Houston Council Passes Rule Requiring Flood Ins, 2-Ft Elevation For New Homes In 500-Year Flood Zone
More than seven months after Hurricane Harvey’s destructive floods damaged hundreds of thousands of homes across a wide swath of southeast Texas, the Houston City Council on Wednesday approved the first overhaul to floodplain regulations in a decade.
Originally proposed by Mayor Sylvester Turner in late January, the new regulations, which passed in a 9-7 vote and take effect Sept. 1, are meant to reduce future damage in the flood-prone city.
Currently, homeowners in the 100-year floodplain are required to have flood insurance and build new homes 1 foot above the floodplain. Turner’s proposal will increase that to 2 feet and expand it to homes in the 500-year floodplain. The ordinance covers new construction and any existing home that’s expanded by 33 percent or more — existing homes are grandfathered and don’t have to be elevated.
It is the first significant regulation the city has enacted in response to the historic flooding that crippled the sprawling metropolis last August. It also comes after an extensive Texas Tribune/ProPublica investigation into the city's extreme vulnerability to flooding.
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https://www.texastribune.org/2018/04/04/houston-city-council-approves-changes-floodplain-regulations-narrow-vo/