Why Did Houston Flood?
364,953
Published 2017-09-01
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PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Digital Producer: Ari Daniel
Production & Research Assistance: Elena Renken & Erin Dahlstrom
Editorial Review: Julia Cort, Tim De Chant, Caitlin Saks
Special Thanks: Ellen Douglas
© WGBH Educational Foundation 2017
MEDIA CREDITS:
Videography & Imagery:
Aerial Cinematography - Aaron Benzel / GO 3D NOW, LLC
Bill Bass/BillBassPhoto.com
Google Maps
Greenpeace / Mannie Garcia
Houston Advanced Research Center,
NASA
National Hurricane Center
National Weather Service
NYC Water
REUTERS / Johanna Strickland
ezview.wa.gov
flickr.com / Coast Guard News & Dan Baxter
pexels.com
pixabay.com
shutterstock.com / soraphotography
wikimedia.org
Music: APM
© WGBH Educational Foundation 2017
All Comments (21)
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Houston we have a problem
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Building on a swamp at sea level probably wasn't the best idea of all time.
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because it got 50" of rain and it's not on a hill, any city would flood under those circumstances
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Because we got 52" of rain in 4 days....
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Sold home in Katy in April and left TX. It's unbelievable the development in the wetlands... and it's not slowing down.
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There were a combination of things that contributed to Houston flooding.
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Take a lesson from Japan. They have one hell of a flood control system in place.
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What never gets mentioned in any discussion is the composition of local soils. They are known as Vertisols which are self mulching, highly expansive clays. Bone dry, they can absorb up to 1” of water then become impermeable like concrete as the clays expand. That’s why rice is a good crop here... they hold water.
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Land Developer: "We don't need no stinkin' wetlands!"
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From Ontario Canada, I hope Houston survives. I wish I could help.
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I live in Houston and I am blessed that it didn't flood on my street
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Reasons why: •Massive Amounts Of Rain •Near The Coast, Which Means The City Is Low And Easy To Flood
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It's all good, people of 2101AD won't know what Florida is
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God Bless everyone in Houston 😔😔
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I remember in 2012 Woodstock Virginia, United States. A flood hit us i was 7 years old, being a little girl I didn't understand nothing about a flood. All I remembered was seeing ambulances coming in my neighborhood, and 2 men carrying my family. 1 men was carrying my older brother and I, the other man was carrying my older sister and mother. My kitty unfortunately passed away or maybe ran away during the flood, we tried taking her but there was no time. But the mother cat survived.
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Houston Rised up after that with the Astros Winning the CHAMPION SHIP was what we really needed and NOBODY will take that from US.
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NOVA . instead of painting a hopeless picture - I propose following solutions: A) build houses with flood prevention in mind (build in a higher ground (creating higher ground) + waterproof the basements (or no basement at all) B) create flood dams to protect towns and roads (not a temporarily version plz) C) dig massive candles to channel water away form city and into rivers.
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I live here in Houston and we had a major storm some years back that was called Allison Allison had nothing on Harvey he came with a vengeance it's definitely something I would never forget it's going to be a year this month since that. Disaster hit Houston
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It is so sad 😣 I am Praying for all that lost there homes from to storm, or had to live everything they know behind, I hope everyone is ok. PRAY for the people of Huston Texas
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I'd say the biggest problem is that all of our bayous converge into one. It's clear since that's the one that's still flooded over a week later as everything drains into it
