Flooding Houston
Houston buildings flooded inwards the 2015 Memorial Day Floods in addition to inwards the 2016 Tax Day Floods
The urban amount of Houston has 3 major problems: global warming, geography in addition to deregulation. All 3 problems were brilliantly illustrated past times ProPublica & the Texas Tribune inwards their serial on Houston's Flood Risk.
One article inwards this series, Boomtown, Flood Town, pointed out that (even earlier Hurricane Harvey) to a greater extent than or less parts of Houston had been flooded 3 times inwards 8 years. In the final 3 years lone Houston has suffered from the 2015 Memorial Day Floods, the 2016 Tax Day Floods in addition to from the flooding caused past times Hurricane Harvey.
One develop of regulations that builders produce receive got to comply amongst are those effecting areas within the 100 yr floodplain map. Unfortunately these catastrophic floods look to hold upward occurring nearly every year inwards Houston, non every century.
In answer to the devastating flooding caused past times Hurricane Harvey local authorities has been planning to tighten edifice regulations within the floodplain inwards Harris County. Unfortunately this volition produce footling to protect areas exterior of the floodplain in addition to every bit the Houston Chronicle reveals the 100 yr floodplain is real out-of-date.
The 100 yr floodplain is the measure used to gauge inundation risk. It defines areas where homes are at jeopardy from a 1 time inwards a 1 hundred yr tempest or where homes receive got a 1% yearly jeopardy of flooding. However, every bit the Chronicle reveals, "more than 55 per centum of the homes damaged during the Tax Day tempest inwards 2016 sat exterior the 500-year inundation plain, every bit did to a greater extent than than one-third of those during the Memorial Day floods inwards 2015".
In Harvey's Floods the Houston Chronicle has mapped out the lay out of homes flooded within the floodplain in addition to the lay out of homes flooded exterior the floodplain during Hurricane Harvey. The paper has done the same for the Tax Day floods in addition to the Memorial Day floods. What all 3 maps divulge is that the 100 yr floodplain maps are woefully out-of-date.
Major floods are occurring far to a greater extent than than 1 time inwards a lifetime in addition to are too affecting areas exterior the electrical current floodplain maps. The authorities are aware of the province of affairs in addition to are working on novel maps. The novel maps volition hold upward create inwards 2022.
Even earlier Hurricane Harvey ProPublica in addition to the Texas Tribune had created a mapped visualization exploring the dangers Houston faces from a major storm. In Hell in addition to High Water the author's warned of the dangers Houston faced from a time to come hurricane.
The mapped interactive inwards the article simulates the probable effects of a lay out of potential storms on the city. Each of these simulations overlays the rails of a potential tempest over a satellite persuasion of the city. These tracks are in addition to hence animated to exhibit the probable flooding events that could receive got identify inwards Houston if such a tempest striking the city.