Houston area homeowners lifting homes off ground level to prevent flooding
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 มิ.ย. 2024
- Homeowners in Meyerland are taking a unique approach to prevent their homes from flooding. FOX 26's Jade Flury spoke with a homeowner who says residents are raising their homes to keep them safe.
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I grew up in Houston, Moved away in the late 80's. Houston's problem is, or was Poor city planning. In the 60's, 70's and 80's houston had so much growth. They laid down plenty of concrete and asphalt for roads, But never really increased the drainage for all that urban sprawl.
Houstonians are now paying the price for all that piss poor city planning.
Politicians suck.... Bottom line.
Also climate change is just making these “once in a lifetime storms” occur more and more often….
Where are you now?
@@user-vi4xy1jw7e
Austin Texas. I have been here for the past 30 years. I have watched the "City planners" do the Same thing to Austin. Austin used to be the "Jewel" of Texas....
Now its the "Arm Pit" of Texas
I was in Houston just two months ago and couldn’t believe seeing all these large ditches just full of standing water, like rolling out a welcome mat for mosquitoes.
Houston has bragged about their lack of city planning, especially in dealing with runoff from storms. Freedom from regulations and government interference, go personal freedom.
Too many people saying “no place for the water to go.” DUH!! They keep building over where the water supposed to go!
Exactly.. houstonians are slow smh
Tucson and Seattle are supporting regreening, reduced flooding, reduced pollution, reduced infrastructure costs, are recharging watertables, reducing ground subsidence, heat island effects, etc thru bioswales. They are a great return on the dollar in so many ways, and much cheaper than raising houses...
Something happening on the eastern seaboard of Australia. Flooding in built up residential suburbs.
RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT
In Florida there are common problems with existing homes that never had flooding problems now getting flooded due to new developments. New homes are being built on property raised a foot higher than the surrounding properties and the water naturally drains into the lower areas AKA the existing homes. The cities blow it off saying they were built to code when in fact new homes are causing the problem without regard for drainage.
When you turn everything into a road and parking lots ,the water has nowhere to go
The dike that is holding the water back existed before these houses were built. This is not poor drainage... this is building a house in a flood zone.
THIS!!
But but we just have to have more shopping centers and high rises!
This is simply not true. This happens in deserts, forests, and swamps all around the world in area where there no cities anywhere nearby.
This is Houston. The soil here is literally Clay. This is as non porous as concrete. The water actually has no place to go except to collect and eventually drain somewhere or evaporate.
Every new house should be elevated
If it's in a flood plain, yeah.
Stop building in places that are prone to flooding. Its just stupidity to believe that this even happens, it costs ALL OF US because of others stupidity
Add bioswales as well. Bioswales reduce the need for pumped water irrigation, and can quickly reduce the amount of runoff. They support greenery, reduce ground subsidence, can prevent sinkholes, add beauty, plant diversity, reduce street and parking lot little, reduce infrastructure costs, reduce brownouts, electrical costs, reduce the effect of heat islands and drought, and of course, reduce downstream flooding.
After Katrina the government paid people to raise their homes. Most people didn't take the offer, but they need to be doing that here. We also need better flood control infrastructure.
The government paid….. where did the government get the money?
@@warman58 From We the People, where the gov't gets all its funding. If they paid for those homes to be raised, it's one of the few good things they did with the money.
@@Musicball with that logic, any spending can be justified. I don’t believe it’s right for one man to have to pay another man’s bills.
@@warman58 That's between you and God, and is none of my business. God bless you.
@@Musicball 👍
$100,000-200,000 to raise the home. Wow! How much is the home worth?
Millions in that area
@@lelelum4103 Meh. Not really in Meyerland. Maybe in Bellaire.
@@Big_Island_Boi sure.... but if not, they arent far.
Lifting a home in a neighborhood like that adds value.
Do you believe you can build or buy a home in that neighborhood for that price? Lifting the home will also decrease flood insurance costs and increase the value.
Better off selling the home and moving to another area that doesn’t flood for that price tag.
Nobody will buy them bc they flood so often
yeah you can buy new homes in Katy for that price
But the new buyer still has to deal with it.
If you have to raise your home because of frequent flooding then perhaps there shouldnt be homes there. This is as stupid as building homes along the coasts or on river banks. Its these homes and so many others like it that cause ALL OF US to pay higher premiums to insure our homes.
