11/22/24 – FEMA has launched a new, online flood-insurance quote tool. You simply: The entire process took me less than two minutes. I found that I could get the maximum coverage ($250,000) with the minimum deductible for $887. How to Act on the Quote Of course, you don’t buy flood insurance directly from FEMA. You […]
11/21/24 – Last week, the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District published a request for qualifications (RFQ) for consultants interested in conducting an alternative water supply feasibility study for Northeast Harris County. Mike Turco, the District’s general manager, said he is specifically focused on the area east of Lake Houston, which is experiencing tremendous growth. The completion of […]
11/20/2024 – The Texas General Land Office (GLO) confirmed funding approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for seven Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) projects. In June of last year, HCFCD submitted two projects lists to GLO for $825 million in HUD Community Development Block Grant disaster relief (CDBG-DR) funding […]
11/19/2024 – The time to fully complete half of all FEMA-funded buyouts takes more than five years from disaster to closeout. The screen capture below was taken from a presentation earlier this month to the Harris County Community Flood Resilience Task Force by Thao Costis, head of Harris County’s Housing and Community Development Department. The […]
11/18/24 – Do you know your home’s true flood risk? In October, National Geographic ran an insightful article by Meryl Davids Landau titled “Many Americans are buying homes in flood zones – and don’t realize it.” The article begins, “The Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) used by FEMA are based on antiquated data and obsolete […]
11/17/2024 – According to a National Hurricane Center report at 6 AM this morning, slow-moving Tropical Storm Sara has produced around 40 inches of rain in northern Honduras. To put that amount in perspective, it meets or exceeds most Hurricane Harvey totals reported in Harris County during a similar 4-day period. Harvey 4-Day Totals Rainfall […]
11/16/24 – When Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger announced a “Median Madness” event, I must admit I was skeptical. But within the first hour, I began to see significant progress and the power of people working together. The objective was vine control along Kingwood Drive. This story has nothing to do with flooding. But […]
11/15/24 – The Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority/TIRZ 10 Board met yesterday to discuss Northpark expansion, including: Two Meetings in One On a somewhat funny note, the board covered the first half of the agenda while standing in front of a locked Kingwood Community Center. After the keymaster finally arrived… Here is the agenda. And here […]
11/14/25 – At 1 PM EST, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) began issuing advisories on Tropical Storm Sara, the 19th named storm of the Atlantic Hurricane season. It formed in the western Caribbean near the border between Nicaragua and Honduras. Circulation and banding appeared on satellite images taken this morning. The storm currently has sustained […]
11/13/24 – Four years of persistence by flood activist Chris Bloch are finally paying off. HCFCD is clearing a drainage ditch blocked by silt and vegetation. Bloch, who does not live near the ditch, has no financial stake in the clean-out effort. Yet he has stayed on top of the project and gently pushed it […]