HOUSTON (AP) ‐ The Latest on the aftermath of Harvey
A report released two decades ago about the Harris County reservoir system predicted with alarming accuracy the catastrophic flooding that would besiege the Houston area if changes weren’t made in the face of rapid development.
The report released in 1996 by engineers with the Harris County Flood Control District says the Addicks and Barker reservoirs were adequate when built in the 1940s.
But it notes that as entire neighborhoods sprouted over the years around the reservoirs in western Harris County, as many as 25,000 homes and businesses at the time were exposed to the kind of flooding Harvey has now brought.
Engineers proposed in the report, obtained by The Dallas Morning News , a $400 million solution that involved building a massive underground conduit that would more quickly carry water out of the reservoirs and into the Houston Ship Channel.
Arthur Storey, who in 1996 was director of the flood control district, says he’s embarrassed that he "was not smart enough, bold enough to fight the system" and implement an action plan to prevent the damages of Harvey from occurring. |