Bob Rehak of ReduceFlooding published a tally on Saturday counting 24 significant flooding events in the Houston and Galveston region since Hurricane Ike came ashore in 2008. Fourteen were tropical systems. The other 10 were driven by heavy rainfall with no tropical storm attached.
Rehak argues from the split that flooding here is not solely a hurricane problem but a rainfall and drainage problem that hurricanes sometimes magnify. His list includes the May 2019 Kingwood and Elm Grove flood, which took water into roughly 200 homes, and the spring 2024 flooding on both the East and West forks of the San Jacinto. Ike’s eye passed directly over Kingwood in September 2008.
The tally covers 2008 through 2024. Rehak states in the post that it was assembled with AI assistance from National Weather Service, NOAA, FEMA and Harris County Flood Control District records together with news reports, so the count is his own compilation rather than a figure published by any of those agencies.
