South Houston is a warren-like maze of dead and rotten suburbia, punctuated with the occasional dense cluster of industrial buildings and strip malls. The few nuclear weapons which struck Houston devastated the region, blasting most of the timber frame homes to little more than shrapnel and ash. In the years following the war, flood waters rushed in, turning much of the area to marshlands as water flooded into the exposed basements.
The region was home to many fallout shelters, both authorized and unauthorized. Some built by Raoul and his friends form the hardware store over a weekend, and some which were little more than preemptive graves. In other words, the ghoul count was high in the months following the Great War. Combined with the lack of shelter, food, and supplies, anyone with any sense moved out of the area, mostly to the north where the larger buildings of the city center still stood.
Over the years, the area became a human-free zone for all kinds of mutant life to thrive. Including the dreaded Stirge, a massive mutant mosquito capable ot taking enough blood to kill a grown man with one bite. These along with other abominations were simply never culled or even encroached on for almost a century given the sheer nothing to be found within South Houston.
In the modern era, South Houston is overrun with dangerous creatures. There are treasures to be had within the zone since next to no looting has occurred within the region, but the cost of those treasures is far too high for most people to be willing to make the trip, let alone fight off the wild creatures.
Despite the hazards, there is some habitation within South Houston, primarily within the north western quarter of the zone. The community of Southside, built atop the ruins of the old Southside neighborhood eeks out a reasonable existence by growing and selling various mutant strains of hemp (mostly the smokable kind) which grow in the swamp-fields to the east of the old town hall.
The Red Line cult operates a large plantation south of Southside, growing all manner of chem ingredients, along with a little food. While no one willingly goes to visit the plantation, it is none the less there, and a permanent fixture within South Houston.