HOUSTON – In the weeks since Hurricane Harvey, hundreds of volunteers have worked to fully reopen Buffalo Bayou Park.
While the park, which winds through Houston along the banks of the Buffalo Bayou, was designed to flood, the high water left a lasting mark on it. Now, giant trucks join the volunteers who are cleaning up the park.
Buffalo Bayou cleanup by the numbers:
1) Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 70,000 cubic yards of silt in the park.
"We've pretty much collected all of it. Now the priority is hauling it all off,” said Ann Olson, the president of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. "We've experienced three major floods over the last three years. But Harvey actually definitely was the largest flood and did the most damage that we've ever experienced."
2) It will take 15 dump trucks more than 5,000 trips to carry away all of the silt. That process is expected to take 10 to 12 weeks.
3) While the park was designed to flood, it was not designed to handle major flooding year after year. Olson said there could be changes made where park workers store equipment, the park’s lighting system and the popular dog park.
"It's really important to us to have the landscape architects who designed the park involved in any changes that we make. So, stay tuned," she added.
4) The silt now sits in giant mountains along the bayou. The largest mounds are behind the Houston Police Officers Memorial and along Allen Parkway near Montrose Boulevard.
Olson asks, that visitors to the park follow the signs, since some trails remain closed, and watch out for trucks that are moving away all of the sand. www.buffalobayou.org