'Disasters Are a Human Choice' | Texas Counties Have Little Power to Stop Building in Flood-Prone Areas

'Disasters Are a Human Choice': Texas Counties Have Little Power to Stop Building in Flood-Prone Areas

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org. Camp Mystic, the private summer camp that now symbolizes the deadly Central Texas floods, sat on a tract of land known to be at high risk for a devastating flood. Nearly 1.3 million Texas homes are similarly situated in parts…

'Disasters are a human choice' | Texas counties have little power to stop building in flood-prone areas

Many Texas summer camps sit in flood-prone areas, raising building regulation concerns amid extreme weather and state growth challenges.

“Disasters are a human choice”: Texas counties have little power to stop building in flood-prone areas

By Joshua Fechter and Paul Cobler, The Texas Tribune, Graphics by Carla Astudillo, The Texas Tribune July 9, 2025 ““Disasters are a human choice”: Texas counties have little power to stop building in flood-prone areas” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Sign up for The Brief, The Texas T…

“Disasters are a human choice”: Texas counties have little power to s…

Experts suggested that more data and education are needed as Texas and the rest of the country build in known flood plains.