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. |
European Union questions TikTok on new app that pays users for watchingIsrael says it will retaliate against Iran, despite the risksGeorgia's parliament votes to approve soMassachusetts official warns AI systems subject to consumer protection, antiStock market today: Asian benchmarks are mixed while US seems committed to current ratesParents of Bobby Maher, 14, watched helplessly as medics tried to save their sonCBS will reChina's lowTom Hollander reveals how he considered letting himself go to become a 'fat actor' to get workJapan records a trade deficit for the third straight fiscal year despite recovering exports