Brazoria County is located in the southeast section of Texas along the Gulf Coast and is considered part of the Greater Houston area. Residents of Richwood, Texas and surrounding areas within the county were heavily impacted during Hurricane Harvey in late August/early September of 2017.
Many residents of Richwood had never flooded before the storm and found themselves with upwards of 3 feet of water in their homes. Residents claim that in the aftermath of the storm, the City of Lake Jackson used a combination of pumps and sandbags to divert floodwaters into Richwood and surrounding areas of the county. The water inundated neighborhoods and mobile home parks, severely damaging homes and personal property.
Over 400 residents have joined a lawsuit to demand that the City of Lake Jackson take responsibility for the flooding that occurred in the City of Richwood and surrounding areas in Brazoria County and compensate for damages.
The Richwood Advisory Council was formed in September of 2017 by residents impacted by the flooding. Kevin McKinney is the Chairman of the Council and serves as the community leader.
Anthropocene Alliance connected Kevin up to the Thriving Earth Exchange (TEX). Through TEX they found an expert scientist, Dr Steve Emerman, who has acted as scientific partner and expert witness in the lawsuit. Dr. Emerman is helping several Anthropocene Alliance members with lawsuits and appeals. He is well qualified to do so. He was a professor of hydrology for 31 years and has 66 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of hydrology and geophysics. He has a B.S. in mathematics from The Ohio State University, M.A. in geophysics from Princeton University, and Ph.D. in geophysics from Cornell University. Since retirement at the end of June 2018, Dr. Emerman is now a full-time consultant for environmental, human rights, and indigenous organizations. We are tremendously grateful for his help for flood victims across the country.
Written by Michele Gielis
Links
Richwood flooding lawsuit presses on
Richwood flooding lawsuit targets drainage district
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Kevin McKinney
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Climate Impacts
Flooding
Strategies
Halting Bad Development, Nature-Based Solutions
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