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.
Amtrak train hits pickup truck in upstate New York, 3 dead including child
Koepka sets the stakes, and the menu, at PGA champions dinner at Churchill Downs
Iraq calls for ending UN assistance mission by end of 2025
Guatemalan court orders release of journalist jailed for nearly 2 years on money laundering charges
Mohammad Mokhber: Who is Iran’s acting president?
Indigenous consultant accuses NHL's Blackhawks of fraud, sexual harassment
#MeToo struggled to find traction in France. Then Judith Godrèche came forward
Angela Bassett looks red hot in bold plunging blazer and figure
Independent UN experts urge Yemen’s Houthis to free detained Baha'i followers
Dune: Prophecy official teaser is released as female