The Case for Having Flood Insurance
Despite all of the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) projects, such as widening and deepening channels and excavating storm water detention basins, the risk of flooding cannot be eliminated. Therefore the HCFCD strongly encourages residents to become aware of their flooding risks and take the appropriate precautions, most especially having flood insurance no matter where they live.
The majority of the drainage infrastructure is not designed to handle extreme rainfall events. Our area's topography is very flat, with a slope toward Galveston Bay that is so gradual it is equivalent to placing dimes under two legs of a 6-foot pool table! As a result, when we receive extreme amounts of rain in a relatively short period of time, we will experience flooding. Flooding can occur from bayous and tributaries topping their banks or from storm water that ponds in streets, yards and houses as a result of the roadside ditches or street storm sewers becoming overwhelmed and unable to drain the storm water fast enough. Storm sewers and roadside ditches are only designed to handle about an inch to two inches of rain in an hour. When these amounts are exceeded, storm water can be expected to pond in the streets and roads. If it continues to rain the storm water runoff will sheet flow overland often times inundating houses.
Some residents may think that because they are not located in a 100-year floodplain on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Flood Insurance Rate Maps that they do not need flood insurance. While the maps show flooding risks from a bayou or stream topping its banks during certain theoretical storms, they do not show other types of flooding that occur in our area. The maps don’t show flooding that can occur from roadside ditches and underground storm sewers exceeding their capacity, which is typically the first type of flooding we experience during times of very heavy rain. Streets can fill up with water inundating parked cars and then homes long before nearby tributaries and bayous reach their capacity.
Some people may think that as they didn't flood during Tropical Storm Allison or Hurricane Harvey they never will. This could be a huge mistake. Obviously these storms didn’t distribute rain evenly over the county and next time we might not be so fortunate!
Others may think that as they have lived in their homes for more than 40 years and have never flooded that they don't need flood insurance. It is important to remember that this area has flooded for centuries, long before we ever settled here. We should not just look at one small snapshot of time to predict our flooding risks. Flooding is all about the rain: where it falls, how long it falls and how much falls. There are many areas in the county without an extensive flooding past but it only take a slight shift in the most intense part of a storm to change that. This is why the HCFCD encourages all residents not to count on recent history to predict their flooding risk.
HCFCD recommends that all Harris County residents have flood insurance, even if their home is not in a mapped floodplain and even if it is elevated to current standards above the 100-year floodplain. In a sense, all of Harris County is in a floodplain, and all of us are at risk for flooding to varying degrees. If you're not in a mapped floodplain, it doesn't mean you don't need flood insurance, it just means you get cheaper flood insurance. This insurance is a bargain. Take advantage of it!
