thinking like a geographer terry luong orso-1. ask what are the chances of a hurricane hitting...

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. Floodplains2. Watersheds3. Fault data and mechanical weathering4. Hurricane storm surge and potential damage5. Land prices6. Crime data

FloodplainsType of floodplain Student-created

explanation of floodplainLocations of floodplain in Harris County

Explanation of potential flooding

Valley Floodplain A 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 Floodplain The floodplain is large and deep. It moves fast and flooding can last a week or more.

San Jacinto River When it rains, the river may overflow causing severe flooding

Shallow Floodplain When the floodplain exceeds its capacity, it will overflow causing flooding that will last only hours

All around the county When it rains, the channel may overflow causing minor flooding

Coastal Floodplain A floodplain on the coast that when unusually high tides or hurricanes surge waves onto the coast flooding low buildings

On the coast When high tides or hurricanes surge big waves and flood low lying buildings

Floodplains ContinuedWhat are the three categories of floods?Strongest to weakest: 10 year, 100 year, 500 year

Worst floodplain situationI 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 worst1. 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.

WatershedsLocation Type of floodplain Watershed Flooding Threat Level

Bayside (La Porte, TX) 12328 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX

500 year floodplain Clear Creek B

NE Houston (Huffman, TX) 12688 FM 1960, Huffman, TX

100 year floodplain Cedar Bayou C

W. Tomball (Tomball, TX) 29608 Liberty Ln., Tomball, TX

100 year floodplain Spring Creek C

Downtown East (Houston, TX) 650 Oats Rd., Houston, TX

100 year floodplain Hunting Bayou C

Downtown Central (Houston, TX) 1400 Travis St., Houston, TX

Area of lowest risk No watershed A

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.

Location Category of hurricane that would require an evacuation

Storm surge height that would flood the campus

Hurricane Threat Level


Category 3+ 22.4 F


None Not affected A


None Not affected A


Category 5+ Not affected D


None Not affected A

Hurricane Data

Fault DataLocation Faults Nearby (High, Medium, Low) Projected Repair Costs


Medium. Ship Channel, Battleground, Pelly, Magnolia

1,000 per year


Low. One. 100 per year


Low. None 100 per year


High. Eureka Heights, Magnolia, Pecore, Clinton, Memorial, Battleground, Ship Channel

5,000 per year


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 WeatheringG. How far are Harris County’s faults moving per year? 0.2 to 0.8 inches per yearH. 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 ContinuedWhat 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, TX2. Downtown Central (Houston, TX) 1400 Travis St., Houston, TX3. Bayside (La Porte, TX) 12328 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX4. NE Houston (Huffman, TX) 12688 FM 1960, Huffman, TX5. W. Tomball (Tomball, TX) 29608 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 DataLocation Total # of Rapes Total # of Murders Crime Level


None None A


None None A


None None A


Six Four D


Five Six D

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 areaAmount of local hospitals around the areaAmount of gang activity and “ghetto” neighborhoods in the areaAmount 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 pricesLocation Land 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



Law enforcement/firemen/ ambulances available at any given time

Students need to feel safe Downtown East (Houston, TX) 650 Oats Rd., Houston, TX


Grocery stores, bars, and gas stations around the area.

Students need to buy food to eat and bars for their own entertainment.



thinking like a geographer terry luong orso-1. ask what are the chances of a hurricane hitting...

Documents