Excellence in Investigative Reporting
ABOUT THE WORK: The Houston Chronicle combed through years of property records across multiple counties and found that builders have developed more than 65,000 new properties inside Greater Houston’s floodplains since Harvey. That figure represents roughly one in every five homes built in the region over the past eight years. The stories combined data analysis with on-the-ground reporting, following families who bought into brand-new neighborhoods only to see their homes flood within months, suffering financial losses they say no one warned them about.
The second batch of stories examined how developers and industry groups sought to influence local policy. Using internal documents and communications obtained through public records requests, along with a first-of-its-kind analysis of a decade of local campaign finance reports, it was found that many of the same companies building flood-prone communities were also working to influence key development decisions. Records show that they did so through routine campaign donations and behind-the-scenes networking, as well as advisory roles on policy boards that raised questions about potential conflicts of interest.
Another set of articles looked at systemic gaps in the region’s flood protection rules. The reporting revealed how developers have taken advantage of a longstanding engineering loophole to avoid building detention ponds designed to hold back stormwater, cutting costs and maximizing profits while pushing runoff onto neighboring communities. Reporters also researched and visualized the patchwork of local regulations in Greater Houston, exposing how more than a dozen cities and counties still do not meet minimum flood mitigation standards.
After the Chronicle’s reporting, Houston City Hall and Harris County Commissioners Court both passed resolutions expressing concern about the project’s flood risks. And the Texas General Land Office, which had planned to invest $140 million in the proposed development as a partner, said it would not move forward with the project.
Yilun Cheng is an investigative reporter for the Houston Chronicle. Her reporting focuses on examining what the Houston region’s continued expansion means for real estate development, disaster infrastructure and government accountability. She has written extensively about how tax break programs meant to promote affordable housing have enriched developers while doing little for low-income renters, how outdated floodplain maps left entire neighborhoods exposed during major storms, and how the country’s disaster insurance schemes have widened the gap between families who can afford to recover and those who cannot. Before joining the investigative team, Yilun covered City Hall and local politics for the newsroom. She tracked corruption scandals, exposed wasteful spending, investigated workplace abuse allegations and explained how broken infrastructure affects Houston families. Using public records and data, she also uncovered how the city of Houston repeatedly violated their own property laws, revealed chronic absenteeism by Harris County’s elected voter registrar, and examined how the flawed ShotSpotter program slowed police response times and heightened fears among Black and brown residents. Prior to Houston, Yilun reported for the Columbus Dispatch as a Report for America fellow, writing enterprise stories about the immigration system and marginalized communities. Her work helped immigrant crime victims receive police assistance, exposed illegal discrimination against voucher holders and sparked community support for a Liberian soccer coach working to uplift children back home through the discipline and joy of the sport. Yilun studied political science as an undergrad at the University of California, Berkeley and as a grad student at Columbia University. She later earned her master’s in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Her writing has also appeared in Slate, the Chicago Reader and Borderless Magazine, and she has contributed to major investigative projects at the Washington Post.
Honorable Mention: Boer Deng, Jane Tang, “He escaped China. Harassment followed him to a New York courtroom,” Radio Free Asia
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