The city has 2.2 million residents and the metropolitan area has 6.5 million, all living in a state that eschews much of the zoning and land-use controls that help keep construction away from flood zones in states with more regulations. The neighborhood was destroyed in Hurricane Alicia in 1983 and is now the Baytown Nature Center.Īnother long-term problem is the city’s rampant growth and urbanization. Forty years later, it was less than 2 feet above sea level, a subsidence blamed on ground water pumping along the Houston Ship Channel. In the 1930s, a new residential subdivision was built in the Brownwood neighborhood, which at the time was 10 feet above sea level. So far, it appears some of the hardest-hit flooded areas, such as the Jersey Village nieghborhood, are also the ones affected by subsidence, he said. While some of the subsidence is caused by natural movements of salt deposits, Khan said that most is the result of pumping oil and water from under the city. Shuhab Khan, a geologist at the University of Houston, has documented that some areas of Houston are sinking at up to 2.2 inches per year, a rapid rate in geological terms. But far less rain fell in that storm than in Harvey.īeyond the climate change, Houston faces other growing risks for flooding. In Katrina, the level of the gulf surged by 28 feet, the largest ever recorded along the Gulf Coast, sending water pouring over levees and canal walls. That meant that for some period of time, rivers were not flowing normally, leaving inland areas less than 15 feet above sea level with little drainage. Harvey caused a surge in the Gulf of Mexico that raised its level by as much as 15 feet along the Texas coast, Bea estimated. The long-term risks facing Houston are growing, owing to warming water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, which will fuel more powerful hurricanes by increasing the moisture they carry. The situation was similar on two dams on the Buffalo Bayou controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers up river from the Houston Ship Channel. But a spokeswoman, Rhonda Trow, said the authority chose not to release water from Lake Conroe in advance because the amount it held wouldn’t have made a difference and could have caused flooding even before the storm hit.īut by Monday, the authority had no choice but to open the flood gates to send 79,141 cubic feet of water to flooded Houston every second. The San Jacinto River Authority, which manages water supplies, knew that Harvey was probably headed its way. Completed in 1973, it has a capacity of 430,000 acre-feet, about 12% of Oroville Dam in California. Lake Conroe, a reservoir 43 miles north of the city, is one example. Because Texas is so flat, the dams can’t hold much water, unlike western dams that are built in deep gorges. On mobile device? Click here for a full screen experience.Dams along the rivers were built mainly for water storage, not flood control. INTERACTIVE: Want to know how many people in your neighborhood have reported flooding to the city? Explore the map below. There was also a cluster of complaints in the central-west area of Houston, near Spring Branch and the Spring Valley area. 23, days after Tropical Storm Imelda hit. One Kingwood resident reported flooding multiple times throughout the year, first in Jan. The Kingwood-area, which was among the hardest hit during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, had among the highest numbers of complaints, according City of Houston 311 flood data for the past 12 months. HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) - From a cluster of residents in northeast Houston, to homeowners on the edges of the Harris County, there's been more than 1,600 flood complaints to the 311 hotline within the last year. WATCH: ABC13's Steven Romo walks you through the interactive map and the areas most affected by flooding.
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