By Jasper Morris
“As the climate changes, disasters aren’t just becoming more severe, but also more frequent.”
Nowhere is this notion currently more apparent than in Houston. Two years after Houston was hit by Hurricane Harvey, causing extensive flooding and billions of dollars in damages, the city was again targeted last month by Tropical Storm Imelda. While Harvey was the bigger storm, Imelda charged through a city still rebuilding.
Since 2017, city officials in Houston have been tirelessly trying to adapt to climate change by implementing new building codes, an increased number of high-water rescue vehicles, and large-scale infrastructure innovation. After Imelda, Houston now faces a “10-fold increase in spending” to assess new damages.
The situation in Houston indicates just one part of this increasing problem. Year after year, the same cities and locations are subject to natural disasters, made worse and more frequent as climate change escalates. Will current efforts to combat climate change be enough? Or more importantly, will they be implemented fast enough?
Read more about Houston and the aftermath of Tropical Storm Imelda in The New York Times.