The government wants to buy their flood
HOUSTON (AP) — After the floodwaters earlier this month just about swallowed two of the six homes that 60-year-old Tom Madigan owns on the San Jacinto River, he didn’t think twice about whether to fix them. He hired people to help, and they got to work stripping the walls, pulling up flooring and throwing out water-logged furniture.
What Madigan didn’t know: The Harris County Flood Control District wants to buy his properties as part of an effort to get people out of dangerously flood-prone areas.
Back-to-back storms drenched southeast Texas in late April and early May, causing flash flooding and pushing rivers out of their banks and into low-lying neighborhoods. Officials across the region urged people in vulnerable areas to evacuate.
Like Madigan’s, some places that were inundated along the San Jacinto in Harris County have flooded repeatedly. And for nearly 30 years, the flood control district has been trying to clear out homes around the river by paying property owners to move, then returning the lots to nature.
Related articles
Candice Swanepoel stuns in a form
Candice Swanepoel looked incredible as she arrived at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival premiere2024-05-21Knife attack at China school injures dozens
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here2024-05-21Person in hospital after Dunedin house fire
File photo. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King2024-05-21Belgium probes Russian interference in EU elections
By Paul Kirby, BBC Newshe European elections will take place between 6 and 9 June 2024. Photo: AFP /2024-05-21Student fatally shot, suspect detained at Georgia's Kennesaw State University
ATLANTA (AP) — Officials at Georgia’s Kennesaw State University say a student was killed in a weeken2024-05-21Hundreds of lizards seized in Australia police bust
By Hannah Ritchie, BBC News, SydneyAustralian police seized a collection of live reptiles with an es2024-05-21
atest comment