In Texas, Home Sellers Must Now Disclose More About The Risk Of Flooding

When Arthur Mosely moved to East Austin in the 1980’s he didn’t worry about flooding. His property was not in a designated floodplain, and he thought of the creek that ran behind the house as an amenity. It guaranteed privacy and a green space full of Muscatine grapes and pecan trees.

But over the years more houses went up and the creek flooded repeatedly, almost reaching his house twice. "All of this was water," he explains on a recent windy morning, gesturing to a wide swath of his backyard.

About 15 years ago the city spent millions to try to control that water. It built a flood wall behind the neighborhood and improved drainage. But as the climate has warmed, storms have been getting worse.

Recently, engineers looked at the rainfall data and decided the wall isn’t enough.

Now, the land is designated as a high risk floodplain.