Hurricane Beryl Flooding in Houston | Why Are Streets Flooding?

At a news conference Monday, city officials provided some insight into why Houston’s streets are prone to flooding.

HOUSTON — After Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday morning, power outages and flooding continue to affect millions of residents in and around Houston.

At a press conference, city officials provided some insight into why Houston’s streets are prone to flooding.

Why are Houston streets flooding?

“When it comes to our streets, it’s important to remember that our primary drainage mechanism in this city is our streets,” said Randy Macchi, Houston’s public works operations director. “For better or worse, that’s the reality of the situation.”

Macchi said Houston’s street infrastructure was designed to fill with any excess water so it could be channeled to appropriate outfalls and drainage channels.

“When we have an event like this, our streets are naturally going to empty slower than usual,” Macchi added. “So we’re asking people to be very patient during this time and that’s why we would like you to stay home as long as possible to give the streets time to empty.”

Macchi said there will also be hazards such as debris when draining streets.

“Once the storm has passed and our teams can operate safely in collaboration with the firefighters and police, we will be on site,” Macchi concluded.