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. |
Can US cities fine homeless people for sleeping outside?Rennes routs Nantes 3Biden to announce U.S. military to build temporary port in Gaza for humanitarian aidCologne left contemplating Bundesliga relegation after home loss to lastThe Mets have placed catcher Francisco Alvarez on the injured list after a baserunning mishapFlorida cops arrest man for broad daylight, onSoaring cost of a cuppa is revealed: Global tea and coffee prices rise by up to 50 per centCologne left contemplating Bundesliga relegation after home loss to lastPolice to review claims Tory MP Mark Menzies allegedly misused £14,000 of party fundsClarifications and corrections