![]() ![]() ![]() I believe choosing to rely on faulty information, driven by short-term financial concerns, will increase long-term risks for many Houstonians. This avoids requirements such as elevating houses and buying flood insurance. In just one example, officials in the city of Friendswood (part of greater Houston) are allowing some residents to rebuild their homes based on outdated flood risk maps that greatly underestimate the risk of future floods. After last year’s flooding, it would be logical to expect affected communities to rethink long-term hazard management and risk reduction. Harvey’s impacts in Houston provide an ideal case study for unsustainable human-environment interaction. The National Flood Insurance Program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), unintentionally encouraged intense development by offering coverage in flood-prone areas at below-cost rates. With no formal zoning or comprehensive plan, developers were allowed to turn virtually any land, including wetlands, into houses and shopping malls. Before Harvey, Houston was widely known as a model of unchecked urban development. It caused some US$125 billion in damages, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. Harvey dumped record-breaking rain and flooded hundreds of thousands of homes in and around Houston. One year ago, on August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey struck Texas – the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005. ![]()
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