Developers don't care where they build it's not their problem when Mother nature decides to start taking things down
@@link2442 very true. They really should be liable for this BS.
Florida too
Homes were built on swamp land, then sank.
Smh
Actually it's the amount of water density the atmosphere that's continuing going up as a function of the rise of temperatures in the atmosphere play continues to absorb more water vapor off of the Gulf of Mexico
Not all of us. I don’t live in a ridiculous area so my four year old house in NY is less than $1k/year to insure. Zero chance of flooding zero hurricanes zero tornadoes or earthquakes or wildfires.
Only Rich can afford this. An easy $200k+ just to lift your home.
After Harvey the feds gave two options if you were flooded out 3 times with flood coverage. Tear down or raise and the govmint paid for most of the cost. Or sell which you lose majority of equity. The county also got grant money which paid the balance.
@@kbrown5218Where's option 3? Burn it down and collect the insurance?
@@fauxque5057 arson is not an option. But if you go that route you'll still have a roof and meals waiting for you in jail..
@@fauxque5057 Option 3 is to lose flood insurance and deal with the cost yourself. But it's dumb to be flooded 3 years in a row and expect people to keep helping you rebuild the same old house.
DIY!
NO, it's NOT covered by home insurance. They don't cover what is covered, you think they're gonna cover lifting a house? Insurance companies are in business to make money, nothing else!
100% I've had insurance for 32 years and have not been able to have them successfully make me a whole for anything.
Good idea 👍
To do that to preexisting homes just sounds like a structural nightmare down the road..
It depends. If those cinder blocks are carrying the entire structural load there will be problems. If they did it the right way and sunk in piers, it will actually be an improvement.
Not attached all if the company does it correctly.
Welcome to the south. We HAVE to do this in Louisiana. A home with a basement here is like a unicorn.
The entire island of Galveston was raised 8 feet after the 1900 storm.💪
No, it was not. Only the port, downtown and some of the existing city of the time were raised. A ten mile seawall was then built to break the force of a tidal surge. Many parts of Galveston still flood when it is raining with a high tide.
I have often wondered why this wasn't the the thing to do - makes sense to get up and out of the way.
All houses in Houston should be built this way. In fact, it should be required. It just makes sense plus, They're beautiful.
They do look nice raised like that.
They're beautiful? Lol sure okay
Not all, only in areas where there can be a flood even every 500 years. Where I live will never flood.
@@tommygunn-cq7kpA "flood zone" (SFHA) as they're generally known has a 1% chance of flooding in any given year. New construction is required to be at or above Base Flood Elevation per code. That said, development can change floodplains and subsequently result in a different BFE. I expect that this area was remapped for that reason.
They could do bioswales everywhere instead for a lot less, and better a lot more benefits. Bioswales would recharge aquifers, reduce flooding, reduce heat island effects and drought, reduce ground subsidence and foundation cracking, reduce pollution, reduce irrigation costs, reduce infrastructure costs, reduce pavement cracking, add beauty, greenery, walkability, bikeability, reduce crime, etc...
Here in Louisiana a city near where it’s like on the outskirts in rural areas they had to raise theirs by law because it was flooding so much the insurance companies could no longer afford to pay for all the flood damage .It was either that or stay in your home at the lower level and get no coverage for flood insurance .
THIS IS STUPID. It would be cheaper to add a third story and brick the first floor
Plus you could do THAT yourself and still have the first floor for thingsyou could move quickly
DUHHHH!
@@fladave99 I’m sure that would be cheaper too!
@@Pebbles0831 I know. ACtually all they need to do is move the kitchen and living upstairs and move the sleeping downstairs which would be easier to repair if there was a flood. Just beds and dressers. But sometimes the obvious is blinded by the traditional. Jack up the house for 200K - LOL!
@@fladave99 yes truth that price is a brand new house 😆
When I saw the headline, I was expecting a bit more lift than 5 feet. Compared to the houses down in Grand Isle, 5 feet seems cute.
Better drainage maybe?
you just end up draining the water into the river, that is causing the flooding. Inland floods are caused by overflowing rivers.
The dike that is holding the water back existed before these house were built. This is not bad drainage... this is building a house in a flood zone.
Drainage isn't going to help. Houston is inside a sinking bowl of earth due to excessive pumping of the underground water aquifer. Houston is now sitting inside a soup bowl, folks.
@@jannibal9273Mmmmm. Soup. You're forgetting how Houston is becoming more and more concrete, which also doesn't help.
