Northeast Houston Flooding Project

In the summer of 2021 leaders from the Northeast Houston Super Neighborhood Alliance reached out to Bayou City Initiative for help in finding solutions to persistent flooding issues in the Northeast Houston area. Northeast Houston neighborhoods flood regularly from heavy rains. This neighborhood is home to mostly low/medium-income people of color. Residents complain that moderate rainstorms result in their roads being impassable, trapping them in or outside of their neighborhood. A lack of historical investment and regular maintenance of drainage infrastructure has resulted in a serious flooding issue. The flooding issue in Northeast Houston is an equity crisis which deserves the full attention of elected officials and governmental entities.

To help document and analyze this situation, Bayou City Initiative solicited the help of Sustainable Planning and Design, LLC, a planning firm which assisted in this work without charge. Sustainable Planning and Design conducted a study into the current issues and possible solutions to this equity crisis and created an interactive map to empower residents with data and information about flooding in their neighborhood. These resources can be found below.