Building Orso University

Ricky Flores

September 9 2008

Ask

• 1. Which of these locations has the most/least earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, ect.?

• 2. What is the climate like in these places?• 3. How far away is the college from most of the

students houses?• 4. What is the population in each of these

locations? • 5. What percent of the population is about the

average age to go to college?• 6. What is the land like around the area that the

college will be built on?

Acquire-FloodplainsType of floodplain Student-created

explanation of floodplain

Locations of floodplain in Harris County

Explanation of potential flooding

Valley Floodplain This floodplain is near a creek valley. It does not affect a very large range of houses.

Northeast portion of Harris county.

Houses higher up and farther from the creek valley are safer from the flood and houses lower down and closer to the creek valley are more likely to get flooded

Major River Floodplain

This floodplain is deep and big and there is only one in Houston.

Along the San Jacinto River.

Houses not high up will most likely flood. Can last for weeks.

Shallow Floodplain This floodplain is shallow………. And does not affect a very large range of houses.

Most of the county, no specific area.

Houses don’t get too badly flooded and this type of flood usually only lasts a few hours.

Coastal Floodplain This floodplain is located near the ocean.

Southeast part of Harris county.

All houses can be affected by ground subsidence . Lower houses by a normal storm surge

What are the three different categories of floods? Rank them in order from strongest to weakest.1. 500 year flood or 0.2% chance flood 2. 100 year flood or 1% chance flood3. 10 year flood or 10% chance flood

Fifth flood scenario No area, can happen anywhere.

The longer the flood lasts the more houses that get flooded.

This floodplain starts at a bayou or a sewer and can reach far away houses by “ponding” in the streets

Acquire-Flood DataLocation Type of floodplain Watershed Flooding Threat Level

12328 Bay Area Blvd. Houston, TX

Area of lowest risk

12688 FM 1960, Huffman TX Area of lowest risk

29608 Liberty Ln., Tomball TX Area of lowest risk

650 Oats Rd. Houston, TX Floodway

1400 Travis St., Houston, TX Area of lowest risk

Acquire-Hurricane Data

Location Category of hurricane that would require an evacuation

Storm surge height that would flood the campus

Hurricane Threat Level

12328 Bay Area Blvd. Houston, TX

Category 3

12688 FM 1960, Huffman TX

29608 Liberty Ln., Tomball TX

650 Oats Rd. Houston, TX

1400 Travis St., Houston, TX

B. What is storm surge? Storm surge is a large dome of water often 50 to 100 miles wide that sweeps across the coastline near where a hurricane makes landfall.

C. Why is storm surge such a huge problem in the Gulf of Mexico instead of places like the Atlantic Ocean? Because there are no structures to be knocked down or broken in the Atlantic ocean.

D. Explain the three causes of storm surge. A hurricane creates high and low pressure areas, the low pressure starts to suck the ocean towards the middle of the storm, and the wave and current action associated with the tide all contribute to a storm surge.

E. What makes storm surge so devastating? Most buildings are not designed to withstand that kind of force so practically anything in the storm surges way gets knocked down.

Acquire-Fault Data

Location Faults Nearby (High, Medium, Low)

Projected Repair Costs

12328 Bay Area Blvd. Houston, TX

Medium

12688 FM 1960, Huffman TX Low

29608 Liberty Ln. Tomball TX Low

650 Oats Rd. Houston, TX High

1400 Travis St., Houston, TX Medium

F. The images included on the map are examples of which kind of weathering?

G. How far are Harris County’s faults moving per year?

H. How would faults and weathering impact your University?