Houston Chronicle by Gabrielle Banks and Zach Despart 12/23/2019
How did Houston, counties escape blame for flooded homes in Addicks and Barker reservoirs?
A court ruling this month that the Army Corps of Engineers must compensate flooded residents and property owners upstream of two massive dams for losses during Hurricane Harvey could leave the federal government with a $1 billion bill to settle claims.
So how much will Harris and Fort Bend counties have to pay out, given that local officials approved construction of thousands of suburban homes and businesses on the edge of reservoirs that officials knew lacked the water storage capacity to withstand a major storm?
Not a penny.
The Corps — along with local officials and private engineers — had predicted the neighborhoods inside invisible “lakebeds†would take on water during heavy rainfall. Those worst-case scenarios played out. Now a judge has found the federal government liable in what was essentially a human-engineered disaster. Evidence showed that agency officials repeatedly declined to buy additional properties above the reservoirs that they knew could be inundated in extreme weather.
Although county officials permitted construction on former prairie and ranch lands, it was the Corps that operated the reservoirs, detained water during the deluge and directed it toward privately owned land during Harvey, inundating more than 10,000 properties.
In addition, Flood Insurance Rate Maps by the Federal Emergency Management Agency showed areas that would flood due only to rainfall. The maps did not reflect information about areas that were known to be subject to dam-induced flooding.
Many homes around Addicks and Barker remained dry after Harvey’s rainfall stopped, only to be swamped as the reservoirs filled beyond capacity. The federal judge found the Corps intentionally used upstream neighborhoods to store rising floodwater.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/How-did-Houston-counties-escape-blame-for-Harvey-14928293.php
