Independence Day flooding a test of city's storm preparedness

Rocking Robin Guitars and Music is rolling back to normal after this latest bout of flooding. It's a familiar refrain.

It's flooded three other times says owner Bart Whittrock. The last time was during Harvey.

"It wasn’t really any worse than it was yesterday which was very surprising," said owner Bart Whittrock.

Whittrock says they had a few inches of water in the front part of the store. It was far worse in the storage area.

"In many ways this was a good trial run," Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says.

As bad as it was, Mayor Turner says it was a good test of lessons learned from Harvey.

"The preparation that we put in place worked and we will continue to work to refine as we go along," Mayor Turner says.

The mayor says they communicated with the public more rapidly to give warnings before homes flooded. They quickly deployed assets like fire trucks to block off flooded roads and intersections to prevent drivers from entering, and they released water from Lake Houston proactively. He says canceling the Freedom over Texas event kept people away from treacherous flooded areas of Eleanor Tinsley Park.

Mayor Turner says he thinks they're much better prepared for the next big one thanks to Harvey. Whittrock says there's only so much anyone can really do.

"I don't think anything could've helped us yesterday. Houston's flat. Houston's broad. There's a lot of concrete. You wait for it to go down, that's all you can do," Whittrock says.