Similar freak weather happened 16 years ago in Houston (Allison, $5 billion in damage). It took Houston at least 5 years to recover then. It's pretty clear no

Similar freak weather happened 16 years ago in Houston (Allison, $5 billion in damage). It took Houston at least 5 years to recover then. It's pretty clear now that between the upgrades in water management after Allison and the addition of another 2 million residents since then, Houston wasn't as well prepared as it should be for another Allison, much less a Harvey. In the past two consecutive years, Houston has experienced significant urban flooding due to what are now "typical" big rains. But even 1-year storm events like those were too much for the city's drainage system to handle. The city fathers must be aware that flooding has become a chronic problem. The lesson from Katrina was that New Orleans' levees were undersized and unable to withstand overflow, leading to catastrophic flooding, and the destruction of homes not built to a modern flood-resistant design standard. I think the lesson from Harvey was not that Houston has a severe drainage problem, but without significant upgrades, the problem is going to guarantee more ongoing and occasionally catastrophic floods in the very near future.