“The AquaDam is good for 30 inches, so we thought we were pretty well covered.”

Some Houston homeowners have used unique tactics to try to beat Harvey's floodwaters. And News 88.7 caught up with Sam Craven, to see how his Meyerland property fared after he spent $13,000 dollars to have a tube barrier around the house.

It's called an AquaDam—400 feet of refillable tubing, that curves around the house.

His property flooded in the Memorial Day and Tax Day floods, and he said he wanted to try to prevent the inevitable.

"In previous floods, the most we ever got was 12 to 14 inches or so," said Craven. "The AquaDam is good for 30 inches, so we thought we were pretty well covered."

Craven's company buys and sells houses; and this Meyerland home was under contract to be sold, two weeks after Harvey hit.

"The AquaDam worked really good for the first 30 inches, but we ended up having 5 feet in the house," said Craven.

And now, the flood-damaged staging furniture is in a pile on the front lawn, the house is being completely gutted, and floodwaters are even still in the custom kitchen drawers.

Craven said he'll probably end up selling at lot value.

"Meyerland will continue to be a fantastic neighborhood, but for the neighborhood to turn around and find its legs, people are going to have to build new, they're going to have to get FEMA grants, or they're going to have to pay to raise their house," said Craven.

He says he’s applied for a FEMA grant to elevate the home- but it was denied last year, and he suspects it will be denied again this year.

Subscribe to Today in Houston Fill out the form below to subscribe our new daily editorial newsletter from the HPM Newsroom. Email* First Name Last Name * required