From the Texas Tribune: The government wants to buy their flood-prone homes. But these Texans aren’t moving. In Harris County, the flood control district wants to buy properties along the San Jacinto River that have flooded repeatedly. Some residents aren’t leaving.

“Nearly all of the district’s buyouts are voluntary. If an owner doesn’t want to sell, the district can’t force them out. Buyouts make sense for some people who can’t be protected from floods, said Alessandra Jerolleman, director of research for the Center on Environment, Land and Law at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.

But buyouts might not provide lower-income people enough money to get somewhere safer, she said, and they could lose important support like child care from nearby family or neighbors. “It’s not as though it’s a guarantee of reducing risks to that family,” Jerolleman said.”