Houston Warnings Or Dangers Tips by XenoHumph Top 5 Page for this destination

Dangerous areas of Houston Areas to Avoid / Crime Review

I do not know all the areas that could be dangerous in Houston because of crime (assault, burglary, drug...). Here are the ones I know of:
- I certainly would not walk around at night alone in the neighbourhoods surrounding the University of Houston campus although it is getting better now and will probably improve with the new tramway line being built.
- Eastern Houston, especially some areas near the Houston ship channel
- Southwest side: gang related activity at night at appartment complex on South Gessner below Bissonnet ( police district 17)
- 4th ward also called Freedmen's Town used to be dicey, but last time I went, there are so many new condos, townhouses (destroying the quaint houses) that it looks very gentrified!

For more precise info, you can check district by district in the following websites:
- Houston police crime monthly statistics
- Sex offenders database

Chemical factory explosions! Pollution / Other Dangers Review

Houston is surrounded by chemical plants, especially raffineries, located mainly to the East, Southeast and South of the city. Their pollution standard are very low, and it is quite common to have very foul odors filling your nose when being outside in Houston. And, well, sometime there are accidents!
This explosion shown on the picture happened in June 2003 in LaPorte (a suburb SE of Houston) and I happened to be driving by that evening with my camera. Nobody got hurt at the Nova plant, but the neighbourhoods located North of the plant got bathed in a foul cloud of benzene derivatives for a few hours, lovely. And the latest, in March 2005, killed several people in a BP factory in Texas City, a town midway between Houston and Galveston.

Hurricane country. Weather Wise Review

Houston is located on the Gulf Coast which is prone to be hit by hurricanes from end of June to end of October. If you visit during this period of time, stay aware of the weather forecast.

Definitions from the National Hurricane Center in the US.
The terms "hurricane" and "typhoon" are regionally specific names for a strong "tropical cyclone". A tropical cyclone is the generic term for "a non-frontal synoptic scale low-pressure system over tropical or sub-tropical waters with thunderstorm activity and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation", which means in plain words a very big tempest!!
Winds < 17 m/s (34 kt, 39 mph) = "tropical depressions".
Winds > 17 m/s = "tropical storm"
Winds > 33 m/s (64 kt, 74 mph) = "hurricane" in North America and "typhoon" in East Asia
Finally, "storm surge" is the onshore rush of sea or lake water caused by the high winds associated with a landfalling hurricane.

There are 5 categories of hurricane which are described here, depending on wind speed, storm surge extend and damage caused.

What to do in case a hurricane might hit can be found here.

Website: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml

Flash floods. Weather Wise Review

When it rains in Houston, it rains hard! It is generally tropical storms. The ground thus gets rapidly saturated in water and floods occur. Be especially careful when driving around; an innocent pool of water might be deep enough to drown your engine...

Cold in the summer! Weather Wise Review

Always take a sweater with you, even in the hottest days of the summer. Every single building has air conditioning, and it can be freezing in restaurants, shops or museums.