Photo credit: Shop at the Ridge
Reported in How ‘Wild West’ growth may have led to devastating flood in Houston. (San Jose Mercury News, 8/29/2017)
Houston calls itself “the city with no limits” to convey the promise of boundless opportunity. But it also is the largest U.S. city to have no zoning laws, part of a hands-off approach to urban planning that may have contributed to catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Harvey and left thousands of residents in harm’s way.
Growth that is virtually unchecked, including in flood-prone areas, has diminished the land’s already-limited natural ability to absorb water, according to environmentalists and experts in land use and natural disasters. And the city’s drainage system – a network of reservoirs, bayous and, as a last resort, roads that hold and drain water – was not designed to handle the massive storms that are increasingly common.
Harris County Flood Control District
Accordingly, 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 District accomplishes its mission by:
- Devising flood damage reduction plans
- Implementing the plans
As they note here, a major flood occurs somewhere in Harris County about every 2 years.
- Maintaining the infrastructure.
Heckuva job, guys!
Related reading:
For years, engineers have warned that Houston was a flood disaster in the making. Why didn't somebody do something? (Los Angeles Times, 8/29/2017)
Houston is built on what amounts to a massive flood plain, pitted against the tempestuous Gulf of Mexico and routinely hammered by the biggest rainstorms in the nation.
It is a combination of malicious climate and unforgiving geology, along with a deficit of zoning and land-use controls, that scientists and engineers say leaves the nation’s fourth most populous city vulnerable to devastating floods like the one caused this week by Hurricane Harvey.
Related posts:
Donald Trump, a case study in narcissism. (8/29/2017)
On the fourth day of Harvey's devastation, imagine what a narcissist in the White House would say. (8/29/2017)
Before Harvey hit, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said 'On your mark, get set, go!!' to 2.3 million Houston residents, (8/28/2017)
These 21 grinning idiot GOP members of the Texas U.S. House delegation voted against Hurricane Sandy disaster assistance. (8/21/2017)
Fox News contributor and wingnut ideologue Lisa Boothe just hates it when science enters the picture. (8/28/2017)
Trump's 6 most recent tweets. (8/27/2017)
Talking to America when a hurricane is about to make landfall: What a difference a President makes. (8/26/2017)
No comments:
Post a Comment