Intercommunity

Hurricane Information on the Web

The latest official hurricane information and warnings is available on the National Hurricane Center Web site at: www.nhc.noaa.gov. There are also many other informative sites that can be useful to provide even broader information. One such site is the Bear Paws Weather page located at: http://www.bearpawsweather.com/tropical Although NOT an official forecast page, this page collects a very broad gathering of information and links to weather sites.

Hurricane Season

Hurricane season is officially from June 1st through November 30th. Harris County Flood Control advises everyone who lives in Harris County to get flood insurance on their property. Flood insurance is a separate insurance policy. Your homeowner’s policy does NOT cover damage done by rising water. You can buy a separate policy to cover most types of flooding from the National Insurance Program. Call NFIP at 800-427-4661 or visit the website at www.floodsmart.gov to gather information and/or purchase flood insurance on your property. Remember: The majority of homes flooded during Allison were in not in a flood plain.

Homeowner’s Insurance

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) offers a useful tool on its website to help consumers compare rates for new homeowner’s policies at www.tdi.state.tx.us Search for Homeowner’s Insurance Price Comparison. This tool breaks down several different types of houses and codes them based on their age. Select Houston (city we reside), and it will give you the rates of many different insurance companies; however, it does not list all insurance companies, but enough to verify whether one is paying a fair price for coverage. It also grades each company and scores its complaint data with TDI. You might be surprised at how different the rates vary among companies!

Remember that insurance companies factor consumers’ credit scores into their equations, so make sure you do not have any inaccurate data on your credit report. You can order a free copy of your credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com This will help in challenging any inaccuracies affecting the total cost of your insurance.

Bandit Signs

DID YOU KNOW?: That signs (see new signs every week) such as advertising for a lost pet, maid service, garage sale in the public right-of-way in Huntwick, which includes esplanades, street and stop signs, telephone poles, any area around the club house and Donut Lake and at ALL entrances to our subdivision are called BANDIT SIGNS AND ARE ILLEGAL without a permit from the City of Houston and permission of the landowner. You must have both. BANDIT SIGNS are subject to fines of $500-to-$1000. Remember signs placed on your property as long as they comply with the Deed Restrictions for Huntwick are legal.

Houston Area Apartment Ratings

DID YOU KNOW?:  If you want to find out how former and present residents of the apartments in our area rate their complexes, go to www.apartmentratings.com/rate/TX-Houston- xxx ( where the xxxx’s are place the apartment name). Some of the apartments in our immediate area are: Huntwick, Sendera Champion Forest, which was formerly Greenwood, Copper Oak Creek, Champion Oaks, Brookfield, Trophy Club, Waterman Crossing, and Retreat at Champions, formerly Gables Champions.

Harris County Appraised Home Values

DID YOU KNOW?: If you did not agree with the value set by Harris County Appraisal District on your home and you filed a protest, you can go online and find out the status of your protest–long before the mail comes. It is a simple procedure:

  1. Go online to the Internet or Google and pull up www.hcad.org You will get HCAD’s home page.
  2. Put in your account # (found in the upper right hand corner of your appraisal notice) or your home address.
  3. When your personal information data is revealed, go about 1/3 of the way down to VALUE STATUS INFORMATION — in the space below you will have the information you are looking for — such as protest received, or the date scheduled for your protest hearing.

Good luck!

Flooding

DID YOU KNOW?: 95% of the flooding in Harris County is from water ‘pooling’ in the streets. Pooling occurs when the rain is so heavy that the streets have no time to drain and the runoff has no place to go. Even though we have had much rain in the past two months, with the current severe heat, the ocean waters are going to heat up faster and reach much higher temperatures, which in turn will encourage the development of hurricanes. Flood insurance is an option in some respects, however in Harris County it is a necessity. The wait period after sign-up is 30 days. Every resident is encouraged to give very serious thought to applying and getting coverage of flood insurance. We are all aware that our home owners insurance does not cover flooding streets that could spill over into our homes. ACT NOW!

Water District Information

Ever wonder about the different types of water districts and their roles? CLICK HERE to check out this informative guide to water districts.

Cypress Creek Cultural District

Please visit the web site of the Cypress Creek Cultural District. The District will provide facilitation and  advocacy for the Cypress Creek/FM 1960 area to support the arts and to promote the expansion of those venues and the addition of new venues. The cultural assets in our community are growing so visit the site often to learn about that progress and the new opportunities: “We see art in nature and will support the expansion of our creator’s art.”

The District Intends To:

  • Create awareness of the current advantages in the area, and
  • Create a new perception and expectation by the residents and business owners that the area is a cultural center that warrants architecturally significant new development, clean and accessible streets and well funded schools in an edge city that appreciates and enjoys its diversity.

“We are a group of residents, business owners, ministers, elected officials and others that believe in the value and potential of the Cypress Creek/1960 area. We believe our area is becoming an “edge city” with all the urban amenities of a major city-and the potential of the problems of a major city. We believe that emphasizing our area’s attributes will help us avoid the negative urban issues. We believe that one of our under recognized attributes is the operating and the budding cultural venues in our area.”

The District Represents These Organizations:

  • 1960 Improvement Corporation
  • Barbara Bush Library Friends
  • Cypress Creek Christian Community Center
  • Cypress Creek Disciples of Christ (see Cypress Creek Christian Chuch and Community Center)
  • Cypress Creek Fine Arts Association (dead link)
  • Cypress Creek Flood Control Coalition
  • Cypress Creek Greenway Project of the Cypress Creek Flood Control Coalition
  • Cypress Creek Foundation for the Arts and Community Enrichment
  • Cypress Forest Public Utility District
  • GHORBA (Greater Houston Off Road Biking Association)
  • Harris County Library – Barbara Bush Branch
  • Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce – The first benefactor
  • Harris County Precinct 4 – R. Jack Cagle
  • Lonestar College System (formerly North Harris Montgomery Community College District)
  • Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts

The Five Facts of Water

  1. The price of our water will continue to increase…but it is still a bargain.
  2. We are required to convert our drinking water supplies from underground to surface water.
  3. In the future, the amount of groundwater we will be permitted to use will be reduced in stages to only 20 percent of our demand by 2030.
  4. Our area is changing rapidly, so the Authority not only has to construct an entirely new water delivery infrastructure, but it will also assist areas experiencing water quality or quantity problems.
  5. All residents in north Harris County will pay their fair share of the costs for construction and for surface water.