Houston Chronicle By David Hunn, Matt Dempsey, and Mihir Zaveri 4/1/2018
Hurricane Harvey damaged more than 204,000 homes and apartment buildings in Harris County, almost three-quarters of them outside the federally regulated 100-year flood plain, leaving tens of thousands of homeowners uninsured and unprepared.
The new details come from the most extensive disclosure of flood data yet released by city and county officials. The numbers follow a pattern: More than 55 percent of the homes damaged during the Tax Day storm in 2016 sat outside the flood plain, as did more than one-third of those during the Memorial Day floods in 2015.
The findings raise questions about local government plans to prevent flooding that focus on tightening building codes inside the flood plain. They also cast further doubt on the accuracy of the maps used to identify housing most in danger of flooding.
“We really need to throw out the whole thing and re-do it, rethink it,†said Sam Brody, a Texas A&M University professor who has studied urban flooding extensively. “We just need to start again.â€
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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/In-Harvey-s-deluge-most-damaged-homes-were-12794820.php
