Why does Houston flood so easily? (Austin: living in, vs., assess)

[texas7]

Originally Posted by stoneclaw

The last time Houston really had a rainfall like this (besides hurricane IKE) was tropical storm Allison 14 years ago. You can't tell me that's the norm for this city. I remember when Ike occurred and 288 was underwater. I kid you not, it was back to normal by that evening.

Ike wasn't considered a heavy rain hurricane. It rained but it moved through. These rains are those lingering type more like Allison where it just hangs over us on already saturated ground. Ike blew through very fast and didn't even flood all the usual areas inside the loop. Most hurt by Ike were coastal areas and more wind damage in Houston than water.

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by bmd69

Rather live in the Northeast!

Houses are still there after the snow.

Good luck there

The ne has taken more tropical storm/hurricanes the last few years than we have

[Waytoodeep03]

Originally Posted by Bobdreamz

Difference is flooding in South Florida doesn't last for days or damage homes! That only happens in hurricanes. South Florida has a excellent system of canals to drain off the daily torrential thunderstorms during the summer. Houston doesn't and I would say that has more to do with your conservative State Government not wanting to "waste" money on infrastructure spending.

They would rather put up another business to put cash in their pockets than put a retention pond to help the needs of the many trying to get to work.

The entire infastructure of Houston is screwed up

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by Bobdreamz

Difference is flooding in South Florida doesn't last for days or damage homes! That only happens in hurricanes. South Florida has a excellent system of canals to drain off the daily torrential thunderstorms during the summer. Houston doesn't and I would say that has more to do with your conservative State Government not wanting to "waste" money on infrastructure spending.

Originally Posted by Waytoodeep03

They would rather put up another business to put cash in their pockets than put a retention pond to help the needs of the many trying to get to work.

The entire infastructure of Houston is screwed up

Do either of you believe the state should be in charge of local drainage issues?

[Yn0hTnA]

Originally Posted by Bobdreamz

Difference is flooding in South Florida doesn't last for days or damage homes! That only happens in hurricanes. South Florida has a excellent system of canals to drain off the daily torrential thunderstorms during the summer. Houston doesn't and I would say that has more to do with your conservative State Government not wanting to "waste" money on infrastructure spending.

This flooding event in Houston did not last for "days;" the water in a lot of places was gone right by the afternoon. The homes in and of themselves were never really damaged at all either.

[land161]

Why is Florida even mentioned in this?

[cBach]

Originally Posted by land161

Why is Florida even mentioned in this?

Because it has severe hurricanes and daily thunderstorms, it is a fair comparison.

However, there are several important differences. The soil is clay in Houston, limestone in Florida so Florida drains better. Also, they don't put underground parking garages in Florida. I'm not sure why they did that for the Galleria. If you do such a thing, you better have incredible pumps.

[NTT]

Originally Posted by Sunderpig2

...It's why gardeners have to use "loose" soil from elsewhere, because water doesn't easily go through the dense, gummy gumbo.

This is sort off the topic but since we've been talking about Houston's soil which is mostly clay, here's a good tip for gardening.

Clay is actually good soil for plants. It holds nutrient well for plants. As everyone already mentioned, clay won't absorb water. An inexpensive way for gardening with clay soil is to mix it with hummus or a combination of humus & compost. A 50/50 mixture should work fine (50% clay + 50% humus/compost).

I normally buy whatever is on sale or least expensive, usually around $2.00 for a 40 lb. bag at Lowe's. I haven't lost any plant/trees using the above mixture.

[Dopo]

All I'm asking is for the highways to not flood

[TexasTony]

I was happy to see most of the streets drain so quickly within a day or two so the real question for me is why does Houston streets drain so quickly..