Moseley said he has personally had six or seven transactions related to Harvey, which ranged from flood victims selling their homes to flood victims buying replacement homes-some of which are still in the flood plain. Some homeowners whose homes repeatedly flood have chosen to put their homes on the market and buy homes elsewhere, said Jack Moseley, a realtor with RE/MAX Hometown who works in River Plantation. The county is also considering raising residential building requirements from 12 inches to 18 or 24 inches above the base elevation, Mooney said.Īfter the study is conducted, the county’s engineering office intends to make a proposal to Commissioners Court in the next year that will affect future residential developments, Mooney said. “It’s the homes that are repeatedly flooding that were built before there was a flood insurance rate map that are the concern.”ĭuring the March 20 Commissioners Court meeting, Mooney recommended commissioners consider denying septic system variances that allow for homes to be built within the 100-year flood plain in light of Harvey. “Homes built a foot above the 100-year flood plain are typically not problematic homes,” Mooney said. However, homebuilders likely had no idea they were building homes in flood-prone areas, let alone a floodway, because Montgomery County did not have a flood insurance rate map-or flood plain map-until 1984 after it joined the National Flood Insurance Program, Mooney said.Ĭurrently, residential developers in Montgomery County are required to build 1 foot above the base 100-year flood plain elevation, Mooney said. Subdivisions near the San Jacinto River, such as River Plantation, Riverbrook Forest, Sherbrook, Magnolia Bend, Oak Forest, Whispering Oaks and Hickory Ridge repeatedly flood because many homes are located directly in the floodway and 100-year flood plain of the West Fork of the San Jacinto River, Mooney said.Īccording to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a floodway is the channel of a river and the adjacent land areas reserved for the overflow of water during a rainfall event the 100-year flood plain refers to an area where a flooding event has a. “The houses we bought in ’94 that’s 330 houses that didn’t flood during Harvey or Tax Day or Memorial Day. “The focus needs to be on eliminating those homes in the flood plain and getting those people into a safer area,” Mooney said. Montgomery County Engineer Mark Mooney said he does not believe flood mitigation projects alone would prevent future flooding in specific homes. This has led county officials to discuss the need for home buyouts to demolish the homes that experience repetitive flooding damage as well as assessing county regulations to protect future developments from flooding. The report showed numerous homes in the River Plantation, Riverbrook Forest, Sherbrook, Magnolia Bend, Oakforest, Whispering Oaks and Hickory Ridge subdivisions have flooded repeatedly during various continuous rainfall events. Now, local officials are considering projects and ordinances to address flooding concerns.Ī study conducted after Harvey by private consulting group Tetra Tech for the Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management tracked the effects of four major rainfall events in Montgomery County’s history: Harvey, Memorial Day in May 2016, Tax Day in April 2016 and the October 1994 flood after Hurricane Rosa. A lot of those homeowners had no flood insurance because they never had to worry about before.”įor Conroe-area subdivisions along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River, like River Plantation, Harvey was not the first flooding event to tear through their communities. “But in Harvey, we had homes that actually flooded, many of which had never flooded before. “Unfortunately, 100-137 homes flood when there is torrential rains, and some of these homes have flooded seven and eight times,” Goodman said. Some homes were swept off their foundations and others received 12-14 feet of water, Goodman said. Yet, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey-as dilapidated homes with tilting mailboxes mark street corners and rubble piles collect in front lawns-it is hard to differentiate River Plantation’s homes along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River. The south Conroe neighborhood stands out because not one of its 1,400 houses was built the same way, Goodman said. Built in the 1960s, River Plantation has a certain charm-with its red wooden bridge at the entry and golf course in the center-that has encouraged generations of families to remain in the community, said Jamie Goodman, president of the homeowners association for River Plantation.
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