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Northwest Houston 'ghost neighborhood' caused by repeated flooding to become latest detention basin
The last remaining homeowners in the former Arbor Oaks neighborhood were bought out in 2019.
HOUSTON, Texas — What was once the Arbor Oaks neighborhood entrance is as weathered as the homes were before all of them were demolished following repeated flooding.
The most devastating to the majority of homes in the community was Tropical Storm Allison 24 years ago, which inundated much of the Houston area. More than 70,000 homes were flooded in the city.
“We were in active buyouts from just after Tropical Storm Allison all the way through 2019 when the last voluntary buyout was completed,” Harris County Flood Control District Chief External Affairs Officer Emily Woodell said.
Woodell met KHOU 11 at what’s left of the once-thriving Arbor Oaks neighborhood, where street signs and other infrastructure remain without a single resident.
“It’s gone, but you know, these residents are so much safer,” Woodell said.
Similar buyouts have occurred all over Harris County over the years, but not all former residential sites have become something new.
In this case, 68 acres will be transformed into a series of stormwater detention basins funded through various sources and totaling some $40 million.
It’s all designed to mitigate future flooding for hundreds of other homes in the vicinity of Vogel Creek and the White Oak Bayou watershed.
“It will be much better for surrounding neighborhoods,” Woodell said.
The homes that once lined now-deserted streets in Arbor Oaks were built years before stricter standards were put into place in the 1980s.
Today, it’s likely developers would not be allowed to build in such a flood-prone place.
“Currently, Harris County has some of the strictest development criteria in the nation,” Woodell said. “But homes that were built prior to that sometimes were just built in the wrong place.”
And while some relocations in cases like this are done reluctantly, at least no other homes on the now long-empty lots will ever flood again.
Groundbreaking on the Arbor Oaks project is expected in the coming months with an estimated completion date in late 2026.