded, Abandoned Freeways [Houston Chronicle]
- Photos of Neighborhood Flooding and Destruction from Houston Residents [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Could Better Data Keep Houstonians Safe During Floods? [The Urban Edge]
- Phoenix Tower on the Market, Could Fetch $104M According to Real Estate Alert [Realty News Report]
- Realtors Added 11,466 New Listings to the Houston Housing Market in March, Raising Inventory to 3.7 Month Supply, Finds Redfin Corp. [HBJ]
- A Sneak Peek at the Galveston Historic Homes Tour Kicking Off April 30 [Houston Press]
Photo: o texano via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
And the weather says no permits. Check back tomorrow, they’re sure to be piling up.
CITY WATCHING ADDICKS AND BARKER DO THEIR OWN DAM THING 
The US Geologic Survey’s tracking of water collecting at the Addicks reservoir this week shows water levels jumping about 28 feet since yesterday morning, in the preliminary data graphed above. Both Addicks and Barker reservoirs, which function in large part as parkland when not busy storing potentially billion of gallons of floodwater, feed out into Buffalo Bayou near Hwy. 6 at Westheimer Dr. through dam outlets listed as extremely high risk structures by the USACE. The city’s Twitter account noted this morning that the Addicks dam was under municipal scrutiny; the Office of Emergency Management tweeted this afternoon that the stretch of Hwy. 6 and N. Eldrige Pkwy. running through the Addicks reservoir may be closed for a few days while the area drains. [USGS; previously on Swamplot] Graph of Addicks Reservoir water surface elevation since April 11: USGS
The many exclamation points scattered across the map of Harris County above mark spots where stream channels are currently overtopping their banks (in red!) or potentially thinking about it (in yellow!). The capture comes from the Harris County flood warning system interactive map, which automatically updates data from its county-wide network of rain and flood gauges every 5 minutes. Most of the current overtopped locations are concentrated toward the northwest areas of the county, parts of which got more than 17 inches of rain since Sunday morning. The green shapes mark channel gauges that aren’t currently at spillover stage or close to it (whether or not any spillover occurred earlier today).
The county’s online map also shows cumulative rainfall across the area — here’s what the totals look like across town for the last 24 hours:
On and Off the Rise
While all bus and rail service is currently on hold due to widespread flooding, the route 66 bus stop sign on White Oak Dr. is still bravely performing its signaling duties (lower left above) as water from White Oak Bayou rushes past. A reader sends several studies of the area around Stude Park at the Taylor St. bridge at the southern edge of the Woodland Heights area; here’s a few more shots of the White Oak Bayou greenways gone brown this morning, with I-10 in the background to the south:
Woodland Heights
Here’s this morning’s view north across S. Braeswood Dr. between Chimney Rock and Hillcroft in Meyerland, where Brays Bayou has once again been feeling out some alternate route options. That’s the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue and the closed-for-the-day Shlenker School across the water on the northern bank, looking higher but not that much drier; current reaadings for the nearest upstream county gauge show nearly 8 inches of rain over the last 12 hours, with higher totals further west. That hasn’t stopped some folks from checking things out from close-up:
Soaking In the Scene
The 2-bedroom, 2-bath bungalow at 6635 Lindy Ln. in Idylwood is today’s Sponsor of the Day. Thanks for supporting Swamplot!
Idylwood, in case you didn’t know, is that little pocket neighborhood of mostly brick homes on rolling terrain just west of Buffalo Bayou between the Gulf Fwy. and the Gus Wortham Golf Course. And this 1934 bungalow sits just about at its center, 7 houses down from Spurlock Park, on a 5,750-sq.-ft. lot.
The glassed-in sunroom in front has a spiral staircase that leads to a loft bedroom. French doors off the sunroom lead to a study that could serve as a third bedroom, the listing notes. Above the 2-car garage in back is a separate guest house with its own loft bedroom, plus a kitchen and bath. Also noted in the listing, along with the cosmetic upgrades obvious in the photos: recent improvements to the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems, and the roof.
This 2,301-sq.-ft. home just appeared on the market this past Thursday. You can get more info and see additional photos of the inside and out on the property website.
Got a new listing that deserves attention? Let it shine as a Swamplot Sponsor of the Day.
Sponsor of the Day
Windows are in on the Montrose side of Hanover’s 30-ft. Kroger-facing residential highrise at the corner with Hawthorne St. Those 2 rows of empty spots in the grid just below the former elevation of Skybar have been left intentionally blank and belong to the complex’s garage-topping pool deck, which looks to have its north-facing balcony already hanging out over Hawthorne.
The development’s leasing website lists August 1st as the planned date for the first round of move-ins, which leaves 3 and a half months to wrap up the majority of construction. The parking garage has yet to get its full modesty covering, per previous renderings from the Montrose side:
High on Hawthorne St.
- Ongoing Flash Flood Warning Issued as Severe Weather Moves Through Houston [abc13]
- NAI Partners’ Joel Michael on Selling Cedar Port Industrial Park, America’s Largest Industrial Park [Realty News Report]
- Second Select Specialty Hospital in Houston To Close This Year [Houston Chronicle]
- Lavish Open Houses, Gift Cards, Technology Upgrades, Assistance with Closing Costs on the Table as Sales Slip [Houston Chronicle]
- Group Wants To Use BP Oil Money To Shield Galveston Beachfront from Future Development [Galveston County Daily News ($); previously on Swamplot]
- Eureka Heights Brew Co. To Open in Greater Heights This Summer [HBJ ($); previously on Swamplot]
- Planned Woodlands Goode Company Barbecue and Cantina Spot Will Include 2 Separate Adjacent Restaurants [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]
- Houston Area Could Have Fewer Jobs at the End of This Year Than It Started With [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of the Kemah Boardwalk: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Bring on the heavy equipment, less is more difficult than it looks.
Hold on tight as you tour the sights in this 4-bedroom home overlooking a ravine in Bayou Woods. The dressed-up 1998 mansion jumped onto the market on Wednesday for just under $8 million.
AÂ landscaped path leads up to the entry fountain and circular drive:
On the Market off Memorial
