The Elevate Strategies scandal tied to County Judge Lina Hidalgo just keeps mushrooming. For those who missed it, earlier this year, Hidalgo recommended hiring a 1-person company operating out of an apartment to do “COVID outreach” for $11 million. That person reportedly didn’t do any COVID outreach before public outrage about bid rigging forced the […]
The Texas 14th Court of Appeals has sided with the SJRA and against 85 plaintiffs who sued the SJRA for flooding their homes during Hurricane Harvey. This particular group of plaintiffs claimed that the Lake Conroe release resulted in the government unconstitutionally “taking” their property. However, the appeals court found that: Each of the properties […]
Because the Laurel Springs RV Resort was grandfathered under old drainage regulations, it got away with building a detention pond that was half the size required by current regulations. But assuming the developers were just shrewd businessmen who legally and successfully exploited the system, did they follow the rest of the rules? Let’s look at […]
In January of this year, when they kicked off construction at the Preserve at Woodridge, I posted about the Montgomery County development claiming 65% impervious cover. It’s time to get out the ruler. See pictures below taken on 10/22/22. I felt at the time that the 65% claim didn’t pass eyeball test. I feel even […]
Data obtained via a FOIA Request shows that the watersheds where three top Harris County Democrats live are consuming 25% of flood-bond funding. Meanwhile, those Democrats are starving their Republican opponents and supporters alike of flood-mitigation money. Harris County Flood Control’s website also shows there are currently no active capital-improvement construction projects in Kingwood, Humble, […]
Best-selling Florida author/journalist Craig Pittman penned a poignant post for the Florida Phoenix about the state’s problems evacuating coastal communities before hurricanes. While the article uses evacuation to make a point, it’s really about a political culture that permits developments that put people’s lives at risk. It’s a cautionary tale for Texas, especially Harris County where flooding […]
The Houston Chronicle has endorsed Republican Alexandra del Moral Mealer for County Judge over incumbent Democrat Lina Hidalgo. I won’t recap the lengthy Chronicle article here; you should read it firsthand. But I will expand on it, especially vis-a-vis flood control, which the Chronicle touched only lightly. Let me start by saying that after watching […]
Devastating flooding in Nigeria has killed 500, injured 1546, destroyed 272 square miles of farmland, and ruined 45,000 homes, according to the Washington Post. It sounds like another Harvey half a world away, except that these floods had nothing to do with a hurricane. Nigeria lies south of the Sahara desert in Western Africa. Global […]
On October 6, 2022, NPR published a fascinating story by Scott Neumann about a Florida development that survived Hurricane Ian “with barely a scratch.” The community, called Babcock Ranch, is just north of Fort Myers. It didn’t bear the full brunt of the Cat 4 storm, but it did weather 100-mph winds with barely any […]
A hot-spot analysis of subsidence in the Houston metro area during the period from 2016 to 2020 revealed total subsidence of up to 9 centimeters in some areas. Rates of subsidence approached 2 cm per year. (Two centimeters equals 0.8 inches. Nine centimeters = 3.54 inches.) The scientific study, named “Surface Deformation Analysis of the […]