Top Flood-Related Stories of 2025 Archives

12/28/2025 – This is the second part of a three part series on the top flood-related stories of 2025. Part I covered the major disasters of the year. Part II will cover the government response in terms of regulations and funding for flood mitigation efforts. And Part III will cover the progress of mitigation.

Government Response to Camp Mystic/Guadalupe Tragedy

Hearings on the Camp Mystic disaster last July identified a failure of warning signs (weather reports, alarm systems, etc.) as one of the primary causes. Investigations also discovered that the camp’s operators lobbied for changes to flood maps so that they could build in floodplains. And then they evidently expanded the camp before regulators became aware. Finally, evacuation plans were evidently not well communicated or understood.

In response, the Texas Legislature passed the Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act (a reference to the number of young girls who died at Camp Mystic). The act bars camp cabins in high risk areas. It also requires camps to have state-approved emergency plans, regular evacuation drills and disaster alert systems.

Lawmakers approved nearly $300 million “to boost flood preparedness, including $200 million to match federal disaster aid, $50 million for local grants to purchase flood warning equipment and $28 million to improve weather forecasting.” A companion bill also expanded government oversight of youth camps.

FEMA Cancels BRIC Program

In April, FEMA announced that it is ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and canceling all BRIC applications from Fiscal Years 2020-2023.

It also canceled the fiscal year 2024 notice of funding opportunity (NOFO), involving $750 million for grants.

BRIC was FEMA’s largest pre-disaster mitigation program. Congress established it through the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018. Its purpose: to fundamentally shift federal-disaster spending from post-disaster recovery to pre-disaster risk reduction. In other words, to encourage a shift from “Repair” to “Resilience.”

BRIC aimed to prevent disasters by helping communities build to higher standards. Flood-risk reduction grants typically helped finance projects such as:

Regional detention and retention basins
Flood diversion channels
Levee and floodwall construction or upgrades
Drainage improvements exceeding minimum code standards
Nature-based solutions (wetlands, floodplain restoration)
Elevation or floodproofing of critical facilities (hospitals, EOCs, fire stations)

A press release that accompanied the cancellation of the BRIC program called it a “wasteful, politicized grant program.” However, investments in hazard mitigation programs are the opposite of “wasteful,” according to the Association of State Flood Plain Managers. They point to studies showing flood-hazard mitigation investments return up to $8 in benefits for every $1 spent.

States sued to prevent the cancellation. The lawsuits are still locked up in courts.

Prevention is always cheaper than correction. After Harvey, a Harris County engineering study found 20 times less damage in subdivisions using newer, more stringent building codes compared to those built under older codes.

FEMA Slowdown

Meanwhile, approvals for other types of FEMA grants have slowed. According to The Hill, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem has adopted a policy of personally approving all major expenditures that cost $100,000 or more. The Hill article reported $900 million in grants and loans reportedly awaiting Noem’s review.

Separately, in other FEMA news, according to the Washington Post, hundreds of residents signed up for FEMA buyouts after Cat 4 Hurricane Helene devastated the southeast in 2024. Not one has yet been approved.

HUD/GLO Finish Rebuilding Program

On a more positive note, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) administers U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) flood-mitigation/disaster-relief programs in Texas. The GLO recently announced completion of the rebuilding of more than 9600 homes across the state under its Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP). That total includes mostly homes from its Hurricane Harvey disaster recovery mission. But it also includes homes impacted by Imelda, Laura, and repetitive flooding events in the Rio Grande Valley.

*GLO poster celebrating program completion.*

Status of Other GLO/HUD Programs

The GLO continued advancing long-term recovery and resilience by administering more than $1 billion in Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery and Mitigation Projects. Additionally, HUD approved the GLO’s plan for $555 million to help communities impacted by 2024 Disasters.

The GLO completed reviews and approvals of all remaining project applications under the Regional Mitigation Program (RMP), providing funding for critical infrastructure improvements including drainage systems and flood-prevention measures. In total, the GLO has approved more than 200 RMP projects for more than $1.1 billion.

The GLO also approved more than $135 million in applications through the Disaster Recovery Reallocation Program (DRRP). It utilizes unspent disaster recovery funds from older disasters to help communities with outstanding unmet needs. These investments will reduce risk related to hurricanes, tropical storms, flooding, and other hazards.

The agency also announced it will be closing applications at the end of the year for both the Local Hazard Mitigation Plans Program (LHMPP) and the Resilient Communities Program (RCP). Both are part of the GLO’s long-term strategy to help communities strengthen local planning efforts, modernize codes, and protect life and property from future disasters.

Montgomery County Updates Flood Regulations

Eight years after Harvey, Montgomery County finally adopted new subdivision, floodplain, and drainage regulations.

The county adopted its new subdivision (development) regulations on March 4, then amended them on May 27 and October 14. MoCo also issued subdivision guidelines and recommendations on November 4.

