The Kinder Institute’s Urban Data Platform warehouses over 50 datasets related to Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath. These resources can help researchers, agencies and organizations work toward ways to prevent and withstand the worst effects of the storms to come.
Houston is still reckoning with the biggest lessons from Hurricane Harvey
When it hit five years ago this week, Hurricane Harvey was an unprecedented disaster: 68 people dead, 200,000 homes damaged or destroyed, a half-million cars wiped out, $125 billion in damage.
In ‘More City than Water,’ Houston tells its Hurricane Harvey story. Will we listen?
Flood survival stories are a Houston shibboleth, a test of membership. Make it through a devastating downpour, and you are one of us. And everyone who lived in the Houston area in August 2017 has a Hurricane Harvey story. For some, it was another entry in a collection of flood stories, depending on how long they lived here and where; for others, it was their first, a rude awakening to very real vulnerabilities.
After Hurricane Harvey, flood insurance created windfalls and fault lines for the middle class
Friendswood, a close-knit suburb southeast of Houston that routinely makes lists for being the “best place to raise a family,” also serves as a case study for how flaws in the federal approach to flood insurance and disaster recovery aid resulted in fractured outcomes even among similarly situated middle-class neighbors after Hurricane Harvey.
If it hopes to overcome future Harveys, Houston needs to double down on resilience and planning
A new book serves as a guide for how cities can best learn from one another to design systems and build ways to endure the worst climate shocks to come. This includes Houston’s experience—both for what to expect from a changing climate and how to respond. Its authors say Houston has done several things right, but they also worry that future disasters could outpace these efforts.
With new incentives, Harris County hopes to gain buy-in for buyouts
Climate change is propelling more extreme weather events, including more precipitation and flooding, which means the need for more strategies such as buyouts has never been more urgent. As a concept, buyouts are fairly straightforward: the government buys up properties to remove them out of harm’s way, reducing the risk of loss of life, the need for future flood repairs, insurance payouts and other costs.
Texas Flood Registry: Measuring the Long-Term Impacts of Major Storms
This webinar shares findings from the 2020 Texas Flood Registry Report, which provides an update on the health and housing impacts of Hurricane Harvey and other major storms.
A wider view: Where Houston stands as it recovers from Harvey and builds its resilience
What do trees, bike lanes, and billions in federal disaster aid have in common? They are some of the building blocks of Houston’s future—one that is safer, more equitable and better positioned to withstand future disasters. They’re also among the inventory of measures included in the Kinder Institute’s new Resilience and Recovery Tracker.
A new book, “In Too Deep” tells the story of Bayou Oaks, and its repetitive flooding, from the perspective of 36 mothers who are raising young children there. It follows the families across the course of more than a year, starting right after Hurricane Harvey flooded their homes, and tracking them across the recovery year and beyond as they work to restore their community for the third time in three years.
Floods vs. forever homes: What drove decisions to rebuild rather than relocate after Harvey?
After catastrophic floods—like those after Hurricane Harvey dumped several feet of rain on the Houston area four years ago—survivors generally have two options: rebuild, perhaps with the help of flood insurance or federal reimbursement programs, or relocate, perhaps by selling a damaged home or waiting for a government buyout program. A new study has found that the route people choose might have more to do with their pre-flood plans rather than the scale of the disaster itself. This has implications for how policies are designed to encourage resiliency and managed retreat.
How inequalities made Harvey recovery harder for many nonwhite Houstonians
When Stephen Klineberg was conducting the Kinder Houston Area Survey in February 2017, he asked Houston-area residents to name the biggest problem facing the region. At the time, only 1% of participants thought flooding and storms were the most important issue.
Greens Bayou Watershed analysis reveals strategies to increase resiliency from flooding
The Greens Bayou Watershed Analysis and Resiliency Planning effort, culminated in the publication of resiliency plans for four partner neighborhoods in the Greens Bayou Watershed: East Aldine, East Houston, Eastex Jensen and Greenspoint.
Measuring Flooding with the Houston Fire Department
Bob Stein and Rick Wilson conducted two studies about flooding and local knowledge/perspective.
Scalable and Robust Prototype of Sensor Network for Real-Time Street Level Flood Measurement
Gary Woods and team from the civil and environmental engineering department created low-cost flood sensors that were tested on Rice’s campus in spring 2019.
Galveston Bay Park Plan is only one way to protect Houston from flooding
A Q&A with Jim Blackburn, the co-director and primary spokesperson for Rice's SSPEED Center, reveals the importance of various flood protection systems.
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