No, it's not so simple either. If 200 years ago there wasn't a city there, then any kind of soil/rock strata, core samples, tree rings etc. likely won't show fl

No, it's not so simple either. If 200 years ago there wasn't a city there, then any kind of soil/rock strata, core samples, tree rings etc. likely won't show flooding, and therefore won't be representative of flood risk today. Houston is a concrete jungle, which significantly increases the risk of flooding compared to even a decade ago.