HOUSTON – Heavy rain brought some floodings to areas of Houston on Wednesday.
One community that has been prone to flooding in the past is Meyerland, in Southwest Houston.
This past January, the Meyergrove Stormwater Detention Basin project was completed for flood control in the area.
Michael and Freda Wadler have dealt with flooding at their Meyerland house three times before: the 2015 Memorial Day flood, the 2016 Tax Day flood and Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
“Whenever there’s a storm that’s brewing in the Gulf, we get very anxious,” said Michael Wadler. “You’re checking the weather constantly as it’s approaching. You won’t sleep well and it’s just hard to focus.”
The Wadlers said they’ve had to renovate their house each time it flooded and in 2017, they lost everything.
“There was only thing really that was of note, which was our wedding album, that I made a special effort to place it on a very high shelf and that was saved,” said Michael Wadler.
The Wadlers moved to their house 30 years ago and were drawn to the neighborhood because of a Jewish synagogue in the area.
“This house had never flooded," said Michael Wadler. “As traditional Jews you don’t drive on the Sabbath, so you have to be within walking distance of your synagogue."
Many of the people who live in Meyerland are also Jewish and have not left the neighborhood because of the synagogue.
The Wadlers said while they’ve considered moving before, the tight knit community keeps them here.
“We’ve thought about it, but we like the proximity of the convenience of the neighborhood and our dearest friends live here,” said Freda Wadler. “It’s hard to just pick up and go."
From 2015 to 2018, the Wadlers said their flood insurance went up from a couple hundred dollars a year to 10 thousand dollars a year.
“My first thought is that our house is unsellable," said Michael Wadler.
Now they’re hoping to complete an elevation project, which was funded by the government, on their house to reduce flood risk even more.
“Our house is going to be lifted 6.15 feet. It’s in the process of getting funded and the contract is approved,” said Michael Wadler. “We were hopeful it would happen before hurricane season. But it doesn’t look like it is.”
The Wadlers said since Harvey, their house hasn’t experienced major flooding and projects like the widening of the Bayou have helped.
