Hurricane Harvey 2017 Data Archive

Interactive Catalog of Data and Maps for Download

Introduction

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was among the busiest on record, producing:

  • 18 tropical depressions
  • 18 tropical storms 
  • 10 hurricanes that occurred in succession
  • 6 of the ten hurricanes further  strengthened into major hurricanes
  • 23 separate landfalls by Atlantic named storms

​As a result, the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. ( CUAHSI ), through grants from the National Science Foundation, has organized data collected during hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria to be made available to the hydrologic research community. This story map provides access to Harvey data. 

Downloadable datasets are hosted on  HydroShare , a community repository. Use this story map for interactive, contextual access to the data, via links in this side panel for each data section. Or see the  Data Index  section for direct links to specific HydroShare collections.

Issues or comments? Please report any errors, gaps, issues, or requests relevant to this story map and the related HydroShare data pages to  help@cuahsi.org .

Storm Track

NOAA National Hurricane Center (NHC) Storm Tracks  

Zoom into the map, and click on individual counties and storm features for popup info. 

Datasets available for download include:

  • NHC Hurricane Advisories
  • Harvey final storm track and wind swath
  • Forty three 5-day forecasts (Aug 17-30) for track line, predicted points, ensemble forecasts envelope, and affected shoreline
  • Federal Disaster Declarations (39 counties)
  • State Disaster Declarations (17 counties)

These datasets are illustrated in the interactive map and the images below.

Harvey "best storm track" with wind swath radii detail

Harvey 5-day forecasts (43 datasets) (NOAA NHC)

Issues or comments? Please report any errors, gaps, issues, or requests relevant to this story map and the related HydroShare data pages to   help@cuahsi.org  .

Flood Data

Zoom into map; click on individual features for popup info.

These datasets represent observations and modeled products created during Harvey: 

  • NOAA National Water Model Streamflow Forecasts (Aug 18-Sep 17, 2017)
  • USGS high water marks (2123) and peaks (1258)
  • USGS stream gage time series data (924 gages in Harvey study area)
  • Civil Air Patrol oblique photos Aug 19, 2017- June 2, 2018 (29,499 photos)
  • FEMA final flood depths grid
  • FEMA damage assessment points (Aug 27-Sep 02)
  • FEMA damage claims (Aug 25-Sep 08)
  • NCAR max ponded depth
  • Federal Disaster Declarations (39 counties)
  • State Disaster Declarations (17 counties)

These datasets are illustrated in the interactive map to the right and the images below.

NOAA National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Flooding Imagery

Harvey impact zone and hydrologic study area

NOAA National Water Model Streamflow Anomaly (difference from normal)

Harvey zone depth grid (geodatabase, 36 GB)

Urban flooding in NE Houston at 95.30W 29.89N, scale 1:42k

Rural flooding on Brazos River at 96.12W 29.94N, scale 1:46k

USGS Stream Gage time series

USGS High Water Marks and Peak Sites among multiple HWM observations in proximity

FEMA Damage Assessments

FEMA Property Claims

Civil Air Patrol aerial photos collected during flooding

Example Civil Air Patrol oblique photo

Issues or comments? Please report any errors, gaps, issues, or requests relevant to this story map and the related HydroShare data pages to  help@cuahsi.org .

Hydrology

Dense data - zoom in to display more content. Click on individual features for popup info. 

Datasets available for download include:

  • USGS National Hydrographic Dataset (NHD) Streams, Rivers (192,267)
  • NHD Catchments (190,192) and Watersheds (5,978)
  • NOAA National Weather Service AHPS Forecast Points (362)
  • USGS Stream Gages (924)
  • Texas Dams (7,290)
  • Texas Lidar DEM footprints, and Harris County 1m DEM data
  • Federal Disaster Declarations (39 counties)
  • State Disaster Declarations (17 counties)

These datasets are illustrated in the interactive map and the images below.

Harvey hydrologic study area with Hydrologic Unit Code-6 watershed bounds and counties

National Hydrographic Dataset (NHD) Flowlines

NHD Subwatersheds

NHD Catchments

Locations and Data for USGS Stream Gages and NWS AHPS Stations

Issues or comments? Please report any errors, gaps, issues, or requests relevant to this story map and the related HydroShare data pages to  help@cuahsi.org .

HAND

Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) Reference

Zoom into the map, click on a HUC6 area (green area boundary), and you can click into the download folder from a link in the HUC6 popup.

This map provides direct access to HAND raster files for the continental U.S. at 10-meter horizontal resolution, organized by 6-digit Hydrologic Units (HUC-6 watershed basins).  This is a hydrology research product based on USGS National Elevation Dataset (10m resolution), that estimates the vertical height of every point in the DEM from its nearest stream. This can be used to help estimate flood risk in areas lacking detailed engineering models.

