It's hard to find another county in America that has accomplished more buyouts than Harris County. Since 1985, the Harris County Flood Control District - the main entity managing buyouts in the Houston area - has spent $342 million to purchase about 3,100 properties. But thanks to a decades-long trend of increased flooding in Houston, caused by a combination of urban sprawl, lax building regulations and intense rainstorms linked to climate change, buyouts haven't kept up with the destruction.