THIS IS STUPID. It would be cheaper to add a third story and brick the first floor
Plus you could do THAT yourself and still have the first floor for thingsyou could move quickly
DUHHHH!
Raising houses and everyone has generators. I was shocked to see slab homes raised near me. Amazing they can do that. Even more alarming was seeing workers UNDER the slab home while it was propped on piers before it was finished with supports
I didn’t know you could raise a slab home.
@@donaldatherton319 I didn’t either until I saw it done a block away from me. 2 slab homes that flooded badly in years past.
Good for them!!
Harvey, you have a beautiful home.
Crazy that it’s even possible.
THIS IS STUPID. It would be cheaper to add a third story and brick the first floor
Plus you could do THAT yourself and still have the first floor for thingsyou could move quickly
DUHHHH!
@@fladave99 all the best trying to get a permit for that idea
@@eechaze12 Houston does not have remodel building permits. You can build anything you want. Its just addiing a third floor which is done all the time. BUT EVEN BETTER. move the kitchen and living to the second floor, bedrooms to the first floor and if there is a flood its a lot cheaper to replace dressers and sheets. You could do that for 10k with no permit. Its almost like a spilt level. But sometimes common sense is blinded by tradition. I dont understand why this is not done all the time is Houston. A second-floor kitchen may also be more energy-efficient, since an inverted floor plan often means the bedrooms are tucked away on lower floors, where they will stay cooler in the summer months and protected from the residual heat of the kitchen.I am sure some are build this way but jacking up a house is completly INSANE for all but the idiots
@@fladave99 people don't normally build stories onto their house. if anything they build horizontally, not vertically. I'm not even sure if i've ever seen a house add a story to it. Not saying it doesn't happen but it definitely is not a common practice.
@@doc-vg9lq Come on. Its done all the time and in Houston there is no permit needed for remodeling. AND you can do that yourslf with a couple of bussies for 25k easily. Turn the first floor into a pool area
Great idea!
My only request for my new home to my wife was huge garage and no slab on grade. I got a huge garage, and my house is 4 ft off the ground. I have crazy neighbors.
Sounds like you thought this thru good.
@@donaldatherton319 my generators are 4ft off the ground too. There is not much I can do if the water goes higher than that except relocate everything to the second floor and pray for a miracle.
Mine is 5 ft off the ground, no garage but I do have the shade of an oak tree over the driveway, and the BEST neighbors on every side. I am blessed.
@@believeroftheword4627 I had a drunk cop move in next door last year. Chad Landry, he was fired from the lakeland police department for being drunk wasted in his K-9 cruiser. He opened a commercial dog kennel in a residential zoned neighborhood and started a feud all the way around. We are making the best of a bad situation. They have declared bankruptcy before so odds are they will again. The paid a million dollars for $650,000 property. It will work itself out over time.
Great Idea!!
You raised your homes, what about parking ramps or lifts for your vehicles 👀👀
Sanibel island , Ian, we had 8 feet in our house and the island had a 12 foot surge
As long as they stay in Texas I don’t care what they do.
Houston really has become New New Orleans.
And people in Houston they don't care. Galveston gets a devastating hurricane once a decade and every time people still build more. I don't expect Houston to be any different. They like a lake front home during our bi-decade biblical floodings.
How funny to see at 1:16 that you can clearly see a foundation vent close to the base of the foundation next to the black car. You wonder why you flood? Cover the vents!! I solved mine by installing slots all the way around the house. It's an easy matter to drop in panels to fully close the gates. Each panel has an air slot at the top. Just a little psi and the panels expand against the slots. My car gets slipped into a mylar bag that is like a giant zip lock bag. It will not flood and the air is a cushion against floating debris. The bag is anchored to a slab so it will not float away.
i would raise the homes as high as possible
The smart thing to do is move out of Texas, period.
@@jannibal9273 Yeah, move to Kalifornistan, where they still have flooding but also have a horrible government.
@@patmcbride9853 What is horrible about it? As a POC and a woman my life ten times better here rather than in Texas. I won’t be denied healthcare if I become pregnant and I don’t have to deal with the hate that still lingers there.
@@LuvsTruth-fs5nd Wow! The indoctrination, ignorance, and entitlement you display are epic.
@@LuvsTruth-fs5nd You are so pathetic in your refusal to see truth.
You are what helps destroy Kalifornistan.