HAND-CONUS from June 2016 (10m resolution)

Issues or comments? Please report any errors, gaps, issues, or requests relevant to this story map and the related HydroShare data pages to  help@cuahsi.org .

Transportation

Texas Basemap:  Transportation Data

Datasets available for download include:

  • TxDOT Roadways (505,829 segments)
  • TxDOT Railways (13,312 segments)
  • TxDOT Bridges (54,844)
  • TNRIS Low-Water Crossings (8,339)

These datasets are illustrated in the images at right and below.

Texas Bridges

Texas Low-water Crossings

Issues or comments? Please report any errors, gaps, issues, or requests relevant to this story map and the related HydroShare data pages to  help@cuahsi.org .

Addresses-Boundaries

Texas Basemap: Address Points and Administrative Boundaries 

Zoom into map; click on individual features for popup info.

Datasets available for download include:

  • Address Points used for emergency dispatch (9.3 million statewide)
  • Counties (254)
  • Councils of Government or COGs (24)
  • Tx Public Safety:  30 Districts in 7 Regions

These address points were collected through the 9-1-1 emergency communications networks in Texas. Because of its size, we have divided the addresses into 5 shapefiles for download, organized by groupings of HUC4 catchment basins (purple bounds in map).  

These address points have an attribute for their Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND), see HAND tab in this story map for reference. 

These datasets are illustrated by the interactive map to the right and the images below.

States and counties within the Harvey hydrologic study area

Texas Address Points datasets downloadable by watershed region

Texas Address Points colored by their height above nearest drainage (HAND)

Local-scale address points colored by HAND elevation

Issues or comments? Please report any errors, gaps, issues, or requests relevant to this story map and the related HydroShare data pages to  help@cuahsi.org .

Vulnerability

Texas Basemap: Social Vulnerability Index (SVI)

Social vulnerability has been studied by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) for many years. Their Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) is based on demographic data drawn from the most recent National Census. This is often used by the emergency response community to anticipate areas where social support systems are weaker, and whose residents may be more likely to need help.

Datasets available for download include:

  • SVI by census tract developed in 2014, subsetted to the Harvey study area (TX, LA, MS, AR) (shapefile)

Variables used in 2014 SVI

SVI for Harvey study area

Issues or comments? Please report any errors, gaps, issues, or requests relevant to this story map and the related HydroShare data pages to   help@cuahsi.org  .

Credits

Thanks to CUAHSI for obtaining the NSF RAPID funds to support the compilation of this data archive, and for their wonderful support throughout this process. Thanks to the Texas Division of Emergency Management for enabling access to much of this data during Hurricane Harvey. Thanks to FEMA, USGS, NOAA NGS, NOAA NHC & NWS, ECMWF, TxGIO, TxDOT, the Civil Air Patrol, and the CDC/ATSDR for their amazing work compiling these observations and modeling products. Thanks to HydroShare, RENCI and the University of Texas Advanced Computing Center for providing the platforms for describing and downloading these datasets. And thanks to the UT Austin Center for Water and the Environment for the equipment, software and skilled help to carry out this project.

Harvey "best storm track" with wind swath radii detail

Harvey 5-day forecasts (43 datasets) (NOAA NHC)

NOAA National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Flooding Imagery

Harvey impact zone and hydrologic study area

NOAA National Water Model Streamflow Anomaly (difference from normal)

Harvey zone depth grid (geodatabase, 36 GB)

Urban flooding in NE Houston at 95.30W 29.89N, scale 1:42k

Rural flooding on Brazos River at 96.12W 29.94N, scale 1:46k

USGS Stream Gage time series

USGS High Water Marks and Peak Sites among multiple HWM observations in proximity

FEMA Damage Assessments

FEMA Property Claims

Civil Air Patrol aerial photos collected during flooding

Example Civil Air Patrol oblique photo

Harvey hydrologic study area with Hydrologic Unit Code-6 watershed bounds and counties

National Hydrographic Dataset (NHD) Flowlines

NHD Subwatersheds

NHD Catchments

Locations and Data for USGS Stream Gages and NWS AHPS Stations

HAND-CONUS from June 2016 (10m resolution)

Texas Bridges

Texas Low-water Crossings

States and counties within the Harvey hydrologic study area

Texas Address Points datasets downloadable by watershed region

Texas Address Points colored by their height above nearest drainage (HAND)

Local-scale address points colored by HAND elevation

Variables used in 2014 SVI

SVI for Harvey study area