Lubbock Playa Lakes

We have had a lot of rainy, grey weather in Lubbock lately.   Most of the time, it has been drizzly light rain, with intermittent downpours. No doubt the earth is saturated.  Saturday morning, I took a drive around Lubbock, to look at some of the playa lake levels and the water levels.  The Yellow House Canyon Lakes, also known as the Canyon Lakes, or by the name of each lake, were full, but not overflowing, and while water was flowing over the dams, it was not flowing over the roads below the spillways, except in MacKenzie Park off of Broadway Avenue. 

Elsewhere in the city, the lakes were generally full.  Lake Sheehan, just north of 4th street and east of Toledo Avenue, had expanded beyond its borders, but only into undeveloped land.  As I drove through Lubbock, most of the other playa lakes were full, but not flooding streets. 

As I drove by Clapp Park, the lake south of the dam/walkway was surrounded with reeds which is so very different than it used to be, but probably more attractive to wildlife.  I cannot complain. The north lake has traditionally been surrounded by reeds. 

I had not heard about flooding in the city, so have to think that the slow rain did not produce flooding, or the flood control system worked.  Since nothing was reported on the news, I have to think the former, not the latter, is true. 

Floating Dumpsters!

This is what happens when it floods in Lubbock, Texas.  https://www.facebook.com/jeff.hannon.984/videos/679452092218129/

Why does this happen?  Lack of planning.  Because we do not get rain often, developers evidently are not required to put any plans in place for major rain events.  Major rain events, mind you are not necessarily even 6 or 7 inches of rain, but in the current situations many days of heavy rains (even 2-3 inches) that saturates the ground so now the rain has no where to go! 

Is this good city planning?  I think not!

Street Flooding in Lubbock

So, I knew there was a chance of thunderstorms and heavy rain in Lubbock this afternoon.  I saw the clouds building. But I went out for a haircut anyway, and left my poncho in the car.  I was reading a book, waiting for my turn to get my haircut, when someone remarked about how hard it was raining, and that the streets were flooding.  We have had intermittent storms the last few days, the ground is saturated, there is poor drainage in Lubbock, and there is no where for the rain to go. So it travels down the streets and highways!

http://www.kcbd.com/story/32941890/heavy-rains-causing-flash-flooding-in-lubbock

I got soaked going to my car, but I was not concerned.  I was cold and wet, but home was not far away.

On my way home from the haircut, I drove through parts of my neighborhood where the streets were flooded. As I drove closer to my house, the flooding decreased. My street is on a little rise. Just enough that my street seldom floods.  But I was amazed at the street flooding in my neighborhood. 

An eye opener!

The Storms Are Moving In

The National Weather Service http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lub/ has alerted us to severe storms moving into our area.  The skies are greying, and darkening.  It is like night is coming in sooner than later.

We do not know what the storms will bring.  It is my hope that we get rains, which may mean localized flooding, and although damaging winds are predicted, I hope they do not materialize.

We can always use rain, localized flooding or not.

Flooding in th Semi Desert?

Every time I hear about flash flood warnings http://www.kcbd.com/story/28975489/extensive-flooding-reported-across-south-plains from the National Weather Service http://www.weather.gov/  for Lubbock or the surrounding areas, I am amazed. But, it makes sense on a different level.  http://www.kcbd.com/story/28979787/traffic-alert-road-closures-detours-across-south-plains

This is a semi-arid area of the world, and the city planners have not planned and never do plan even in this modern age, for torrential rains that overwhelm the "drainage" system in Lubbock.  There is not a drainage system in Lubbock.  There are a very few underground "drains." There are some pump/drains in the south central part of the city, that were developed after some catastrophic flooding. I cannot find the reference on line. 

For my money, Lubbock has no drainage system, and no flood prevention program. And, although this seems not to be an issue, I think it is. When it floods in Lubbock it is catastrophic. It may dissipate quickly, but for those affected, it is a major problem: It may be a matter of being stranded on road, or having your house flooded, but it is a problem.  And for main stream Lubbock, this does not seem to be an issue.

Flooding in Lubbock

We got more than 4 inches of rain last night.  And, there was flooding in Lubbock http://kfyo.com/evening-thunderstorm-creates-flooding-and-power-outages-in-lubbock/.  Even today, there were places in town where there was water on the roads, and the evidence of flooding remained.  

Like so many places in the southwest, Lubbock is not set up for large amounts of rain in small amounts of time. The drainage is awful. The ground is heavily clayed, and is either hard pan dry or, now waterlogged. 

So, of course it floods in Lubbock when we get a lot of rain in a short period of time.