YES, IT'S SOMETHING THOSE ON THE BAYOU SHOULD HAVE DONE YEARS AGO❤
Wow...
Those raised homes are not friendly to seniors and handicaped. Only young and healthy people will be the new buyers in the future.
all it needs now is a dock for parking their boat to the house when it floods the next time.
Chicago (Cook County) invested in Deep Tunnel system to prevent flooding, it took about 30 years to complete.
Not an option in Houston it is just a Little above sea level. When it rains really hard all the bayous back up till they can slowly drain. We Left Houston in 1976 I am sure it is much worse now .
Raise the house as you are building…simple. Also proper Drainage 😢 the water needs to go somewhere 🤷🏽♀️
Thank God for this change a big Change in the United States Of 🇺🇸 America 🇺🇸. Very good one too thanks for making this change 🙏
You can lift your truck and lift your house and also get your wife a facelift❤
This is a tricky one for tornado shelters. I want to go underground and close the tornado shelter door tight. How standard are tornado shelters in residential homes? Like civil defense shelters of the Cold War, do neighborhoods and homeowner associations have tornado Cellars where everyone can find refuge from an approaching tornado?
Ny & CT should do this too!!!
Houses built up off the ground was the way houses should be made. They look better and it protect the house from insects such as ants and of course it helps during flooding. Houses built on the ground are the same as hot climate huts. Huts are one of the basic shelters for hot climates, but not good for cool climates like most of America. Thank you Houston, TX for using your head.
Build in a flood plain expect to be flooded, or build high enough to keep your house high & dry, it's really that simple.
Atlantic County, NJ, had the same done after Hurricane Sandy
It is a shame the residents have to bear the expense. I bought my Home in part as there are two Large storm drains, one 3 foot off my Back yard, and another directly in Front of my Home, NO flooding in 30 yrs.
I grew up 50 miles southeast of Houston on a small farm about 20 miles inland from the Gulf Coast. Our ranch-style home was built on a concrete foundation about 4 feet tall because we always flooded when a hurricane came in and we had plenty of drainage. That was in the 1960s. Seems history was forgotten when newer homes were constructed. 100-200K? Ouch! But way cheaper than having a home flooded and property destroyed repeatedly. I wonder how many can afford to do that with todays's poor economy and high inflation.
This is a very wise move.
Wow .
That's such a good Idea
It'd be great if we could raise the whole city.
Would've been nice to see before and after pics.
My rule never to buy land in a flood plain or downstream from a dam. This is easy to check before purchase. If you do a new build in a flood plain you can support the house high in a variety of ways. I used railroad rock to fill the low spot where I build my shop because railroad roadbeds have excellent drainage and the rock is stable under vibration and shock loads (see railfan videos) a house will never see. Poured concrete, precast concrete and steel are all home materials worth considering. Wood is fine for furniture and camp fires but a new house should shrug off storms and water. Most people buy for max square footage instead of quality (see building inspector videos for some of the horrors to beware of).
Every time the wind blows it floods in Houston
It's smart to do that
Smart man, yes, 5 feet at least.
All these home should be built on pilons. !0 foot pilons give you a great carport, and keeps you out of almost all flooding.
What about those inflated tubes ( Aquadam ) that go around the house and can keep up to 2-3-feet of water out ? Cheaper and practical.
how very new orleans of them ❤
Smart.
I would be very surprised if home insurance would cover that expense. I would say it is more for peace of mind and not wanting to move out of your house and disclose your house floods every few years. I just fixed my foundation and that wasn’t cheap either.
Stilts, columns and posts are the future.
Need to limit CONCRETE
Just because the house no longer floods doesn't mean they dont have flooding issues. Power outages, dampness, mold, everything sitting above the water will still be affected somehow. Are the garages above water too to save the vehicles? Or maybe they've been convinced to stop driving and get boats.
Smart
Yea, because thats cheaper than hiring a county judge and commissioners who have knowledge. Rodney Ellis's Houston!
Lifted homes have better contact with strong winds....you can't escape judgment 😮
Don't lower the river. Raise the drawbridge?
You'll save your house but your garage is still ground level. Where would they store that?
Yea thats gonna work
Visited Houston Summer 23' Liked it a Lot but didn't see that Much water like New Orleans so Why does it Flood there so Much & the City 40yrs ago Should've had Builders building Elevated homes!
