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. |
Ramos homers, Hicks earns 4th win as Giants beat Rockies 4Emma Raducanu withdraws from French Open qualifying to focus on grass seasonI'm a farmer... here is what Clarkson's Farm gets WRONG and right3 dead, 3 wounded in early morning shooting in Ohio's capitalRangers slugger Adolis García scratched from starting lineup with forearm sorenessThe Senate filibuster is a hurdle to any national abortion bill. Democrats are campaigning on itCaicedo scores from halfway as Chelsea ends Premier League season with fifth straight winLate crash knocks Nolan Siegel out of Indianapolis 500, keeps Ericsson and Rahal in starting fieldTens of thousands protest against Mexico's president in the main square of Mexico CityXander Schauffele wins first major at PGA Championship in a thriller at Valhalla