"Hurricane Harvey Makes Houston Reassess Growth-Friendly Policies"

"HOUSTON - Melinda and Joel Loshak raised two children in a stylish ranch house in Houston’s upscale Meyerland neighborhood and planned to retire there. Now they are hoping the government will knock it down.

After Hurricane Harvey pushed oily floodwaters into their house in August, the Loshaks asked local officials to buy them out, joining more than 3,000 other Houston-area homeowners who grew weary of ripping out waterlogged drywall and ruined refrigerators after three devastating floods in three years.

'I call the house my albatross. It just follows us; it’s hanging from our necks, pulling us down,' said Melinda Loshak, 61.

The buyout program is just one way Houston hopes to better protect itself against future floods. But even as the city prepares to demolish thousands of homes in low-lying areas, developers are putting up hundreds more."

Andy Sullivan reports for Reuters November 30, 2017.