Mother Nature will always win
Makes sense $
Galveston (TX) wanted people do do the very same after Hurricane Ike (2008). IIRC, quite a few DID raise their houses. Others didn't. Frankly, were I to buy a house in Galveston, it'd NEVER be one built on a ground-level/slab, it'd be up on pilings. That island is NO place for single-level homes.
-- BR
This is an OLLLLLLD story
Band aid not long term solution
"And in other news, the ocean is wet. So is everything built near it. Back to you."
$100-$200K to raise a house? Forget that! I'd demolish the house and build new
A home of that size would cost about $750k
THIS IS STUPID. It would be cheaper to add a third story and brick the first floor
Plus you could do THAT yourself and still have the first floor for thingsyou could move quickly
DUHHHH!
No mention that all new construction is REQUIRED to be elevated 3 feet above the 100-year flood plains??? Terrible reporting.
Wow, I 😂never heard of the concept
The whole city and surrounding areas are concrete. It can’t all go to the bayou and rivers. The toilet backs up at the coast and…tah dah!
Ive noticed new builder elevate the ground aboutn4 feet high to build new homes but this causes sorrounding homes to flood.
Lower the dirt dig underneath around the home instead of raise the homes.
That will only work for last years floods, they need a lot more height for their future floods which will be much larger.
Nyc did some rebuilds like that after Sandy hit in 2012!
At those prices how is it worth it?
How long until we have “squatted houses”?
They all should’ve been built like this this whole time
Flooding wasn't as bad decades ago. It's only going to get worse.
I'm just curious. is insurance covering this or how are these homeowners paying for this. the guy doesn't even seem to be bothered by price. it can't be cheap
The houses are off the ground, but the garage is still below sea level. Human beings are so amazing 🤣😂🤣😂
Just now figured it out.
The flood problem. Ladders. Climbs. Stairs. Roofs. Stacks.
Why raise a home? ? Dig a moat around underneath the house? ?
I will just stay in my 4th floor apartment to avoid that problem.
until the flooding washes away the first floor.
@@eckankar7756 I live in Denver no flooding here
@@empowered3206Lol. Then if it's not a problem for you, why did you leave your first comment saying how you'll stay in your fourth floor apt to avoid it? You have nothing that you need to avoid!
Raising the hone can compromise thè structural integrity of the foundation and house...it could cause fractures and cracks
"Stud Pack" here on TH-cam is building one of those houses on a slab in a flood-prone area.
So now the man has another mortgage to pay off. In bayou city. Should've raised it. The govmint was paying for most of it...
Flooding is Normal in Texas. We Texans know this. My Great Grandparents home would get flooded constantly when they lived in San Marcos.
When you own a home, you own the risk.
Thats what we did in Vietnam and unfortunately we keep on have to raise it more and more every year.. .. ..
Many people are migrating from high cost of living states to cheaper but also climate risk states. Trading off economic gains for climate risk losses. Swapping out one set of economic issues for climate issues.
@@robertmartinjr.4537 my point is to fix the drainage system. I moved here a while back from California. I see things from when California houses where new compare to desert land of Texas at the time i was moving in but we have experience rapid growth in the recent years and of course things need to be improved for this kind of growth. If you would compare to California right now housing market price is ridiculous and the style is almost outdated. Texas do have flood which i think can be fix by improved our drainage system compare to earthquake theres not much you can do. Btw for over 18 years been in TX we have only one power outage in our location. But financially gain is much better for us so i would rather trade of that climate for economic intead of struggling paying rent. Or cant even afford a house.
@haiacninc uhhhh the best yet to come. These climatic events will happen more in frequency as time goes on. As you see in parts of Texas. Floods Tornadoes tropical storms on the coasts hurricane droughts and wildfires 🔥 harsh winters inducing blackouts. then you add growth that's a perfect storm brewing. People will buy real-estate in Hell if they could save a nickel.
@haiacninc right now economic migration is the trend in the nation. But climate migration is right around the corner.
@haiacninc I have 2 siblings that live in Texas. A brother who Ives in Austin who has been a resident since 1985. He keeps it 💯 about the Pros and Cons and so does my sister. Both are thinking about leaving. Both have a list of states Nevada Arizona Tennessee and California because of family. 2 major reasons they stressed is rapid growth and the extremes in weather are weighing heavily on them. Nevada and Arizona will give them closer proximity to family. Tennessee is still laid back for now, so that's an option. California because of our mother and other siblings.
Home elevation would solve water problems but not wind.
Raise 'em 50 feet!