Thinking like a Geographer Terry Luong Orso-1

Ask What are the chances of a hurricane hitting there? What are the chances of flooding? What are the conditions of the soil and ground there? How close to a fault is it? What kind of buildings are there? Is it a major city with a lot of buildings or more of a rural area? How many other college choices are there around in the area? How is the climate like in that area?

Acquire Knowledge over 1. Floodplains 2. Watersheds 3. Fault data and mechanical weathering 4. Hurricane storm surge and potential damage 5. Land prices 6. Crime data

Floodplains Type of floodplainStudent-created explanation of floodplain Locations of floodplain in Harris County Explanation of potential flooding Valley FloodplainA floodplain where the ground is deep and flooding can stay for a few days Northwest portion of Harris County When it rains, the valley may fill and overflow causing major flooding Major River FloodplainThe floodplain is large and deep. It moves fast and flooding can last a week or more. San Jacinto RiverWhen it rains, the river may overflow causing severe flooding Shallow FloodplainWhen the floodplain exceeds its capacity, it will overflow causing flooding that will last only hours All around the countyWhen it rains, the channel may overflow causing minor flooding Coastal FloodplainA floodplain on the coast that when unusually high tides or hurricanes surge waves onto the coast flooding low buildings On the coastWhen high tides or hurricanes surge big waves and flood low lying buildings

Floodplains Continued What are the three categories of floods? Strongest to weakest: 10 year, 100 year, 500 year Worst floodplain situation I would think a coastal floodplain would be the worst situation. Just look at Galveston and all the coastal areas after Ike. Storm surges affect the coastal plains most and the surges bulldoze anything in their path leaving total destruction. The clean up would take quite a bit of time and a lot of money. The destruction would also leaves thousands, if not, millions of people homeless and leave them with nothing. People would have to find new jobs, and kids would have to transfer schools. Best to worst 1.Shallow floodplain- when it floods, it is just a small flood that lasts no more than a few hours to a day with usually no damage. 2.Valley floodplain- when it floods, It just overflows and stays for a few days. 3.Major river floodplain- flooding along the river will cause higher levels of water eroding the soil surrounding the river. Flooding lasts around a week. 4.Coastal floodplains- wave surges would completely destroy everything in it’s pathway depending on the storm strength.

Watersheds LocationType of floodplainWatershedFlooding Threat Level Bayside (La Porte, TX)  Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 500 year floodplainClear CreekB NE Houston (Huffman, TX)  FM 1960, Huffman, TX 100 year floodplainCedar BayouC W. Tomball (Tomball, TX)  Liberty Ln., Tomball, TX 100 year floodplainSpring CreekC Downtown East (Houston, TX)  650 Oats Rd., Houston, TX 100 year floodplainHunting BayouC Downtown Central (Houston, TX)  1400 Travis St., Houston, TX Area of lowest riskNo watershedA

B. What is storm surge? A large dome of water 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? The storm surge is a huge problem in the Gulf of Mexico because of oil drilling and cities like New Orleans being below sea level. D. Explain the three causes of storm surge. There is unusually high and low pressure during a hurricane. The low pressure sucks in the water towards the middle of the storm. The high pressure pushes the water down and creates the bubble of water. E. What makes storm surge so devastating? The waves act like a giant bulldozer and take down anything in their path. LocationCategory of hurricane that would require an evacuation Storm surge height that would flood the campus Hurricane Threat Level Bayside (La Porte, TX)  Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX Category F NE Houston (Huffman, TX)  FM 1960, Huffman, TX NoneNot affectedA W. Tomball (Tomball, TX)  Liberty Ln., Tomball, TX NoneNot affectedA Downtown East (Houston, TX)  650 Oats Rd., Houston, TX Category 5+Not affectedD Downtown Central (Houston, TX)  1400 Travis St., Houston, TX NoneNot affectedA Hurricane Data

