Greater Houston often associates resilience with hurricanes, floods and the work required to prepare for and recover from major storms. A new regional resilience case study from the Greater Houston Partnership in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group points to a broader story: the systems that help Houston withstand disruption are the same systems that support its growth and competitiveness every day.
The case study examines roughly a decade of progress, investment and remaining challenges across seven critical systems that underpin the region: power, communications, water and wastewater, stormwater and flood management, transportation, healthcare and emergency response.
Together, they provide a baseline for understanding not only how Houston responds when disruption occurs, but what it takes to support the region’s long-term economic growth.
Just as importantly, the research makes clear that Houston is not starting from zero. Significant public and private investment have already strengthened critical systems across the region. The opportunity now is to keep learning from disruption, investing in stronger capabilities, and improving how those systems perform together.
A Region Shaped by Risk and Investment
Houston’s exposure to severe weather is not new. It’s also closely connected to the geography that helps power the region’s economy. Access to the Gulf Coast and Port Houston supports energy, manufacturing, logistics, trade and other industries central to Greater Houston’s economic strength.
That advantage also brings natural exposure.
The frequency and scale of natural disasters affecting the region have increased over roughly the past 25 years, with more than $250 billion in estimated damages from major events since 2000.
At the same time, Houston has made significant investments to become more resilient. Following Tropical Storm Allison, the Texas Medical Center undertook extensive structural hardening, including an 8.5-million-gallon detention tank and more than 170 submarine-style doors. Harris County voters approved a $2.5 billion bond program supporting more than 200 flood mitigation projects, while more than $600 million has gone toward improvements across the county’s bayou network.
Progress extends beyond flood mitigation. Across the power system, for example, more than 40% of power lines are underground and more than 60,000 poles have been weatherized, while more than 600 intelligent switching devices are helping strengthen reliability and restoration capabilities.
Those investments reflect an important mindset: Houston learns from disruption, invests based on what we learn and improves the systems the region depends on.
Seven Systems, One Regional Economy
Power enables communications. Transportation moves workers, goods and emergency resources. Water supports homes, businesses and healthcare facilities. Communications connect infrastructure operators and the public during disruptions.
Regional resilience is interconnected. One critical system’s performance can affect the others, impacting the businesses and people that depend on them.
The case study also identifies opportunities to strengthen that connectivity, including more intentional business continuity planning, greater private-sector participation in preparedness and stronger information sharing across sectors.
That matters because resilience does not mean critical services will never be interrupted. Regional systems must continue becoming stronger and recover faster, while businesses also prepare their own people and operations to continue through periods of disruption.
Resilience as a Long-Term Value Proposition
For businesses, reliable infrastructure supports operations, supply chains and continuity. For residents and workers, those same systems shape mobility, safety and quality of life.
And for a region competing for companies, talent and investment, confidence in the systems that make everyday life and commerce possible matters.
Greater Houston has already invested significantly in strengthening those systems. The next opportunity is to ensure they work together, and to make that progress part of Houston’s economic story.
Get Involved
Building regional resilience requires the organizations that own, operate and rely on Houston’s critical systems to work together.
The Greater Houston Partnership brings those stakeholders together to identify shared challenges, strengthen coordination and advance solutions that support a more resilient and competitive region.
If your company or institution is thinking deeply about resilience — through infrastructure, business continuity, emergency preparedness, technology or investment — we invite you to be part of the conversation.
Learn more at houston.org/regional-resilience.
If you are interested in learning more about the regional resilience case study, contact Kate Weir, Vice President of Regional Resilience, Greater Houston Partnership, at kweir@houston.org.