This interview will be an hour long conversation about your thoughts on:
- Flooding issues in the city of Houston,
- What effect you think Hurricane Harvey has had and will continue to have on future flood management efforts in the city, and
- The effectiveness of relocation as a flood mitigation strategy for Houston, TX.
I have a list of guiding questions to ensure we cover the topics of interests. For context, my research focuses on land use and city planning, urban growth management and natural hazards mitigation.
Damage to residential homes has become a predictable outcome of major flood events in dense urban areas as well as the subsequent desire to move or be moved out of harm’s way. Relocation, as a flood mitigation strategy, is often achieved through the federal buyout program administered in the U.S. post- disaster and directly engages vulnerable development patterns through the removal of damaged or at- risk structures, resulting in publicly-owned, undeveloped floodable spaces. However, buyouts do not engage the question of where new, safer development can occur.
Specifically, I am investigating the possibility of using property exchanges as a relocation mechanism that not only helps assist residents struggling move out of harm’s way and/or stay in a city but also guides development to less hazardous areas of a city (in regards to flooding). The exchanging of private and public property has been loosely documented within context of post-flood recovery here in the US and has the potential to retain residents, revitalize neighborhoods and contribute to growth management goals of a city.
The purpose of this interview is to document perspectives on relocation out of the flood-prone areas being coupled with changes in land use across a city such as Houston, TX and to uncover insights on the perceived feasibility of property exchanges used for hazard mitigation.
Demographics
- Do you live in Houston, TX?
- Zip Code:
- How long have you lived in your current neighborhood of Houston, TX?
- What other areas of Houston, TX have you lived in (ifapplicable)?
- Are you currently an owner or renter of your home?
- Have you ever suffered damages to your private property as a result of flooding?
- Do you work in Houston, TX?
- Zip Code:
- How long have you worked in Houston, TX?
- Does your work involve mitigating or managing flooding for the city of Houston or any part of it? This includes work that involves floodplain management, flood hazards mitigation, stormwater management and similar topics?
- Does your work involve academically researching flooding issues of the city of Houston or any part of it?
Let’s talk about your experiences with and perceptions of flooding in Houston.
- Could you tell me about the work you do related to flooding issues in Houston, TX?
- Any significant collaborations?
- Specific tasks assigned to you or your organization?
- How would you describe the frequency and/or intensity of flooding in the city in the last 5 to 10 years?
- Would you attribute that to climate change?
- How would you describe the distribution of flood damage across Houston from Harvey and/or other extreme events (e.g. Tax Day Floods, Memorial Day Floods, etc.)?
- What residential areas are more often affected?
- Do certain Houstonians bear the burden more than others?
- Do you feel flooding issues are a high priority in the city of Houston?
- Do you feel the growth and/or development of the city is responsive to current flooding issues? Are there concerns about depopulation (in certain areas or the city as a whole) as a result of flooding issues?
- How would you describe the relationship between sprawl and flood risk in Houston?
- How do flooding issues affect growth management goals for the city?
- What changes to flood management, if any, do you anticipate to come after the city has endured an event like Harvey?
- What strategies do you feel are best for existing homes in flood prone areas?
Property acquisition has been a strategy for flood mitigation for decades. It removes vulnerable homes from hazardous areas, reducing potential future flood losses. Post-disaster, federally funded “buyouts” are the most common type of acquisition in the US for relocating households from flood prone areas and restoring open space/floodplains.
Buyouts of flood risk or flood damaged households are typically supported by paying homeowners the pre- or post-disaster market value of their home. This process has raised concerns about affordability and availability of housing in surrounding areas, the breaking up of communities and loss of local populations. At the moment, it is unclear what role city planning plays in this process.
- What are your thoughts on moving or relocating existing homes out of the flood prone areas? Watch for references to floodplains.
- Do you think relocation is better for some areas of Houston versus others?
- Do you think relocation is better for certain households or certain situations versus others? What do you think limits relocation as a strategy for Houston, if anything?
- What is your impression of buyouts conducted in Houston, post-Harvey or otherwise?
- Have you ever heard of residents relocating to other parts of a city, in Houston or elsewhere, after having suffered flood damages?
- What assistance was provided, if any?
- Do you think it is possible for relocating households find another home in Houston?
- What parts of the city do you feel are viable to move to?
There have been a few documented cases of local areas utilizing vacant land or vacant housing that is already in public ownership and making it available as destinations for residents looking to relocate. These efforts were generally driven by local interest in retention of current residents as well as incentivizing relocation out of flood prone areas.
As an example, a land holding authority, such as a local redevelopment agency or community land trust could open up their residential portfolio to residents interested in moving out of harm’s way but who are in need of a more structured relocation process. If the resident finds a desirable property, then the redevelopment authority can take possession of the resident’s flood-prone property and the resident can move into the previously vacant property in an area already identified as of reduced flood risk.
This use of exchanges has the possibility to not only result in public ownership of floodable areas and the reduction of future flood losses (similar to the current buyout process) but also expand the options for flood-driven relocation. Such a process could aid residents who may not qualify for or who have not been chosen through the buyout process but are still interested in relocation or residents who resist relocation because they are unsure of where they may end up or are “holding out”. On a greater scale, this process could restore open space where it is most needed and revitalize, repopulate and/or densify other less hazardous areas of the city (from a flooding standpoint).
- How feasible do you think such a property exchange would be in Houston?
- How important do you think think having a destination could be in the relocation process?
- Do you think residents being offered another house or buildable land parcel in the city would make a difference in relocation efforts?
- How would you approach such an offer personally?
- Do you have any additional comments you would like to add?