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.
Justin Timberlake set to bring his The Forget Tomorrow World Tour to Australia in 2025
Xi Stresses Protection of People's Safety, Health
China Focus: China Holds Central Economic Work Conference to Plan for 2023
Book on Xi's Visits to People's Homes Published
Devout Christian doctor, 68, who punched dementia
Chinese Vice Premier Stresses Need to Ensure Smooth Transition of COVID
Xi's Article on Party's Traditions, Yan'an Spirit to Be Published
Xi Focus: Ringing in 2023, Xi Stresses Hard Work, Unity to Make Tomorrow's China a Better Place
Cruise worker 'murders newborn son on board ship': Shocked co
The government wants to buy their flood
Chinese Vice Premier Urges Efforts to Ensure Sound Start to New School Term