Reveal Profile picture
Jan 9, 2018 15 tweets 6 min read Read on X
1/ In the wake Hurricane #Harvey, reporter @neenareports set out to understand how 14,000 homes got built *inside* two Houston reservoirs. revealnews.org/episodes/the-t…
2/ More specifically, why had the Army Corps of Engineers allotted 50 square miles to flood – but only bought 38 square miles?
3/ People live in those other 12 square miles, after all. And about 5,000 of their homes flooded during #Harvey.
4/ But do residents know they live in the middle of a reservoir? @neenareports put that question to Richard Long, from the Army Corps of Engineers. His answer:
5/ Realtor Sam Chaudhry doesn’t know he’s sold more than 50 homes that are *actually inside* a reservoir. @neenareports asks him to read a county document she found proving it:
6/ Then, she met up with Steve Costello, Houston’s “flood czar.” Here’s how that exchange went ...
7/ Costello pleads ignorance. Except here's the thing: It was actually Costello’s private engineering firm that approved plans for some of the troubled developments.

Neena brought that up, of course.
8/ They go back and forth for a bit, and Costello finally says he doesn’t want to look backward. And anyway, county governments are responsible for this mess, too.
9/ OK. Fair enough. On to the county government!

Neena caught up with Bob Hebert, the top elected official in Fort Bend County, Texas.

And she “brought receipts,” as the kids say ...
10/ Bob Hebert accused Neena and @TexasTribune of not paying attention to this issue until #Harvey hit. But, actually, @neenareports has had her eye on it for quite awhile …
11/ In a collaboration with @propublica, she and @KiahCollier wrote about it in December of 2016. texastribune.org/boomtown-flood…
12/ They also took a close look at the integrity of two massive dams near Houston. texastribune.org/2017/08/29/q-w…
13/ Since #Harvey, local officials have requested $6 Billion from Congress to buy out and demolish homes in the reservoirs. There’s no telling if it’ll ever be approved.
14/ Meanwhile, people keep buying homes in the flood zone.
15/ Like this story? Then you'll definitely like The Weekly Reveal newsletter, too.

Get it here: revealnews.org/newsletter

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More from @reveal

Oct 8, 2018
1/ NEW: Every year, three-quarters of America’s domesticated honeybees are trucked into California for the state’s almond harvest.

It’s the world’s largest annual managed pollination event.

It has also created a thriving market for thieves. revealnews.org/article/califo…
2/ Almond growers need two honeybee colonies per acre during the height of pollination season. And California’s total almond acreage has nearly tripled in the past 20 years, a spike due in large part to foreign demand. bls.gov/opub/btn/volum…
3/ Hives have never been more valuable. The average seasonal rental price for one is $185, and that number is only expected to climb in the coming years. For beekeepers with thousands of hives, it can be quite a payday.
beeculture.com/2018-almond-po…
Read 10 tweets
Sep 27, 2018
1/ Ahead of today’s #KavanaughHearings, some, including @realdonaldtrump, asked why Dr. Christine Blasey Ford didn’t report her experience sooner.

There are a lot of reasons victims of sexual abuse don’t immediately speak up. And a lot of reporting on the subject, too.
2/ First: Context. 1 in 10 adults – 24 million people – were sexually abused before they reached 18. Yet less than 40 percent of children who are sexually abused tell anyone. And a fraction of those cases end up being reported to authorities.

revealnews.org/article/tennes…
3/ Reporter @tennesseejane has firsthand experience with this. It took her decades to tell police that her gymnastics coach sexually abused her as a child.

Her story is at the center of this August 2016 episode:

revealnews.org/episodes/dropp…
Read 14 tweets
Sep 27, 2018
1/ Last year, hundreds of people were sickened by an E. coli outbreak after eating lettuce grown in Arizona. 27 suffered kidney failure. Five died.

Six months before that, Trump’s FDA had shelved rules designed to prevent this very sort of incident. revealnews.org/article/5-peop…
2/ William Whitt escaped with his life. But his sickness was harrowing. He suffered days of diarrhea and vomited blood. His body swelled like a balloon. He was given painkillers every 10 minutes.
3/ The culprit? Salad.

It turns out that leafy greens are particularly vulnerable to bacteria. And a gaping hole in the U.S. food safety system contributes to the problem. Produce growers don’t have to test the water they use on their crops.
Read 20 tweets
Sep 17, 2018
1/ We're beyond honored to be recognized for @ONA's Knight Award for Public Service for our All Work. No Pay series: revealnews.org/blog/reveal-wi…
2/ We want to take this opportunity to congratulate all the finalists, whose work is an inspiration.

Do yourself a favor and check out their stories.
3/ The @washingtonpost was dogged in its reporting on links between the Russian government and Trump officials. awards.journalists.org/entries/hackin…
Read 5 tweets
Sep 13, 2018
1/ New with @marshallproj and @USAToday: In several states, crime victims can seek compensation from a public fund. But states reserve the right to deny some requests. And in Ohio and Florida, black people were banned disproportionately. revealnews.org/article/the-vi…
2/ Here’s how it works. “Victim compensation funds,” as they’re called, are designed to help crime victims pay for things like loved ones’ funerals.

But in some states, you can’t get access to the money if you have a criminal conviction.
3/ In Ohio, where the rules are particularly stringent, you can be denied for even being *suspected* of one. And unlike in other states, a denial can stem from a juvenile crime. Those records are usually expunged.
Read 13 tweets
Sep 13, 2018
1/ Crashed squad cars. Naps on the job. Big paychecks.

Welcome to the El Paso Police Department’s dangerous overtime habit.
revealnews.org/article/office…
2/ Reveal Investigative Fellow @ElidaSPerezEPT, of @elpasotimes, analyzed five years’ worth of overtime records.

She found more than 450 cases in which officers worked at least 16 hours a day. And that was just among the top 10 earners.
3/ Researchers say no officer should work more than 12 hours a day, much less 16.

It can lead to things like:

* poor decision-making.
* greater risk of car accidents.
* a weakened ability to de-escalate volatile encounters.
Read 15 tweets

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