When a massive natural disaster strikes, the ripple effects often linger and residents and businesses have to endure the aftermath long after the storm.
Harvey’s Incessant Impact
When Hurricane Harvey hit Texas last August, the Category 4 storm came with record rainfall. At its peak, one-third of Houston was underwater. Flooding forced people out of their homes, health care companies had to relocate patients from hospitals, and businesses quickly shut down. Even if they were located outside of the flood zone, companies large and small had to contend with displaced employees who missed work to tend to their damaged homes. Less than a year after the devastating storm, many small businesses in Houston haven’t reopened their doors and don’t plan to. FEMA estimates that as many as 40 percent of small businesses never recover and reopen after a disaster.
Withstanding the Storm
Large corporations typically fare far better after a disaster. After some supply chain disruption in the gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel industries, it was soon business as usual for Fortune 500 companies in Houston. To help their community rebuild, corporations in Houston, along with corporate donors across the nation, donated resources in excess of $225 million.
Just weeks after the storm, as the community was still addressing the devastating losses, economists were optimistic about growth in Texas, after a short period of weakness following Harvey. The strong Texas economy is diversified and the population has grown by over five million people in just over a decade. Houston is a flood prone city, but it also has a legacy in many industries including energy and manufacturing, and a competitive edge with moderate housing costs.
Build Even Higher
Houston has a population of 2.3 million people, who are acutely aware of the risk of a destructive storm. Nearly one third of the region’s homes are in a flood zone and more than 200,000 homes were damaged during Harvey. Last month, the Houston City Council approved a proposal to overhaul its residential floodplain regulations, which haven’t changed in a decade.
The current regulations are for new homes in the 100-year floodplain only, which have a one percent probability of flood on any given year. They’re required to have flood insurance and to be built one foot above the floodplain. The new regulations expand to new home builds in slightly higher elevations, within the city’s 500-year floodplain, which have a 1 in 500 chance of flooding. Those homes must be built two feet above the floodplain, effective September 1.
But, Houston homebuilders aren’t slowing down. It’s the number two market in the country for new home builds, following Dallas. In the past year, Houston builders started construction on 27,675 homes, an increase of 7.5 percent from the previous year. And, even before new regulations, many have already built higher because homebuyers demand it.
