The newspaper article “Damage outside flood plain exposes flaws” was printed in the Sunday, April 1, 2018 Houston Chronicle. The following quotes are from that article:
“Hurricane Harvey damaged more than 204,000 homes and apartment buildings in Harris County, almost three-quarters of them outside the federally regulated 100-year flood plain…”
“Over half of the homes damaged by Harvey were outside all flood plain designations.”
“Roy Wright, a FEMA executive and director of the National Flood Insurance Program, said FEMA needs to better communicate flood risk and persuade more homeowners to buy flood insurance.”
“The current flood maps…..only show how water leaves. The maps….don’t capture other problems with drainage systems – skinny storm sewers that choke runoff, narrow streets that can’t hold much water, and old gutters that don’t meet today’s regulations.”
“…rainfall has increased markedly, but flood maps don’t yet reflect it.”
Number of structures damaged during Hurricane Harvey [in Harris County] – 204,267
Of those, the number in the 100-year flood plain – 56,335
The number in the 500-year flood plain – 41,702
Number of damaged structures outside of either the 100- or 500-year flood plains – 106,230. That’s over half (52%).
Data from Hurricane Harvey shows that living outside either a 100- or 500-year flood plain does not guarantee staying dry in a big rain event. Just because you didn’t flood this time does not mean you won’t flood next time. There were homes that flooded in 2018 that did not flood during Harvey. The location of the storm, its movement, and its varying intensity can change the risk. New building causing drainage patterns to change and less water to be absorbed into the ground also changes the risk. And it takes a long, long time for money to be available for flood mitigation projects, projects to be approved and prioritized, and construction to be completed.
Don’t play the roulette game. Get flood insurance now (it takes 30 days to take effect). I don’t know anyone who flooded in Harvey that wasn’t glad they had flood insurance or didn’t wish they did have it.
