Planners in Houston who have denied climate changes have continued on a path of more development, insisting they can mitigate flood impacts by building more infrastructure. This has made the situation immeasurably worse. And if there had been less rain, some places wouldn't have flooded at all. Once a dam is overtopped, things get much worse. The notion that a few inches or a foot more rain or sea level rise shouldn't make much difference are terribly wrong, and Houston will be paying a terrible price.