Houston flooded in part because of poor planning a few years ago (2001) and had an incompetent mayor.
We have close to one party rule here as well as corruption that focuses civic dollars in the hands of a few connected developers.
They partnered with Ken Lay to get a 51% victory on the stadium referendum.
The same puppet master, Mayor Bob, who got run out by term limits has chosen his next two successors, both Clinton cronies.
Houston's only daily paper serves these interests and waited until after Mayor Lee P. Brown entered his final term to dump criticism on him and basically ask "how did this fool get elected three times?"
Tom DeLay is the AntiChrist to the Comical and they spare no opportunity to vilify him. In part this stems from his opposition to federal funding of their death train trolly.
New Orleans was a rotten place but Houston isn't heaven.
Are you nuts?
No city in the world could handle 26 inches of rain in a 24 hour period.
Tropical storm Alicia was an anamoly, and in no way reflects negatively on Houston's "planning."
Houston has its problems, as does any major city. But the ability of the city to mobilize and set up the Astrodome to accommodate 11,000 people, in 24 hours, is nothing short of miraculous, to say nothing of dispersing another 12,000 people in other shelters.