Tag Archive for: ABC13

Investigation Finds 65,000 Homes Built in Region’s Floodplains Since Harvey

10/5/25 – A Houston Chronicle article last month by investigative reporter Yilun Cheng found that 65,000 homes were built in Houston area floodplains since Hurricane Harvey. This six-minute ABC13 interview with Cheng captures the highlights of her research.

Keyframe from Yilun Cheng interview on ABC 13 about 65,000 homes built in Houston Floodplains

Cheng’s Key Findings

Cheng found that builders have constructed more than 65,000 new properties in flood zones since Harvey. They spread across Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Galveston and Brazoria counties.

She kept hearing from people who bought homes in brand new neighborhoods. They later realized that their property was prone to flooding. So, that made her wonder, “Is this part of a bigger pattern here?”

“Texas has no statewide flood-building code,” she said. “As a result, a patchwork of local regulations has really left large parts of the region exposed.”

Families that have moved here since Harvey may not be prioritizing flood risk when looking for new homes, she said. They get seduced by spacious floor plans and suburban lifestyles only to find out months later that their house can flood every time a big storm hits.

Some of the biggest names in the Houston-area homebuilding industry kept popping up again and again in her research. They seem to rely increasingly on flood-prone land.

“We seem to be repeating the same development patterns that made Harvey so devastating in the first place.”

Yilun Cheng, Houston Chronicle Investigative Reporter

She added, “Unless we change course, the devastation and the displacement are only going to get worse.”

For a transcript of her entire interview with ABC13, click here.

Putting 65,000 in Perspective

Sixty-five thousand represents almost as many homes as flooded in floodplains during Harvey in Harris County. However, keep in mind that the 65,000 homes Cheng found were spread across multiple counties. Still, that’s a large number.

Harris County Flood Control District estimates that, based on house flooding assessments, the total number of homes that flooded within Harris County was 154,170.

But 68% of those were outside the FEMA 1% or 100-year floodplain. That alone should raise eyebrows about homes being built inside the region’s floodplains. Of the 154,170 Harris County homes flooded, 48,850 were within the 1% (100-yr) floodplain and 34,970 within the .2% (500-yr) floodplain. Total: 83,820.

So since Harvey, we’ve built almost as many homes in the region’s floodplains as flooded in Harris County floodplains.

And keep in mind, that FEMA has not yet issued new flood maps since Harvey. And when they do, floodplains should expand by 50% to 100%.

The lesson? Even Harvey didn’t teach us any lessons.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/5/2025 based on an investigation by Yilun Cheng

2959 Days since Hurricane Harvey

ABC13 Exposes Progress of Kingwood Drainage Projects

3/11/25 at 5 PM and updated at 7 PM – This afternoon at 6 PM, ABC13’s Nick Natario aired a segment on the progress of Kingwood drainage projects since the passage of the 2018 flood bond.

The publication of a new interactive map by the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) sparked renewed interest in flood issues – for all the wrong reasons.

Natario (left) interviewing Rehak (right) next to Taylor Gully this afternoon.

Map Misleads

The map showed the status of all flood-mitigation projects in the county. It also showed a lot of misleading information. Specifically, it called projects complete that were not.

  • The map marked the Woodridge Village and Taylor Gully Improvement Projects in Kingwood as “complete.”
  • It marked the project to add more floodgates to the Lake Houston Dam as “complete.”
  • Ditto for the TC Jester Detention Basin upstream on Cypress Creek – “complete.”
  • The Kingwood Diversion Ditch that hasn’t seen an excavator? They marked that “in progress.”

All of those assertions are false and misleading.

HCFCD may have completed parts of the projects, such as preliminary engineering reviews. But their map suggested entire projects were complete. However, in reality, absolutely no construction projects were completed to reduce flood risk on any of these projects.

In fairness, though, HCFCD did complete some maintenance projects after Harvey. And they did buy the Woodridge Village property from Perry Homes. But they have not completed any improvements to it.

Natario’s segment first aired at 4 this afternoon before I could get this post up. By the time it aired the second time at 6, HCFCD has agreed to remove the misleading information from their new map.

Suggestion for HCFCD

I talked with the flood control district this morning. They are using old databases that were not designed to do what they want to do. And so, they say, they are having translation issues with the data.

That’s fair. But please, HCFCD, work out the kinks before publishing the data. After you have proofed it, publish it then.

Don’t call a project complete because you completed a preliminary engineering study when you haven’t implemented any of the study’s recommendations.

That’s very misleading. Provide more detail and context.

People could buy homes based on your misleading information that later flood. Or the community could be denied a flood-mitigation grant because a bureaucrat a thousand miles away in Washington thinks the project is already complete.

I have invited HCFCD to publish a guest post on this issue to present their point of view. But they have not provided it yet.

If you are concerned about flood mitigation in the Lake Houston area, here is a link to the ABC13 segment by Natario that aired at 4 PM before I could get this post up.

Between the 4 and 6 PM airings, HCFCD removed the projects inappropriately labeled as “completed” from its map. The revised map now only shows work in progress.

HCFCD revised interactive map. All projects previously reported as “complete have been removed.

Thank you, ABC13! And thank you HCFCD.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/11/25 and updated after the ABC segment aired

2751 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.

ABC13 Reports Only One Home Rebuilt Since Harvey with $1.2 Billion in Federal Aid

Ted Oberg of ABC 13 investigated a $1.2 billion federally-funded program that has only approved 22 applications since Harvey, and the private companies, which have been paid millions by the City of Houston to operate it.

He found families still displaced. Elderly victims still living in homes that need repairs. Two years after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in 2017, many residents still need help.

Among the findings: only one resident has received keys to a rebuilt home so far.

What’s taking so long?

See the entire story here.

Posted by Bob Rehak on August 27, 2019

728 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Interactive Flood-Bond Map from KTRK Reveals Voting Patterns Throughout County

Want to know where all the support for the flood bond came from? Want to know where the highest turnouts were? Want to see where the largest percentages of NO votes came from? Instead of pouring over the canvass spreadsheets until your eyeballs bleed, now you can get it at a glance thanks to some amazing work by the good folks at ABC13, KTRK-TV. Click on the map below and you will be taken to their web site. There are two layers to this “heat map.” A heat map reveals geographic patterns in data.

  • First select the layer you want: you have a choice of two: No Votes or Voter Turnout.
  • The darker colors represent higher numbers.
  • See the legend by clicking on the arrow to the right of the layer name.
  • Then click on a precinct, any precinct. A box will pop up that reveals:
    • The total number of registered voters in the precinct
    • The number who voted
    • The percentage of turnout
    • The number who voted FOR
    • The number who voted AGAINST

It’s that simple!

Click on map to go to KTRK’s website where you can play with the interactive heat map

KTRK Interactive Heat Map showing voter turnout for Harris County Flood Bond Election. Click on map to view interactive version.

A shoutout to Keaton Fuchs, a KTRK producer who has been working on making this technology available to all of us.

Posted by Bob Rehak on September 6, 2018

373 Days since Hurricane Harvey