Yilun Cheng

County commissioners directly impact residents’ lives. In Harris and Montgomery counties, their top contributors are government contractors and developers.

At the last minute, the Houston Association of Realtors pulled the plug on a two-year project that would have published detailed flood risk data on tens of thousands of active home listings across the state.

Years in the making, the draft FEMA floodplain maps rely on higher rainfall estimates and more advanced modeling techniques, significantly expanding the current Harris County flood zone boundaries.

Leaders and staff from Harris Health described a hospital system stretched beyond capacity, with staff at times forced to place patients in hallways when no rooms are available.

Families in Harris County's low-income neighborhoods have long said the official floodplain maps do not match the chronic flooding they see on the ground.

For many Houstonians, flood insurance will soon become a mandatory part of their household budgets for the first time. Search our map to find out how much it currently costs.

Nearly 200,000 properties could be moved into high-risk flood zones under the FEMA's overhaul of Harris County's flood maps.

Some of Harris County's most popular residential communities have been built on land once designated part of the floodplain.

In the past decade, developers and homeowners have taken thousands of houses out of official floodplains. Search our map to see where they are.

Harris County developers and homeowners have used a FEMA appeal process to remove their properties from official floodplains thousands of times.