Comment by S_A_P | Hacker News Reader

Comment by S_A_P | Hacker News Reader

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I also grew up in and still live near this area. I’ve seen the Barker Reservoir flood at least half a dozen times. When I first moved to Katy it didn’t cause much of a problem. It didn’t have a through road and only had a gun range in it. It is definitely insane to me that more study isn’t done as Houston and it’s suburban areas grow. Katy now effectively bleeds from west Houston to the next small town west(Fulshear) with all of that prairie and old rice land now covered by homes and businesses. My parents live on the far west side of Katy and their street didn’t even flood. My fathers rain gauge measured 38” of rain fall the weekend of Harvey. Something needs to be done to rectify the flooding in Houston.

That said I’ve a friend who now has been flooded 3 times in three years. He lives near Addicks Reservoir in bear creek. You have to stop rebuilding at some point.

"It is definitely insane to me that more study isn’t done as Houston and it’s suburban areas grow."

More study has been done, according to the article, but it's hard politically to tell people that they cannot build any more in the 500 sq. mi. drainage basin, again, according to the article.

I grew up between Highway 6 and Eldridge on West Little York. Those two reservoirs flooded both of those roads more times than I can count between I-10 and Clay Rd and Highway 6 south of I-10. I don't know how anyone who has lived in Houston for more than a few years does not know that by now.

That said, through the worst of floods, my childhood home never flooded. Harvey flooded it.

Yep sounds like what I witnessed. I didn’t mean to come off like I never saw flooding. Mostly roads, ditches and park floods. Which I didn’t see as much a risk as rarely a home would flood (to my knowledge). It was more just an inconvenience of living in that area. Again I didn’t understand the need of 20 ft mounds. The juxtaposition of all the development behind the dam and the heaviest of rains (pre Harvey) not creating much flooding in a relative sense is what never made sense to me.

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