HOUSTON—There are preparations underway all up and down the Texas coast.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, director of the county’s office of Homeland Security and OEM, and Houston Mayor Bill White say that Houstonians should be ready for the storm.

“The citizens of Houston, Harris County and our region should be ready and watching the weather,” said Mayor Bill White.

Mayor White said that the city’s essential employees will be working through the storm. He said emergency personnel is on standby should their services be needed.

He urged business owners to help employees prepare for the storm by letting them go home to get their personal business in order and said we should look out for those who may need help.

“If there’s a senior and they have no relatives around them, just check up on them. The best thing we have is the system of neighbors helping neighbors,” said White.

White also urged citizens to secure items which could be picked up by the storms. He said our city is ready for the storm.

As Houston gets ready for Edouard, one expert says not much has been done since Tropical Storm Allison to keep the city from flooding.

Of course, we all depend on the network of bayous to channel the water.

Flood expert say we haven’t seen much improvement in the system since Allison hit seven years ago.

It was then that flooded bayous swamped parts of the city        

Water filled sections of I-45, I-10 and Highway 59.

It also shut down the Texas Medical Center for several hours.

Allison caused more than $2 billion in damage to the hospital network. 

Rice professor Philip Bedient has studied area flooding for 30 years. He says the city’s rapid growth has hurt the city’s ability to channel water.

“We have overbuilt the city of Houston.  There’s no question about that. You go down to Clear Lake and if you go down to Braes Bayou where these systems that use to take ten to 12 inches without too much trouble, they are now in a situation where many can’t take more than 6 to 8 inches of rain,” said Bedient.

He’s also working with Texas universities to form a Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation Center.

That center will work to provide the latest, best information to local agencies so decisions can be made.

It should be operational next Spring.

In Kemah, residents are getting ready for Edouard's fury.

Residents are boarding up their homes, securing their boats and buying supplies just in case.