TXTransplant said:
Rustys-Beef-o-Reeno said:
My home flooded
Never flooded before
I'm assuming that is the same with thousands of homes in houston
The suburbs have to be careful, too. The west side of my subdivision in The Woodlands is the "fancy" side, because a) the houses are newer and b) more of it backs up to the George Mitchell nature preserve. It's not unusual for those houses to go for up to $200/sq ft, where as those on my side are lucky to get $150 (several neighbors sold earlier this summer for $135-ish). With few exceptions, these are mass-produced builder-grade homes (Village, David Weekley, Coventry, Darling, etc.) - nothing custom or even super fancy.
The expensive homes over there almost took on water in the May 2016 flood but dodged a bullet. They all had water yesterday.
My side is high and dry and was never threatened. None of the houses are in a flood plain that requires flood insurance, but I've had it since I moved in over 4 years ago.
The sad thing is, we have high turnover in this neighborhood. Probably 30% of the houses in my mini-'hood have turned over at least once, and everything was built in 2012. As people leave, we lose that history and people forget about the risk.
In a catastrophic situation, you set aside the p/sf humble brag. Also because Woodlanders are often tied to the airport proximity over a regional education (ok by me)....
In ITL Houston, $400/sf is common for comparable dirt
and worth every penny. You actually said "the suburbs have to be careful, too"! After the tally, compare ITL between Westheimer and Holcombe, loop and dtown to most exurbs. Harvey is the worst -I hate this- but it is an
equal opportunity flood....rare. The point often missed is that HOUSTONIANS often dodged MASSIVE floods 150 years ago (and never quit). Every flood, another tweak. The sad truth is that almost every exurb is only 30 or so years old.
You are actually part of an experiment devised by our developer Gods. And I guarantee that wasn't part of the sales pitch. In NOLA, it's the French Quarter that survives.
In greater Houston.... I don't mean to offend anyone, but
ITL is way ahead -even with a massive human density disadvantage-of everywhere else in the region. Forty years of interest in this subject, flood after flood...that's me, but over 150 years of work to protect.....where? You know where. T&P, don't care where you are now, stay safe, my heart is breaking for everybody. My hometown is suffering.
Ask your developer-gods, county and city officials why.
There needs to be accountability, and FINALLY, accountability. Google "Jim Blackburn"....he's been trying to
point out the obvious for 30 years...many more folks. It's time to stop short-term hit and run greed. No?