Fault Data LocationFaults Nearby (High, Medium, Low)Projected Repair Costs Bayside (La Porte, TX)  Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX Medium. Ship Channel, Battleground, Pelly, Magnolia 1,000 per year NE Houston (Huffman, TX)  FM 1960, Huffman, TX Low. One.100 per year W. Tomball (Tomball, TX)  Liberty Ln., Tomball, TX Low. None100 per year Downtown East (Houston, TX)  650 Oats Rd., Houston, TX High. Eureka Heights, Magnolia, Pecore, Clinton, Memorial, Battleground, Ship Channel 5,000 per year Downtown East (Houston, TX)  650 Oats Rd., Houston, TX Medium. Clinton, Memorial, Pecore, Eureka Heights, Magnolia 1,000 per year F. The images included on the map are examples of which kind of weathering? Mechanical/Physical Weathering G. How far are Harris County’s faults moving per year? 0.2 to 0.8 inches per year H. How would faults and weathering impact your University? Cracks would form and get larger destroying the building if the cracks formed in vital areas and higher chances of earthquakes near faults.

Fault Data Continued What types of problems do you anticipate from the fault data? The more faults there are, more risk for damage and more costly to repair. Rank the locations in order from worst to best based on your analysis of fault data. 1. Downtown East (Houston, TX)  650 Oats Rd., Houston, TX 2. Downtown Central (Houston, TX)  1400 Travis St., Houston, TX 3. Bayside (La Porte, TX)  Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 4. NE Houston (Huffman, TX)  FM 1960, Huffman, TX 5. W. Tomball (Tomball, TX)  Liberty Ln., Tomball, TX Explain your ranking for each individual location. 1.It is in the middle of a lot of various faults and will be at most risk for damage. 2.It is close to many various faults and will be at medium risk. 3.It is also close to a lot of faults, not as many, and will be at medium risk for damage. 4.It is close to only one minor fault and is at very low at risk for damage. 5.It is isolated from any fault and is at no risk for damage from faults. Predict how the Board of Directors and investors will respond to both sets of data. Depending on how many faults are close by, the risk of damage, the Board of Directors may not want to build in a certain area because there are too many faults and is too high of risk of damage and investors may not want to invest because if a fault destroys a building they lose money.

Crime Data LocationTotal # of RapesTotal # of MurdersCrime Level Bayside (La Porte, TX)  Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX None A NE Houston (Huffman, TX)  FM 1960, Huffman, TX None A W. Tomball (Tomball, TX)  Liberty Ln., Tomball, TX None A Downtown East (Houston, TX)  650 Oats Rd., Houston, TX SixFourD Downtown Central (Houston, TX)  1400 Travis St., Houston, TX FiveSixD I. Give three examples of layers that you could add to this map that would provide additional information about the crime level in each area. Do not use additional crimes for your answer, credit will not be given. Amount of law enforcement around the area Amount of local hospitals around the area Amount of gang activity and “ghetto” neighborhoods in the area Amount of readily available firearms available in the area/Amount of known firearm owners in that area

Crime Data Continued Explain how crime data will affect the recruitment of future students. Depending on the crime levels, students may or not want to attend that college as the chances of getting raped or murdered increases. Predict how the Board of Directors and investors will respond to both sets of data.

Land prices LocationLand Price (per acre) Option 1: Bayside$27,000 Option 2: NE Houston$12,000 Option 3: W Tomball$40,000 Option 4: Downtown East$50,000 Option 5: Downtown Central$6,850,000 Explain how land prices will affect the recruitment of future students. Depending on how expensive the land is, space will be limited to the budget and tuition fees may be higher or lower depending on the cost of the land and the students might have a problem paying the fee’s.

Other Information-Analysis Other sources of information Explanation of how the source would be beneficial Location that would likely benefit the most from your source Location that would likely benefit the least from your source. Layout of highways and roads Students need an easy way to get to school without much traffic Downtown East (Houston, TX)  650 Oats Rd., Houston, TX Law enforcement/firemen/ ambulances available at any given time Students need to feel safeDowntown East (Houston, TX)  650 Oats Rd., Houston, TX Downtown Central (Houston, TX)  1400 Travis St., Houston, TX Grocery stores, bars, and gas stations around the area. Students need to buy food to eat and bars for their own entertainment. NE Houston (Huffman, TX)  FM 1960, Huffman, TX W. Tomball (Tomball, TX)  Liberty Ln., Tomball, TX