But we do have a lot of "land use" regulations. Right now, new construction of any kind has to have analysis of paved area and water retention area has to be included in the construction plan.
This is why so many newer residential developments here have "Lake" in their names - there's always some sort of retention area to offset the new pavement, and the developers make this into a feature.
This certainly hasn't always been so, and the retention regulations don't affect old construction.
Harris County Flood Control District has been purchasing some large areas of land in strategic places throughout runoff zones to build major retention areas, but it's a work in process.
This event is beyond any reasonable planning, though. Some areas on the south side of the city were reportedly getting 10+ inches of rain per hour for 3-4 hours Saturday night.
News just said the this is being classified as a 800 year flood event. But considering we've had serious flooding 3 times in 3 years now, I think all the old benchmarks have been *washed away* 
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