Hurricane Information on the Web
The latest official hurricane information and warnings is available on the National Hurricane Center Web
stie at: http://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 no
flood plan.
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. I encourage each homeowner to give some 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:
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