As Grimes County knows, flooding can be a real issue in the county. Even with it being about 20 minutes away, growth in College Station could very well be contributing to the growth of flooding issues in the county. Researchers from Texas A&M and the University of Maryland have released findings of a study on the consequences of urban flooding.
Texas A&M professor Dr. Sam Brody says there is a threat to Grimes County and Navasota from urban flooding in the Bryan-College Station area.
“The more Texas A&M and College Station build, even when thinking retention and mitigation, you are still changing runoff patterns. That is going to increase downstream towards Navasota. That then dominoes and multiplies in effect down toward the Houston region,” Dr. Brody said.
Dr. Brody also gave some tips to home buyers and homeowners alike to protect themselves from future flooding.
“I would encourage residents, even if they are not in the 100-year flood plain, to know how far they are from it. Even if you are a quarter mile away, you are still flood prone. Also, buy flood insurance even if you do not need it,” Brody said.”Finally, try and get as much information from the local municipality about your flood risk, because the data exists.”
Dr. Brody and his fellow researcher from Maryland even developed a website that allows homeowners to easily see their risk of flooding, called Buyers-BeWhere.
The researchers say the consequences of urban flooding are economic loss, housing inequality and social disruption.