ok, I understood an act of nature, but when do community leaders get held responsible when they fail to mitigate, year after year & over and over, the ravages these recurring acts of nature devastate communities costing this country's economy billions of dollars and doesn't count on the effect on the city's citizens having to deal w/o utilities, and so forth.
quote
Meanwhile, unchecked development in the Houston area is wiping out the pasture land that once soaked up floodwaters.
“More people die here than anywhere else from floods,” Sam Brody, a Texas A&M University at Galveston researcher, told us last year. “More property per capita is lost here. And the problem’s getting worse.”
Many scientists, experts and federal officials say Houston's explosive growth is largely to blame....
As millions have flocked to the metropolitan area in recent decades, local officials have largely rejected stricter building regulations, allowing developers to pave over acres of prairie land that once absorbed large amounts of rainwater. In the decade after Tropical Storm Allison, about 167,000 acres were developed in Harris County, home to Houston.
Some local officials flat-out disagree with the scientific evidence that shows development has worsened the effects of big storms. Mike Talbott, the former longtime head of the local flood control agency, told The Texas Tribune and ProPublica last year that large-scale public works projects — like drainage basins — are reversing all the effects of Houston’s recent growth (His successor shares that view). unquote
while not close to being an expert, i must disagree w/talbott, et al., when i watch news showing rain water spew up out of sewers to massively flood Houston's streets.
oh, and let's not fail to mention New Orleans which city leaders have said quite a few of their life saving pumps are off line or out of order.
who is being held responsible?
quote
Meanwhile, unchecked development in the Houston area is wiping out the pasture land that once soaked up floodwaters.
“More people die here than anywhere else from floods,” Sam Brody, a Texas A&M University at Galveston researcher, told us last year. “More property per capita is lost here. And the problem’s getting worse.”
Many scientists, experts and federal officials say Houston's explosive growth is largely to blame....
As millions have flocked to the metropolitan area in recent decades, local officials have largely rejected stricter building regulations, allowing developers to pave over acres of prairie land that once absorbed large amounts of rainwater. In the decade after Tropical Storm Allison, about 167,000 acres were developed in Harris County, home to Houston.
Some local officials flat-out disagree with the scientific evidence that shows development has worsened the effects of big storms. Mike Talbott, the former longtime head of the local flood control agency, told The Texas Tribune and ProPublica last year that large-scale public works projects — like drainage basins — are reversing all the effects of Houston’s recent growth (His successor shares that view). unquote
while not close to being an expert, i must disagree w/talbott, et al., when i watch news showing rain water spew up out of sewers to massively flood Houston's streets.
oh, and let's not fail to mention New Orleans which city leaders have said quite a few of their life saving pumps are off line or out of order.
who is being held responsible?
