Houston Tollway and west of Interstate 45.

DEVELOPING STORM: Build, flood, rebuild: flood insurance's expensive cycle

And more than 310 of 2,500 have left Bear Creek Village, which hugs the northwest corner of the Addicks Reservoir in Harris County. For some there, it was the third flood in a decade.

Steve White's job relocated him to Houston almost 13 years ago. He moved his family onto Pagehurst Drive in Bear Creek, with its tall pines, wide oaks and neat front lawns. "It was really pretty," White said.

Their first flood hit in 2008; their second in 2016. Then Harvey filled the house with five feet of water, and the family had to be rescued by fishing boat.

At first, the Whites thought they'd rebuild. But at some point, White's wife, Karen, asked ifthe purchase of more than 150 flooded houses by the end of January, Spitz said. He sold mostly to local investors, he said, but he also fielded heavy interest from investment funds.

"We get calls all day long," Spitz said in February. "'We need to spend all this money. We need to spend all this money.'"

Chris Shelton, CEO of Las Vegas-based Velocity Acquisition Capital, flew to Houston. He has spent hundreds of millions on bargain properties in Arizona, California, Nevada and, after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans.

"Anytime there's any type of natural disaster," Shelton said, "it creates a little bit of opportunity for us."

Shelton now has at least 70 Harvey-flooded homes, he said, and hopes to buy about 350 over the next 18 months. He plans to fix and rent