Sixth in a series of eight articles on flood-mitigation funding in Harris County In August of 2018, Harris County voters approved a historic flood bond of $2.5 billion. Afterwards, KTRK ABC13 created an interactive precinct-by-precinct voter turnout map for the referendum. Now, with spending data for flood mitigation projects in hand, we can see that, in general, but not in every […]
Fifth in a series of eight articles on flood-mitigation funding in Harris County On June 11, Russ Poppe, executive director of the Harris County Flood Control District, resigned after two years of hounding by Commissioners Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia over the distribution of flood-bond money. Ellis and Garcia kept pushing Poppe to accelerate flood-mitigation […]
Fourth in a series of eight on flood-mitigation funding in Harris County Since 2019, Commissioners Ellis and Garcia have harped on the need for more “equity” in flood-mitigation funding. They and some residents in their precincts allege that all the money is going to high-income watersheds while minority, low-income watersheds get “none.” Ellis repeatedly complains […]
Third of an eight-part series on flood-mitigation funding in Harris County Some people and their representatives in low-to-moderate-income (LMI) watersheds have complained that they get “no” flood-mitigation funding and that the money is all going to richer watersheds. Allegedly, that’s because home values are higher there and thus favor higher benefit/cost ratios (a sort of […]
Second in a Series of Eight Articles on Flood-Mitigation Funding in Harris County If the charges of racial and income bias in flood-mitigation funding in Harris County were true, you would expect the poorest neighborhoods to get less funding than the most affluent. But the opposite is true. They get a billion dollars more Contrary to the “equity” […]
First in an Eight-Part series on Flood-Mitigation Funding in Harris County Recently, many local leaders, citizens and media have claimed that two largely minority and low-to-moderate-income (LMI) Harris County watersheds – Halls and Greens Bayous – have gotten no flood-mitigation funding. The actual data shows the exact opposite of what many people have been told, i.e., that […]
Ever drive down a road, see someone clearing land, and wonder what was going in? Every wonder what the boundaries of your Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) were? Do you know where the boundaries of your City, Council district, and the City’s Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) are? Plat Tracker is Gateway to Understanding Developments Around […]
Every once in a while you see something that distills the essence of a problem…and perhaps a solution. This map hit me between the eyes with the force of a 2×4. It shows the physical and political boundaries of every Harris County Watershed. Flood Control Out of Bounds Notice how three watersheds on the northern […]
Two letters from Texas General Land Office (GLO) – one to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the other to US Representatives Al Green and Sylvia Garcia – explain the GLO’s awards in a recent competition for $1.1 billion in Harvey mitigation funding. GLO Commissioner George P. Bush sent the first […]
At 8AM EDT this morning, the National Hurricane Center issued an update for that blob of moisture in the Bay of Campeche that forecasters have focused on for a week now. Last weekend, its chance of tropical formation was 20%. NHC now gives it a 70% chance. NHC also has it headed, like a billiard […]