HOUSTON—Throughout time, floods have altered the floodplain landscape. In addition, people have been historically attracted to bodies of water as places for living, industry, commerce and recreation. During early settlements, floodplains provided fertile soils for prime agricultural lands. Settlements emerged along rivers and other waterways for water and food supply, and access to transportation and recreational pursuits.
With population growth came a push to develop into new areas. Due to those prime scenic and navigable locations, some coastal shoreline floodplains were developed for residential communities, commercial and recreational harbors, and tourism enterprises.
Consequently, development has altered floodplains and the dynamics of flooding in many floodplain communities, resulting in damage and destruction to buildings and community infrastructure by periodic flooding. These areas are continuously shaped by the forces of water either eroded or built up through the deposit of sediment, according to VC Flood Info.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
