New Floodplain Maps Remain Secret For Now – At Least in Harris County

11/14/25 – Both Harris County Commissioners Court and the San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group agreed yesterday to keep new, updated Harris County floodplain maps secret from the public. They accepted Harris County Flood Control District’s (HCFCD) explanation that they couldn’t release the maps until FEMA finished vetting them…a process that has gone years longer than scheduled and could drag on for years more. Neither group:

• Asked for an explanation of what was taking FEMA so long
• Asked how withholding the maps could negatively impact Harris County residents
• Pointed to any FEMA regulations requiring that FEMA must release information first
• Agreed to pressure FEMA to speed up the vetting process
• Addressed why local authorities elsewhere are releasing updated maps before FEMA.

However, a spokesperson for HCFCD insisted after the meetings that HCFCD had a contract with FEMA that prohibited HCFCD from releasing maps paid for with Harris County taxpayer money. However, she could not immediately produce the contract for this post.

Other Areas in Texas Released Updated Maps Ahead of FEMA

Other authorities elsewhere seem to have no trouble releasing their updated maps based on Atlas 14. Take the San Antonio River Authority (SARA), for instance. They have posted a DRAFT floodplain viewer since 2022 with disclaimers, even though FEMA has not yet released its versions of the maps.

The SARA maps even show the 30-year chance-of-flooding to help mortgage applicants understand their flood risk.

Williamson County (Georgetown/Round Rock) also has released its Atlas-14-based floodplain maps ahead of FEMA. The maps feature a slider that lets you compare the extent of old and new floodplains.

So, it is possible to release new maps ahead of FEMA. No regulations that I can find prohibit it. If Harris County’s contract prohibits it, I will do a followup post when HCFCD produces the contract.

San Jacinto River Flood Planning Group Decides Not to Press Map Update Issue

The San Jacinto River Flood Planning Group (RFPG) met yesterday. Among other things, they voted on a progress report for the Texas Water Development Board that showed their work to date on the next iteration of the state flood plan.

Their interim report identified floodplain expansion everywhere in the river basin except Harris County.

That’s because maps for Harris County were redacted at the request of HCFCD. And that generated a lot of discussion.

One member of the committee said, “We have omitted mapping within Harris County as part of this tech memo deliverable, since that’s posted to the public.” [Emphasis added.] That same member later added, “Not incorporating that maybe oversimplifies or otherwise misleads the general audience.” That member proposed updating the maps before submitting the report to TWDB.

However, instead, the committee decided to simply edit text to remove FEMA’s delivery date for the new maps which HCFCD claims FEMA has repeatedly missed.

“It’s not a change to technical content or substantive content, it’s just going to be how it narrates,” another member said.

The committee also discussed applying political pressure on FEMA to release the maps, but decided not to.

Harris County Commissioners Court Takes No Action on Map Updates

Harris County Commissioners Court on 11/13/25 also included a discussion of the status of flood map updates. (See Item 325 on the agenda.)

Commissioner Tom Ramsey kicked off the discussion by saying, “We have known that FEMA is going to, at some point, issue new floodplain maps for Harris County. And we sit here waiting for FEMA to release these.” Later, he said there would be a significant difference in the extent of floodplains. “The existing 500-year floodplain is now going to be the 100.”

Commissioner Adrian Garcia then said, “This is not my first rodeo related to maps.” He continued. “It’s going to be tough enough when FEMA releases the maps on us, because…

“We’re going to find … developers holding properties that now are going to potentially be un-developable.”

Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia

Garcia suggested that perhaps the National Association of Counties (NACo) “move this item along because it is in limbo.” Then he added, “The federal government needs to own this. They need to do their part. And then we can work it at the local level.”

Tina Petersen, executive director of HCFCD claimed, “The responsibilities of FEMA have always been clear. They are responsible for releasing the flood insurance rate maps.” While that’s a true statement, FEMA is moving away from basing NFIP insurance rates strictly on flood zones. However, the maps will remain critical for mandatory flood-insurance purchase requirements for federally backed mortgages.

Commissioner Rodney Ellis tried to pin Petersen down by asking if other places were releasing updated flood maps and adding disclaimers like “draft” or “preliminary.”

Petersen dodged the question. Her 55-second response boiled down to, “We believe we are close. We believe it is prudent to wait.”

Petersen also dodged Ellis questions relating to FOIA requests and how much the new maps cost the county.

Commissioner Leslie Briones asked for an update on what FEMA has accomplished in the second half of the year. Petersen replied, “Really, where FEMA is at now is all of the data that has been submitted from the flood control district has been reviewed, and they are currently working to develop the draft flood insurance rate maps.”

Briones concluded the discussion. “We are all in and making sure we’re supporting you so that we can get the information out and work in support as strongly as possible,” she said.

That concluded the discussion. Commissioners took no action. They just moved to the next agenda item.

No Good Answers

In the end, the recognition of higher flood risk could increase flood insurance premiums and make floodplain properties more difficult to develop.

Kicking the can down the road and pointing fingers at FEMA, an agency undergoing radical change, avoids difficult conversations now. But it also exposes Harris County residents to higher flood risk.

See the Harris County Commissioners Court discussion of flood maps at 3:13:36 of this video. The San Jacinto River Flood Planning Group does not publish video of its meetings.

FEMA’s Region 6 Map Division would not confirm when they will release new flood maps for Harris County. They referred me back to HCFCD.

HCFCD has refused to share flood risk information with the County’s own Community Flood Resilience Task Force despite repeated requests since 2021.

And partially as a result, people are building and buying tens of thousands of homes in Harris County floodplains that could flood in the next big storm.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/14/25

2999 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.