“Boomtown, Flood Town” Wins Editor & Publisher Award for Best Use of Data

Oct. 25, 2017, 6:12 p.m. EDT

Editor & Publisher announced today that “Boomtown, Flood Town,” a collaboration between ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, won an EPPY Award in the “Best Use of Data/Infographics” category.

The story by Al Shaw from ProPublica, Kiah Coller from The Texas Tribune and Neena Satija from The Texas Tribune and Reveal exposes the needless, often unknown risk Houston residents face as major storms cause massive flooding. It specifically focuses on how Houston’s unchecked development is creating short-term economic gains for some while dramatically increasing flood risks for everyone.

The team combined geographic data obtained from local governments, academic researchers, FEMA, USGS and the Houston-Galveston Area Council to create a series of interactive maps that explains how successively worse storms, sprawling development and the loss of coastal prairie endangers lower lying, often older parts of the city.

See a list of all 2017 EPPY Award winners here.

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