This week marks five years since Hurricane Harvey caused devastating flooding in the Houston area.
Meyerland, a neighborhood in southwest Houston, was one of the hardest hit areas, but businesses, institutions and the community as a whole continue to show resilience.
Haynes said they had to replace all their kitchen equipment, sheetrock and wood-lined walls. With the help of the community, Haynes said the BBQ restaurant reopened two weeks later. Most of their neighbors in the Braes Oaks Center, such as H-E-B, also closed their doors.The shopping center is in close proximity to Brays Bayou, where the Harris County Flood Control District has spent $480 million dollars to reduce flooding, called Project Brays.
“We expanded the channel, we widened the channel approximately between 50 and 60 feet on average from the mouth all the way to Fondren,” Diaz said. “There were approximately 32 bridge modifications of some sort along Brays, and on top of that, we constructed years ago and we started with the excavation of 4 regional detention basins.”Construction is also taking place at the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center. Joel Dinkin, the Chief Executive Officer, said Harvey flooded the entire campus.
Dinkin said though some families and businesses have left Meyerland, those that stayed are pleased with the post-Harvey progress. The Wolffs live across the street from Kolter Elementary, which is one of four Houston ISD schools that were rebuilt after sustaining significant damage from Harvey.