Commissioners adopted a new Drainage Criteria Manual on August 26. And new Floodplain Management Regulations became effective on October 1, 2025.

While MoCo regs don’t perfectly reflect the Minimum Drainage Standards recommended by Harris County for other counties draining into it, they are a great improvement.

Competing Forces at Work

Flood safety is a constant struggle between competing forces that increase or reduce flood risk. There are so many, the public can hardly know whether it’s winning or losing.

Just because the government appropriates money, doesn’t mean it’s enough or will be spent promptly.

Even if it is, will it actually reduce risk in the face of offsetting factors such as legislative loopholes, grandfather clauses, willful blindness, the profit motive, shifting political winds, and insufficiently mitigated upstream development?

And maybe that’s THE Top Flood-Related Story of 2025. More on that tomorrow.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/28/2025

3043 Days since Hurricane Harvey

12/27/25 – There was so much flood news this year that I’m splitting the Top Flood-Related Stories of 2025 up into three parts. Part I will cover the storms. Part II will cover funding and government regulations. And Part III will cover the progress of mitigation efforts.

Cyclones Ravage Indian Ocean

On the other side of the world, tropical cyclones ravaged Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand. Approximately 200,000 people died altogether. The cyclones also destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes.

Cyclone Senyar

According to Wikipedia, Cyclone Senyar caused heavy flooding and landslides across central and southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, and Sumatra, Indonesia, killing at least 1,400 people and causing US$19.8 billion in damages.

At least 1,138 deaths, more than 7,000 injuries, and 163 missing persons were reported in Indonesia.

Thailand also recorded at least 297 fatalities and 102 injuries, including 229 deaths, although local sources claim a much higher figure. Malaysia reported 3 deaths. Senyar is listed as one of the deadliest tropical cyclones in this century.

Cyclone Ditwah

Around the same time, Cyclone Ditwah, dumped heavy rains on Sri Lanka off the southeastern coast of India. The storm caused heavy flooding and landslides that killed more than 600 people and caused more than US$1.6 billion dollars of damage.

Sri Lanka had experienced extreme weather before, but decades of ignoring scientific warnings magnified Ditwah’s impact.

For example, the country’s National Building Research Organisation, for years, produced detailed landslide-hazard maps identifying unstable terrain. Yet many of the landslides triggered by the cyclone occurred squarely within long-designated high-risk zones.

“When a mapped hazard zone collapses, it is not just a natural disaster—it is also a governance failure,” says Rohan Cooray, an disaster-risk management specialist.

“The maps are clear. But land approvals and construction often proceed as though these risks do not exist.”
Rohan Cooray

No Hurricanes Strike U.S. Coastline

While a hurricane-free U.S. season is uncommon, it’s not rare. It happens about once every 4-5 years on average. Recent examples include 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2025, thanks to storms often turning away from the coast.

2025 Hurricane season — *2025 Named-Storm Tracks*

The 2025 season saw no hurricane landfalls on mainland U.S. soil. Many powerful storms formed, but recurved out to sea.

That doesn’t mean the season had no threats. Three Category 5 hurricanes formed, the second-most on record in the Atlantic basin. The only other season that saw more was 2005 with four.

Guadalupe Tragedy

In Texas, by far the worst flooding tragedy this year was on the Guadalupe River in the Hill Country. The July 2025 tragedy on the Guadalupe was caused by:

The remnants of an extremely slow moving, moisture-rich storm system (remnants of Tropical Storm Barry) stalling over the region.
It dumped more than 20 inches of rain in places onto soil that couldn’t absorb it.
Peak rainfall reached 2-3 inches per hour.
The massive influx of water where the north and south forks of the Guadalupe converge caused the river to rise 29 feet in 45 minutes near Hunt, TX.

This sent a “pitch black wall of death” rushing through areas like Camp Mystic, causing 27 deaths and disappearances.

The flood was the deadliest inland flooding event in the United States since the 1976 Big Thompson River flood, surpassing even flooding from Hurricane Helene in 2024.

Kerr County did not have a dedicated flood warning system, despite prior proposals from local officials citing the area’s high flood risk.

The highest death toll occurred at Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ summer camp. It was in a special flood hazard area. However, following various appeals by the camp, several buildings were removed from the hazard area, as the camp continued to operate and expanded in and around the flood plain.

Camp Mystic flood hazards — *Flood zones near Camp Mystic. Cross-hatched = floodway, aqua = 100-year floodplain, brown = 500-year.*

States throughout the midwest and Gulf Coast deployed search and rescue teams to assist. Altogether, 137 people died (the count as of September 24, 2025).

The tragedy spurred the 2025 Texas Legislature to pass urgent camp safety reforms, including House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 (Heaven’s 27 Act), mandating stricter emergency plans, improved warning systems, and prohibiting cabins in floodplains, signed into law by Governor Abbott to prevent future disasters.

Victim’s families testified that the tragedy was preventable, highlighting failures in planning and complacency regarding flood risk.
Texas Tribune

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