Over many years, officials in Houston and Harris County have resisted calls for more stringent building codes. City residents have voted three times not to enact a zoning code, most recently in 1993. In previous public comments, the leaders of the Harris County Flood Control District have rejected the idea that the city’s growth is responsible for massive flooding. Harris County has received about $3 billion from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for losses in the past four decades, federal data show. Harris County had an even bigger bump over that time, 42 percent, and now has 4.4 million residents.

Source: Washington Post August 30, 2017 00:39 UTC