Houston Faces Fifth “500-Year Flood” in Five Years

Houston deals with the aftermath of a flood caused by Tropical Storm Imelda. (Pixabay)

Houston faced what has been called its fifth “500-year flood” in the past five years due to Tropical Storm Imelda, which struck the city on September 19. 

In 24 hours, Tropical Storm Imelda brought as much as 40 inches of rain to some areas of the city, submerging many houses and cars. The flooding left five Houstonians dead.

In a city that is still recovering from Hurricane Harvey, which devastated it in 2017, the recent flooding left many Houstonians concerned about the viability of the city’s infrastructure going forward. 

The floods seem to corroborate scientific reports that suggest climate change will continue to usher in more extreme weather events—particularly in coastal areas. Five-hundred year floods, theoretically, should occur once every five centuries. In Houston, they have become an annual affair.

Scientists connect increased ocean temperatures to increased heavy rainfall from storms. In fact, a scientific analysis of Hurricane Harvey concluded that climate change increased Harvey’s rainfall by at least 15 percent. 

“Record-high ocean heat values not only increased the fuel available to sustain and intensify Harvey but also increased its flooding rains on land,” the study declared. “Harvey could not have produced so much rain without human-induced climate change.”

The comparisons to Harvey almost instantly flooded social media; even local officials made the comparison to the 2017 hurricane. "It was really just intense rainfall that wouldn't stop. It was very Harvey-like," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez reported.

“It’s frustration. Exhaustion. A feeling that there’s a formula to these things,” Houston resident Amber Ambrose reflected, asking, “Does it have to be a flood every year?” Ambrose’s concerns seem to be reflected by many Houstonians, who have grown accustomed to these unprecedented floods.

In the recent Democratic presidential debate in Houston, Texan and former-Representative Beto O’Rourke alluded to the city’s recent floods, joking, “You'd like to think you're good for 1,500 years.” Shifting to a more serious tone, he added, “but you're not. They're coming faster and larger and more devastating than ever.”

“I’m not a scientist,” Ambrose conceded, “but it feels like Harvey is the new norm. It’s going to keep happening.”