Following a new analysis that examined the damage and flood impacts of Hurricane Harvey, Houston’s Dept. of Public Works is recommending that all new structures in the city’s 100- and 500-year floodplains be elevated to 2 ft above the 500-year flood elevation to avoid such damage in the future.

If approved, the new regulations would go into effect Sept. 1.

该报告于3月份发布，指出，目前要求在100年洪泛区中建筑物的洪泛区法规高于100年洪水高度的1英尺，尚未有效。根据研究，在符合该市的100年洪泛区条例的房屋中，有38％的房屋洪水泛滥。该市仅对500年的洪泛区进行规范，其中33％的房屋被洪水淹没。该部建议将法规扩展到500年的洪泛区。

Houston Public Works’ analysis found that 19% of the structures located in areas outside the floodplains, including single-family and multifamily homes and commercial buildings, also flooded.

If all of Houston’s homes had been built to 2 ft above the 500-year flood elevation, 84% of the homes that flooded during Hurricane Harvey would have been spared, the agency found.

新利18备用官网登录分析显示，将新结构提升到新水平的成本可能在每个结构$ 11,000至32,000美元之间。拟议的更改将基于FEMA洪泛区图。哈里斯县目前的地图可以追溯到2007年，并定期逐步更新。全县的重塑已经开始，但将需要几年的时间。

In a related move, city of Houston Chief Resilience Officer Stephen Costello presented 13 flood relief projects to the city council on March 21 that will compete for $500 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) relief funding. The projects would cost more than $700 million and include work such as the addition of flood gates at Lake Houston. Officials are also considering a major project that would require drilling huge tunnels under the city to drain stormwater. Black & Veatch opened a tunneling center in Houston and have been pushing tunnels as a partial solution to flooding. County commissioners were expected to vote on proceeding with a feasibility study on March 27.