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.
Sweden beats France, Britain relegated after losing to Norway at hockey worlds
Belarus claims it prevented drone attacks from Lithuania. Vilnius rejects the allegations
Years after National Enquirer's Trump deal, the tabloid is limping badly
Turkish rail officials jailed for more than 108 years for crash that left 25 dead
Everybody may love Raymond, but Ray Romano loves Peter Boyle
A US citizen facing drug charges in Russia appears in court. His case was adjourned until mid
Ford's 1Q net income falls 24% as combustion engine unit sees sales and revenue decline
F2 champion Theo Pourchaire gets another IndyCar race with McLaren as Malukas continues to heal
Four people killed in a house explosion in southwestern Missouri
Columbia's president, no stranger to complex challenges, walks tightrope on student protests
Ohio judge to rule Monday on whether the state’s abortion ban stands
Jeff Bezos's glamorous fiancée Lauren Sanchez is unrecognizable in never