As I’ve said in previous posts, the majority of locals in Houston know to carry flood coverage, and there is a segment of locals who genuinely feel they are elevated enough to not carry flood coverage, and they know they are taking a risk.
The larger issue is the number of people moving to Houston. Houston is known as a city with a higher influx of people coming to live in our city. These people are not fully aware of the challenges and the risks of purchasing a home next to a bayou. They look at a bayou, and think it’s a man-made lake or part of amenities because that’s what their realtor will tell them.
Realtors are taking advantage of the lack of knowledge of these newcomers to off-load homes with higher flood risk and still make bank on their commission. What happens after they sell the home doesn’t concern them.
I’ve had two customers who were locked into buying homes that were in high-risk flood zones. They were just moving to Houston, and the realtors never explained that these homes were located in an AE flood zone. As their agent, I had to be the one to tell them about the risk and the insurance costs to cover this risk. Both clients ended up losing their deposit and backing out of the purchase once they were informed.
It’s not worth hiring a realtor if the realtor is going to take advantage of you because you don’t know the area you’re moving too. I recommend getting referrals from honest realtors and making sure you partner with your insurance agent, who may know more about the risks than the average realtor.
I think the most interesting part of this article was that scientists saw this coming a mile away, and like most of the political sheep, the rest of us are sticking our heads in the sand saying, “Oh, that will never happen! It’s impossible to have 50 inches of rain. Stupid scientists don’t know what they are taking about.”
Will we ever learn to listen before the catastrophe?…
“ He (Local Official Herbert) said he still considers it a ‘unique event’ and doesn’t think it’s likely those homes will flood again any time soon.”
Probably not. Anyone want to bet on another flooding event in 2018?
The statement from Herbert is idiotic. If it happened once, it can happen again and no one can say with certainty or authority that it’s unlikely to happen soon. Especially when making statements about weather. Here’s my prediction – If/when they build a 3rd reservoir, this will create another vulnerable area just like the first two did.
Google Earth now has satellite pictures from shortly after Harvey and you can see the flooding. If you look at this area, it is plain to see the reservoirs. The further west you go, perhaps there are some areas where it was reasonable to think the water would not reach them, but many of the homes that flooded are very close to the dams. In fact, the “Lakes on Eldridge” community noted in the article has some homes within 250 yards of the dam. And the people there did not know???
There are many people and entities to blame for this situation, but all the people had to do that were buying homes was to look at maps, drive around the area, or look at Google Earth to understand the risk they were taking.
The Army Corps of Engineers and the Harris County Flood Control has been warning that areas around the Cinco Ranch Subdivision was apt to flood if one bearm broke. Guess what? One broke! How many had flood insurance?
It is reported less than 20%. Selling flood insurance is like leading a horse to water. You cant force the horse to drink and you can force homeowners to buy flood insurance.
No one warned them? How about the giant dam your house is located inside of? All common sense is gone.
As I’ve said in previous posts, the majority of locals in Houston know to carry flood coverage, and there is a segment of locals who genuinely feel they are elevated enough to not carry flood coverage, and they know they are taking a risk.
The larger issue is the number of people moving to Houston. Houston is known as a city with a higher influx of people coming to live in our city. These people are not fully aware of the challenges and the risks of purchasing a home next to a bayou. They look at a bayou, and think it’s a man-made lake or part of amenities because that’s what their realtor will tell them.
Realtors are taking advantage of the lack of knowledge of these newcomers to off-load homes with higher flood risk and still make bank on their commission. What happens after they sell the home doesn’t concern them.
I’ve had two customers who were locked into buying homes that were in high-risk flood zones. They were just moving to Houston, and the realtors never explained that these homes were located in an AE flood zone. As their agent, I had to be the one to tell them about the risk and the insurance costs to cover this risk. Both clients ended up losing their deposit and backing out of the purchase once they were informed.
It’s not worth hiring a realtor if the realtor is going to take advantage of you because you don’t know the area you’re moving too. I recommend getting referrals from honest realtors and making sure you partner with your insurance agent, who may know more about the risks than the average realtor.
I think the most interesting part of this article was that scientists saw this coming a mile away, and like most of the political sheep, the rest of us are sticking our heads in the sand saying, “Oh, that will never happen! It’s impossible to have 50 inches of rain. Stupid scientists don’t know what they are taking about.”
Will we ever learn to listen before the catastrophe?…
“ He (Local Official Herbert) said he still considers it a ‘unique event’ and doesn’t think it’s likely those homes will flood again any time soon.”
Probably not. Anyone want to bet on another flooding event in 2018?
The statement from Herbert is idiotic. If it happened once, it can happen again and no one can say with certainty or authority that it’s unlikely to happen soon. Especially when making statements about weather. Here’s my prediction – If/when they build a 3rd reservoir, this will create another vulnerable area just like the first two did.
Google Earth now has satellite pictures from shortly after Harvey and you can see the flooding. If you look at this area, it is plain to see the reservoirs. The further west you go, perhaps there are some areas where it was reasonable to think the water would not reach them, but many of the homes that flooded are very close to the dams. In fact, the “Lakes on Eldridge” community noted in the article has some homes within 250 yards of the dam. And the people there did not know???
There are many people and entities to blame for this situation, but all the people had to do that were buying homes was to look at maps, drive around the area, or look at Google Earth to understand the risk they were taking.
The Army Corps of Engineers and the Harris County Flood Control has been warning that areas around the Cinco Ranch Subdivision was apt to flood if one bearm broke. Guess what? One broke! How many had flood insurance?
It is reported less than 20%. Selling flood insurance is like leading a horse to water. You cant force the horse to drink and you can force homeowners to buy flood insurance.