Admiral Rockwell Tory
Diamond Member
- Nov 1, 2015
- 59,924
- 14,758
Houston has an elevation of 80 feet. That noise you just heard was your argument flying out the window in a Cat 5 hurricane!
Houston also has almost no drainage. It's built on clay that absorbs very little water, it's a different kind of problem than New Orleans, but still a serious problem as 3 major flood events have indicated.
I live not too far from the Ohio River. It floods every year. Should we move the cities along it back onto the high ground?
No. I think you are misunderstanding me (deliberately?) - you can't alter entire cities. But you can alter portions. If an area repeatedly suffers damaging flooding, is on a floodplain - should you continue to allow rebuilding?
Options are - relocate neighborhood.
Rebuild with the notice that should it flood again there will be no government help.
Rebuild mandating a HIGHER standard in order to withstand flooding.
I think the decision depends on the area.
What would you do?
I am taking you literally. It forces you to backpedal just like you are doing in this post.
Also, you need to look at the definition of flood plain. You don't have it quite right.
I'm not backpedaling. I've never proposed moving entire cities - it's simply not feasible.
But YOU are avoiding my question where as I've proposed some thoughts on it.
What would you do?
Why is Houston so prone to major flooding?
Houston is barely above sea level. Downtown is only about 50 feet above sea level, and there's only about a four-foot change between the highest and lowest parts of downtown. That means when rain falls, it has nowhere to go, and takes a long time to drain out.
Some of the southern suburbs are even lower...at 40 feet above sea level. The highest point in the city, in the northwest suburbs is only 128 feet above sea level.
Once the bayous flood, the freeway system functions as a de-facto secondary flood control system, even though it isn't supposed to. New freeways are built to handle 100-year floods, but we've already exceeded the conditions that define a 100-year flood at in many spots with the flooding from Harvey.
Once the water overtops the freeways, you get to the residential streets which are recessed in a bit as a final small flood control measure. As soon as the water gets above that and onto the sidewalks, homes start flooding.
Some experts also point to Houston's big building boom as a potential factor, in exacerbating the problem Development decreased the amount of wetlands in the city by almost 50 percent over the last 25 years.
All that hard, impermeable pavement means there's less land to soak up rainfall after a major storm.
Combine all that with the fact Houston is only about 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. That puts it right in the path of slow-moving storms that can generate massive amounts of rainfall.
In fact, the number of downpours measuring at least 10 inches have doubled over the last 30 years.
So, when a slow-moving storm like Hurricane Harvey hits the city, flooding can be intense — more intense than ever.
Houston's Buffalo Bayou reached a record 69-foot crest in one area Sunday.
In general, one inch of rain equals about a foot rise in river levels. With at least six inches still possible in Houston on Monday, the Buffalo Bayou could rise another six feet.
Houston is 80 feet above sea level.
Why spend millions to correct a problem that may never occur again in our lifetime?