Houston / Freeway photograph archive
June 2001 Flood
Tropical Storm Allison · June 2001
Twenty-two photographs record floodwater across Houston's depressed freeways during Tropical Storm Allison, following the preserved WordPress order and credit scope.
↗ EnlargeSource: Houston Chronicle website · Archived by TexasFreeway
The downtown interchange became a set of concrete islands surrounded by water.
22 photographs · June 2001
Follow the flood from downtown to the South Freeway and Memorial Drive.
Scan the photographs and captions, or settle into the larger slideshow.
Choose a part of the flood archive.
I-45/I-10 downtown and I-45 north
I-45 and downtown
IH-45/IH-10 Downtown and IH-45 North of Downtown
8 photographsI-45 and I-10 flooded downtown
I-10 and I-45 underwater
I-45 flooded north of downtown
June 2001
Vehicles stranded along flooded I-45
June 2001
Floodwater at I-45 and North Main
West of downtown and the Southwest Freeway
I-10 and US 59
IH-10 West and US 59 Southwest Freeway
10 photographs
I-10 underwater west of downtown
I-10 flood aerial
Jet ski on flooded I-10
June 2001
Flooded I-10 at T. C. Jester
June 2001
Flood-damaged asphalt on I-10
Kayak in the flooded US 59 trench
Flooded US 59 trench and arched bridges
Equipment in the flooded US 59 trench
June 2001
Another view of the flooded US 59 trench
June 2001
Flooded US 59 at McGowen Avenue
US 59 Southwest Freeway, Southwest of Downtown
Texas 288, I-610 and Buffalo Bayou
South Freeway, East Loop and Memorial Drive
288 South Freeway, IH-610 East Loop and Memorial Drive
4 photographs
Texas 288 flooded at I-610
Vehicle cleanup on the I-610 East Loop
Memorial Drive West of Downtown
June 2001
Buffalo Bayou back within its banks
Last updated July 2, 2001
In June 2001, Tropical Storm Allison stalled over southeast Texas and dumped massive quantities of rain on the Houston area. Some areas received over 30 inches of rain over a 2-3 day period. The result: one of the greatest flood events in Houston history.
Some of the most impressive images were of the depressed (trenched) freeways around Houston. Since Houston is just about as flat as a billiard table, water must be pumped out of the depressed freeways. There was no hope of keeping Houston's depressed freeways dry in June 2001.
Acknowledgement
These photos were all taken from the Houston Chronicle web site, except as noted. Many of the photos were submitted by individuals to the Houston Chronicle.
288 South Freeway
The South Freeway has historically been one of Houston's most flood-prone freeways. It has a very low crossing over Brays Bayou, and water would backup into the freeway trench and flood the trench. Anti-backup gates were installed years ago, but they can't help when Brays Bayou is actually overflowing the freeway.