Commissioners may ask taxpayers for more money to pay for flood control projects

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Hurricane Harvey was supposed to be Houston's wake-up call. It was a catastrophic rain event that laid bare just how vulnerable the region is to flooding. However, nearly eight years later, new reporting from The Houston Chronicle raises questions about whether the lessons from that storm are being fully heeded.

In the months immediately following Harvey, a Kinder Houston-Area Survey found that most residents supported stronger regulations on development in flood-prone areas. Yet according to the Chronicle's investigation, builders have constructed more than 65,000 new properties inside flood zones across Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Galveston, and Brazoria counties.

The growth is being fueled in part by Houston's rapid influx of new residents, many of whom don't carry memories of Harvey's devastation. New subdivisions are stretching deeper into FEMA-designated floodplains. Texas has no statewide flood building code, leaving a patchwork of local rules that developers must navigate.

That fragmented approach, according to Houston Chronicle investigative reporter Yilun Cheng, leaves entire communities at risk.

"We seem to be repeating the same patterns that made Harvey so devastating in the first place," Cheng told ABC13. "Experts say we need stronger rules and more coherence across the region. We haven't fully grappled with climate change and what that means for the region, either. Unless we change course, the devastation will only get worse."

There have been some changes since 2017. State lawmakers passed new disclosure laws requiring sellers to tell buyers if a property has ever flooded, or if it sits in a 100-year or 500-year floodplain.

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