Harris County residents face increasing flood risks as hurricane season approaches, with only 30% of residents holding flood insurance coverage, according to Harris County Flood Control District officials.
“Our flood threat is for everybody. And just because you haven’t seen flooding or you don’t see flooding very often, it doesn’t mean you can’t in the future,” warns Jeff Lindner, meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District.
Gulf Coast Flooding Challenges
The region’s unique geography presents significant flooding challenges. “So we have about 2,000 miles now of drainage creeks, bayous and tributary infrastructure that carries the water out of Harris County. And if you look at our, what we were naturally given, Uh, we’re very flat here,” Lindner explains.
The area’s flat land, clay-based soil, and position by the Gulf create complex flooding scenarios. “When we start talking about the types of rains we get down here on the Gulf Coast to other places, it’s almost mind boggling to a lot of folks of how much water can fall from the sky here in a very short period of time. And that’s really the key to a of our flooding is how fast it rains,” Lindner says.
Houston Drainage System Infrastructure
“And so the creeks and the bayous are our primary drainage system that remove all of our stormwater to Galveston Bay, Houston Ship Channel, and eventually to Galveston Bay,” Lindner explains. “In addition to the natural creeks and the bayous that we were given, over time as development has happened and as the city has built outward, we have added additional drainage infrastructure to help carry that water.”
The system includes specialized retention facilities. “We also have stormwater, what we call stormwater tension basins... they’re holes that are dug in the ground. They can be anywhere from eight to, in some cases, 15, 20 feet deep that then drain into the creek and the bayou. So they fill up when we have rain. That water is temporarily stored in there.”
Recent Weather Impact Assessment
Recent severe weather tested these systems. “We had anywhere from one to as much as three inches of rain across Harris County.... We had a little bit of street flooding which is to be expected when we get those really heavy rain falls in a short period of time....for the most part, we were dry going into that we didn’t have any significant issues with our flood control infrastructure, our creeks, bayous, and the rivers.”
Houston Flood Protection Measures
While the Harris County Flood Control District creates, implements, and maintains projects focused on reducing flood damages, officials emphasize the importance of flood insurance. “There’s a lot of different factors around here that go into why someplace has flooding and why someplace doesn’t and why it happened this time and didn’t happen this time, and which is why we recommend everybody to have flood insurance, and you know I think that’s a that’s a really important key here. Only about 30% of the residents in Harris County have flood coverage. And flood insurance and you know homeowners insurance your homeowners insurance policy does not cover rising water or flood waters,” Lindner states.
Critical Safety Recommendations
Lindner offers specific safety guidance: “Not parking your vehicles on the street when we’re expecting heavy rainfall, because the streets are part of the drainage system. You know, can you get them up in a driveway? Can you move it to somewhere else that’s not as flood prone? Don’t drive into high water.”
The warning comes with sobering statistics about flood-related fatalities. “Most of our fatalities here in vehicles... They’re not with water coming into your house but they’re in vehicles and especially at underpasses.”
With hurricane season beginning in two days, officials stress the importance of immediate action on flood insurance, noting that policies take 30 days to go into effect. The message remains clear: flooding is something all residents must consider during this time of year, regardless of past experience.
