11/28/2023 0 Comments Houston flood plain![]() ![]() ![]() Some Houston homes flooded in each of those three storms. Hurricane Harvey followed rainstorms in the spring of 20 that also caused widespread flooding in the city. The Federal Emergency Management Agency produces the maps for its administration of the National Flood Insurance Program, and is working on updating the maps, but has not said when it expects to finish.Įxperts say the current maps are outdated in light of new studies that indicate rainfall is increasing due to climate change. 1, all new structures within the danger zone must be built 2 feet above the 500-year flood plains.Īccording to a city study, 84 percent of homes Harvey flooded in Houston’s flood plains would not have flooded if they had been built at the revised height standard.Ĭouncil member Mike Knox, a former Houston policeman, faulted Mayor Turner for pushing for passage of the ordinance based on flood plain maps. With the passage of the amendment, the city’s construction rules will be governed by the 500-year flood plain, wherein federal regulators estimate buildings have a 0.2 percent yearly chance of flooding. Under the old rules, new structures had to be built 1 foot above the 100-year flood plain, in which structures are defined by federal maps as having a 1 percent chance of flooding in any year. Turner asked council members to recall the chaotic days last August when Hurricane Harvey dumped record amounts of rain on the city, flooding thousands of homes and forcing residents to climb to their rooftops to avoid drowning.īy a 9-7 vote Wednesday, the council amended the city’s flood plain management ordinance, increasing the area it covers and the height in which new structures within that area must be elevated. “Every time a weather front comes through, I don’t know about you, but I get a little nervous,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said. To learn more about the Flood Control District, visit (CN) - In what Houston’s mayor called a defining moment for the city, the City Council passed an amendment Wednesday that mandates stricter height requirements for homes and buildings within flood plains. The Flood Control District widens and deepens bayous and creeks, excavates large stormwater detention basins, implements voluntary home buyout programs and maintains more than 2,500 miles (about the distance from Los Angeles to New York City) of waterways. The mission of the Harris County Flood Control District is to provide flood damage reduction projects that work, with appropriate regard for community and natural values. The Flood Education Mapping Tool includes regularly-updated floodplain information from the FIRM for Harris County, interactive legend options, a simple map display and easy map navigation.įor more information about Tropical Storm Allison and the Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project, see Off the Charts.Ībout the Harris County Flood Control District Its purpose was to serve as a tool for Harris County residents to learn the location of their properties in relation to mapped 1 percent (100-year), 0.2 percent (500-year) and coastal floodplains. The Flood Education Mapping Tool was initially developed as a mapping tool for the Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project (TSARP), which was launched shortly after Tropical Storm Allison struck Harris County in June 2001. While the floodplains shown on the Flood Education Mapping Tool are the floodplains delineated on the FIRM, the Flood Education Mapping Tool is not the effective FIRM. Floodplains are officially delineated on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM or floodplain map) for Harris County. The purpose of the Harris County Flood Control District's Flood Education Mapping Tool is to provide information about the boundaries of mapped floodplains in Harris County relative to residences, businesses and other structures. ![]()
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