A reader (thank you Nathan) forwarded an article from the TexasTribune web page to me today about Houston and flooding. The article included some really interesting
maps showing the changes to the city’s development pattern and the range of
devastation from past storms. According to the article, Houston’s “flood plain”
designations fail to identify a large part of the land area prone to
flooding. Some residents have filed
lawsuits against the City, while others have simply sold their properties at a
loss and walked away—to higher ground. One is quoted as saying: the frequent
flooding has “actually paralyzed me. I just don’t think I can go through
another flood.”
The propensity of the
neighborhoods in Houston to flood in recent years should have been, according
to the article, “a wake-up call” for government leaders. But it hasn’t been that way. The article says:
The devastation of
Hurricane Allison in 2001, “prompted FEMA and the flood control district to
redraw floodplain maps, which expanded as much as 20 percent in some areas. And
in conjunction with the city, the district spent hundreds of millions of
dollars to improve drainage, widen bayous and build detention ponds to temporarily
hold floodwater.
“But when local politicians tried to change policies over development, they were met with stiff resistance from developers and residents. The city did pursue a law banning new development or major renovations of existing buildings in areas called floodways — the most vulnerable parts of the 100-year floodplain that are closest to the bayous. That prompted multiple lawsuits, and the law was ultimately severely weakened by the city council two years later.”
“But when local politicians tried to change policies over development, they were met with stiff resistance from developers and residents. The city did pursue a law banning new development or major renovations of existing buildings in areas called floodways — the most vulnerable parts of the 100-year floodplain that are closest to the bayous. That prompted multiple lawsuits, and the law was ultimately severely weakened by the city council two years later.”
This has been the pattern
in Houston. The argument has always been
that, if one county imposes a stronger restriction on building in the flood
plain, then developers will simply spend their money in neighboring, “less
restrictive” jurisdictions. Many areas
of Harris County, for instance, are particularly vulnerable to flooding. The article quotes a Harris County
Commissioner who says:
“The county’s development
regulations are superior to the city’s and have been strengthened over time. But
they have to be economically reasonable.
If the rules are too strict, developers will say ‘fine, to heck with
Harris County. We’ll go build in Fort Bend,’ the county directly west of Harris
County, or wherever else.”
The article says that the
truth is, however, that Fort Bend County “has stricter regulations for
developing in the floodplain — and it’s growing faster than Harris County. Developers there must incorporate more green
space or detention ponds than in Harris County. That’s because Fort Bend
requires them to hold excess floodwater on their properties for longer and discharge
it at one-tenth of the rate in Harris County.”
Phil Bedient of Rice University, who helped develop Fort Bend County’s rules, says “They still have lots of development, it's just that they know how to do it. Harris County has never prioritized green and is now paying the price. Mother Nature is wreaking her fury on the county and sending some fairly strong signals that some things need to change.”
Phil Bedient of Rice University, who helped develop Fort Bend County’s rules, says “They still have lots of development, it's just that they know how to do it. Harris County has never prioritized green and is now paying the price. Mother Nature is wreaking her fury on the county and sending some fairly strong signals that some things need to change.”
One of the state’s US
Congressmen, Al Green, is quoted as saying “he was counting on his colleagues
in the U.S. House of Representatives to fund some key bayou-widening projects
in the coming months — though he understands they only aim to protect against
much smaller events.
"'I’m going to maintain a level of optimism,’ he said. ‘We should not have another catastrophic event and then bemoan the fact that we didn’t do what we could have and should have done, so that’s an argument that I make.’”
"'I’m going to maintain a level of optimism,’ he said. ‘We should not have another catastrophic event and then bemoan the fact that we didn’t do what we could have and should have done, so that’s an argument that I make.’”
His statement seems prescient
in light of the last weekend.
Similarly, do you recall the resident quoted above who said she didn’t think she could
endure another flood? Sadly, the article
I’ve been discussing was written last year.
“Another flood” has already arrived.
Photo source: AP via Instagram
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