Articles tagged: flooding
Underwater
Colonias on the Texas-Mexico border are hit hard even by small storms. For a local nonprofit, the solution lies in affordable, sustainable housing. But how do you rebuild in an area that keeps flooding?
Under Water Colonias on the Texas-Mexico border are hit hard even by small storms. For a local nonprofit, the solution lies in affordable, sustainable housing. ...Read More
Floodplain Maps Are Outdated. This Scientist Wants to Change That.
More than half of FEMA’s flood maps rely on decades-old data. Now, a group of Texas researchers is tackling the problem with a $3 million grant and crowdsourced data.
Talk to any scientist long enough, and eventually they’ll bring up an old aphorism: all models are wrong, but some are useful. Even with better data, and more...Read More
Customs and Border Protection Wants To Know What You Think About The Wall
A new "request for input" reveals the agency already knows its proposed path lies directly in the floodplain of the Rio Grande.
In late June, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed the location of 95 miles of Trump’s new border wall in the Rio Grande Valley. Some stretches of the...Read More
Can a $2.5 Billion Bond Deal Fix Harris County’s Inequitable Flood Control?
The uneven patchwork of drainage infrastructure in Harris County means that some of Houston’s poorest neighborhoods are still waiting for basic flood protections.
When Raul bought his home in 1999, he had no way of knowing that just two years later, Tropical Storm Allison, as it inundated Houston with more than 30 inches ...Read More
If a Glacier Melts in the Arctic, the Texas Coast Feels It
A Q&A with the two Rice University anthropologists who will dedicate the world’s first memorial to a glacier lost to climate change.
One of the many casualties of unchecked climate change is Arctic ice. Each year, the ice seasonally melts, but it has recently been receding faster in the summe...Read More
The Flood Next Time
In the floodplain of the Rio Grande, Trump's wall threatens to inundate communities on both sides of the border.
Donald Trump plans to build his border wall in the Rio Grande floodplain. What could go wrong? Well, everything. – by Gus Bova May 6, 2019 In July 200...Read More
The Strange, Record-Setting Weather Extremes Texans Faced in 2018
Scientists predict temperatures, seasonal extremes and flooding will continue to intensify if carbon emissions aren’t immediately reduced.
In 2018, natural disasters touched nearly every part of the country. Hurricanes Michael and Florence hit the East Coast, killing at least 89 people and causing ...Read More
Heads in the Mud
A year after Hurricane Harvey, what has the Bayou City learned?
“The people of Houston and their officials will have to decide whether they are building a great city or merely a great population.” These words, from a 192...Read More