Recent floods in Texas, especially prevalent in Houston, reflect a stormwater infrastructure that both worked as it's designed and is in need of improvements.
"Like a lot of residents of the Houston area, local highway officials just had to let water do its thing when it came to clearing some local highways during recent rains," according to an article by Dug Begley.
Begley quotes Karen Othon, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Houston office, directly in explaining last week's massive flooding across Texas: "With the detention ponds and bayous full, there was nowhere for the water to go."
"After the waters receded, transportation officials said they believed that inlets and pumps that keep freeways from flooding worked, except in certain flood-prone spots that had not undergone significant repairs. However, the heavy rains were a little more than the systems could handle."
The flooding, as innocent as these explanations makes it seem, wreaked havoc on commutes and property left inundated as the rains fell and the region's stormwater infrastructure struggled to keep up. As explained in the article, however, the top priority for the region's infrastructure is to keep homes clear of the flooding—not roadways. Othon also told Begley that planned highway improvements underway by the TxDOT will correct many of the problem flooding encountered in recent storms.
FULL STORY: Road flooding a reality in heavy Houston rains
How US Communities Are Building Resilience Against Flooding
Flooding causes over $400 billion in damage in the United States every year.
Chicago to Update Stormwater Plan
Chicago is one of 700 U.S. cities with combined sewer and stormwater systems that often lead to flooding during major rain events.
Planning for Future Floods
New climate and flood models are needed to understand growing flood risks.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
Can We Please Give Communities the Design They Deserve?
Often an afterthought, graphic design impacts everything from how we navigate a city to how we feel about it. One designer argues: the people deserve better.
Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?
With over a trillion dollars spent on roads that are still falling apart, advocates propose a new “fix it first” framework.
The European Cities That Love E-Scooters — And Those That Don’t
Where they're working, where they're banned, and where they're just as annoying the tourists that use them.
Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)