Meeting for only the second time in two years, a panel of Texas lawmakers pledged financial and political support to efforts at developing a plan to protect the Houston-Galveston region from a devastating storm surge. Full Story
Several experts worry that the low-lying residential areas in the Houston region are now more vulnerable to storms. Read more in our "Hell and High Water" project, done in collaboration with ProPublica. Full Story
Houston is the nation's fourth-largest city and home to the largest refining and petrochemical complex in the United States. But many worry it's a sitting duck when the next big hurricane comes. This multimedia project, done in partnership with ProPublica, looks at the dangers for the region. Full Story
A Rice University-based group is proposing an entirely new plan for protecting Houston, its ship channel and its residents from a massive storm surge during the next big hurricane. But consensus remains elusive. Full Story
Five years after Hurricane Ike slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast, researchers suggest the region may actually be more vulnerable to future storms than it was before, as its population and industry continue to grow without new safeguards. Full Story
After months of back-and-forth with the General Land Office over the rebuilding of public housing units demolished after Hurricane Ike, the Galveston City Council voted Wednesday to adhere to terms set by the land office. Full Story
After months of planning, state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, and Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, filed bills on Tuesday to overhaul the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and rein in rate hikes on coastal residents. Full Story
The 2012 hurricane season is here. TxDOT officials point to recent drills and expanded social media efforts as evidence that they are better prepared to help Texans with potential mass evacuations. Full Story
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association could be raising premium rates soon — and for the time first, adjusting policyholder premiums depending on the likelihood of severe storm damage or hurricanes in specific areas. Full Story
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association offers homeowners along the Texas coast their only coverage against potential hurricanes. But some lawmakers say the pool is paying out too much — and they want to limit what sort of coverage it offers in the future. Full Story
In the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs broke several regulations when it contracted with a firm to distribute more than $200 million in disaster recovery funds, according to a federal audit. Full Story
Ramsey on the fourth University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll (with insights into the statewide races, issues, the budget, and Texans' view of the national scene), Hamilton and Thevenot in Galveston on the anniversary of Hurricane Ike, Ramshaw on secret hearings that separate children from their guardians, Hu on what former state Rep. Bill Zedler did for doctor-donors who were under investigation, Aguilar on the troubles around Mexico's bicentennial, Galbraith talks coal and wind with the head of the Sierra Club, E. Smith interviews state Rep. Debbie Riddle about tourism babies and godless liberals, Grissom on why complaints about city jails go unaddressed, Philpott on the debate that will apparently never happen and Stiles continues to put the major-party gubernatorial candidates on the map: The best of our best from September 13 to 17, 2010. Full Story
Two years after Hurricane Ike's surge washed over Galveston, residents here still struggle to rebuild parts of the island, which has lost about 10,000 people from its pre-flood population of about 50,000. Full Story
Two years after Hurricane Ike’s surge crossed Galveston like a speed bump on its way to Houston, planners and academics are staring down multibillion-dollar public policy dilemmas. To describe Ike as a “wake-up call” understates and trivializes the matter. Like other coastal areas around the nation and around the world, the Houston-Galveston region is only now grappling with complex and costly questions of how to protect sprawling seaside development from the combination of subsidence and an expected sea-level rise from global warming. Full Story
The fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina has people thinking about whether the state and coastal cities are prepared for another big storm — especially with peak storm season again upon us. As Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies reports, there’s concern in particular over the sturdiness of dams. Full Story
Five years after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana exiles have fundamentally changed Houston, and vice-versa. The uneasy arrangement was a shotgun marriage: Many evacuees had no choice in whether or where they went, and Houstonians had no choice, for humanity's sake, but to take them in. Full Story
As New Orleans measures how far it has come since Hurricane Katrina — and how far it has to go — an Austin man who was an aide to Mayor Will Wynn in 2005 traveled to the Big Easy to put some ghosts to rest. He talked with Matt Largey of KUT News. Full Story