Want to change the economics of floodplain development? Deny flood insurance to anyone who builds new structures within a floodway. Grandfather structures that already exist. But don’t sell flood insurance policies to anyone who wants to, for instance, buy a new condo in a high-rise in the floodway of the west fork of the San […]
Jim Blackburn, a professor at Rice University noted for his work in predicting and modeling the effects of severe storms, has released an except from a larger paper that he is preparing with Amy Jaffe of the Council on Foreign Relations. The report, titled “Storm Surge and the Future of the Houston Ship Channel,” models […]
NOTE: This article has been updated to include the paragraph below entitled Floodplain Implementation Account. I also added a mention of a separate appropriations bill, SB500. One of the most important pieces of legislation in Austin this session is SB7, sponsored by Senator Brandon Creighton. It relates to flood control planning and the funding of […]
City Council Member Dave Martin will host a Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Town Hall meeting Thursday, March 21, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. , at the Kingwood Community Center, 4102 Rustic Woods Drive, Kingwood, Texas, 77345. Costello Will Update Community on Flood Mitigation Post-Harvey updates will be provided from Flood Czar Stephen Costello. Expect Costello to address additional flood gates […]
Jason Krahn of the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) revealed plans tonight to begin restoring the conveyance of Bens Branch, one of the largest drainage channels in Kingwood. Bens Branch runs diagonally through the center of Kingwood from the new St. Martha Catholic Church to east of Kings Harbor where it joins the San […]
A standing-room-only crowd of 800-plus people packed the Kingwood Community Center last night for a high-rise meeting. They were there to hear for the first time from Romerica and the people who hope to build high rises in an area deed restricted to single-family residential. Gabriel M. Haddad, one of Romerica’s partners, seemed decent and […]
Romerica packed the house with perhaps 800 to 1000 people. Both large rooms of the community center were standing room only. Contrary to pre-meeting guidance, the Romerica developer and his team DID take questions from the floor. The meeting lasted more than three hours. Gabriel M. Haddad was not what I expected. He was disarming […]
For weeks, Barbara Hilburn (Kingwood Lakes President), Bill Fowler and Dianne Lansden (Lake Houston Area Grass Roots Flood Prevention Initiative leaders) and I have been calling and emailing Manlove Marketing and Communications. We asked whether the high-rise developer would take questions from the audience tonight. We were consistently ignored. No answer. None. Nada. Silence. Barrington […]
On March 4, Romerica announced a “free” public meeting at which they and their suppliers plan to “discuss”: USACE Corp Process Phases of the Development Current and Future Initiatives of Romerica At that time, the guest panel was to include: R. Thomas Sankey, PWS, CSE Senior Project Manager / Senior Ecologist, SWCA Melvin G. Spinks, P.E., […]
Donna Dewhirst’s home did not flood. But the flood came within feet of her foundation and left debris strewn across her yard. Based on Harris County Flood Control estimates, 154,170 homes flooded in Harris County during Harvey (see page 13). The US Census Bureau estimates that there were 1.56 million households in Harris County in […]