flooding

From Texas Standard:

Since Hurricane Harvey, questions have been raised about why so many homes and businesses flooded in the first place. Now a peer-reviewed study in the journal, Environmental Research Letters suggests one possible answer: because the federal flood maps people have been relying on are wrong.  

From Texas Standard:

Sixty years ago, the Texas Water Development Board was tasked to learn about or manage everything being done across the state to meet our water needs. It was the dawn of an era of planning for water shortages.  

From Texas Standard:

A full account of the lessons learned from Hurricane Harvey is still being tallied. But at least one thing is certain: planners will have to rethink the concrete bones upon which Houston is built. And not just Houston, but any coastal city at risk of serious flooding.

For so long, the main strategy of such a metropolis has been to fight against incoming water with pavement and pumps. It appears the latest thinking on the subject flips things around – embrace the water, don’t just repel it.

Scientists have produced a preliminary map of the flooding in Houston from Tropical Storm Harvey.

The map doesn't yet represent all the flooded areas, and for technical reasons, it likely understates the extent of flooding. But even this early analysis shows that flooding from Harvey extended well beyond the traditional flood plains mapped out by the federal government.