EDITORIAL: The frequent flooding in Houston needs to be fixed

The greater Houston area is known for a variety of activities and entertainment, such as sports games, Galveston beach and great food. However, people who live here know that Houston has unpredictable weather. Houston, the forth-largest city in the nation, and it’s surrounding areas, can go from a bright sunny day to a rainstorm within minutes, or sometimes both occur at the same time. Houstonians never know what to expect with unpredictable Houston weather.

Flooding in Houston is a frequent occurrence and we need to stop it. Unfortunately, it does not take much rain for flooding to occur, which results in loss of money, inconvenience for commuters, negative impact on business and even loss of lives. Houston is known to flood, not only during hurricanes, but also during quick, heavy downpours. Houston is a flat city, which means less natural water draining. If the city’s drainage areas become filled, many of the roads are designed to collect water.

Heavy rains fill up storm drains; the bayous overflow causing street flooding, which prevents people from going anywhere. Flash flooding kills more than 200 people in the U.S. each year, and the majority of the deaths come from Texas. Government Flood safety website reports that Texas is the state with the most flood/flash flood deaths in 36 years and 76 percent of them are vehicle-related.

Houston was founded on June 5, 1837. As a city that has been around for 180 years, we should have a better flood prevention plan in place by now. Yet, Houston is not prepared for hurricanes and floods to a high degree. Houston continues to come to a halt after a heavy rainstorm, which begs the question, should Houston take these floods more seriously? During a flood, the demand for Houston to fix this issue is high. However, the more time that passes since the last flooding occurrence, the more the urgency to fix the flooding system declines. Houston will continue to flood until these issues are addressed.

So, what is preventing Houston from fixing the drainage? Finances. The cost to upgrade Houston’s flooding system including buyouts, widening the bayous and utility rerouting, can be a hefty price. However, the city spends hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs to the city due to the lack of proper drainage. Many people believe there is nothing Houston can do about flooding but there is. Houston taxpayers will have to decide if flood prevention is an investment they want to make. After years of delay, the projects are beginning to start.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Tuner has initiated plans to slowly improve the flooding in the Houston area. This issue has been brought forth to the mayor’s office for many years because of the highly frustrated civilians that are affected. The city is set to take a $43 million loan from Texas Water Development board and give it to Harris County Flood Control District. The money is intended to help pay for bridge replacements and extensions along with channel widening in the Brays watershed. The mayor also has plans to upgrade multiple bayous with an estimated cost of $130 million in total. The entire plan is scheduled to be completed within five to seven years.

            On July 13, 2016, Houston official community leaders and engineers were brought together to discuss the flood issue. The meeting resulted in three proposed solutions:

1. Protect more prairie land in the suburbs.

Over the years, more than 750,000 acres of former rice fields in Katy have been built into 200,000 acres of homes, offices, and shops. Even tough it promotes growth in the Houston area, these prairies absorbed between 250,000 to 1 million gallons of rainwater.

2. Infrastructure improvements and better flood warning systems.

The city is creating problem areas that need fixing sooner rather than later. Steve Costello, former city council member for Houston and Houston’s “flood czar,” is working on a program that will issue a flood warning system, instead of just flood gauges.

3. Encourage individual homeowners to hold more rainwater on their property.

Developers are required to hold a percentage of rainwater in detention ponds within each residential community. One idea presented encouraged homeowners to replace their current grass to native Indian grasses that don’t need to be watered every day and can absorb greater amounts of rainwater.

We need to let our voices be heard about committing to these solutions and the future Houston flood prevention projects. Individuals can reach out to Houston’s Floodplain Manager about improving the roads. Houston should budget taxpayer’s money better, in order to fund the flooding projects that will best benefit the entire city and the surrounding areas. It seems like the answer lies in the hands of Houstonians. Rainfall is most common in the month of June, and with summer coming, people don’t want to be restricted by water flooding. Let your voice be heard and do your part in improving one of the best cities in America.

For those would like to stay up to date about what Harris County is doing about the flooding issue or for alerts, visit www.hcfcd.org. For those living in Galveston County, visit www.galvestoncountytx.gov. To contact the Houston’s mayor’s office about flood-related topics visit, fmo@houstontx.gov or call, (832) 394.8854.