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. |
Xiplomacy: Xi's vision on military cooperation for world peace, common developmentPresident Xi's Russia visit demonstrates a right path of stateChina poised for strong recovery in 2023, says Morgan Stanley economistCommentary: Democracy a tool for U.S. to keep hegemony, incite divisionFull Text: Report on the Work of the GovernmentMorale plunges amid setbacks as Myanmar’s junta looks for scapegoats — Radio Free AsiaPolar oppositesExecutor of O.J. Simpson's estate plans to fight payout to the families of Brown and GoldmanPolar oppositesCommentary: Why will Chinese economy "genetically" rebound?