In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike -- which caused more than $30 billion and killed more than 30 people -- cities across the region have boasted about their rebuilding efforts.
But this week experts with Rice
University's Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters
Center said preparedness efforts may have even worsened in the last few years,
due in part to growth in the Houston Channel that is occurring without
appropriate hurricane safeguards.
Exports for the state of Texas --
which have prompted the dramatic growth of industry in the Houston Ship Channel
-- have exceeded even those of New York City. While the growth is an economic
engine for the state, some researchers worry that a direct-hit hurricane would
wreak havoc on the channel's chemical and oil storage tanks, leading to spills
and an environmental catastrophe.
Researchers with the SSPEED Center
say if Hurricane Ike made everyone realize just how exposed and vulnerable the
Houston-Galveston area is in the face of a major storm. If the hurricane had
made landfall just 50 miles down the Texas coast, the devastation and death
caused by what was already one of the most destructive hurricanes in U.S.
history would have quadrupled.
In a book written and edited by the
research center, Lessons from Hurricane Ike, Director Phil Bedient
and his research team say Ike made everyone realize just how exposed and
vulnerable the Houston-Galveston area is in the face of a major storm.
The book gathers the work some of
the premier researchers in the fields of hurricane prediction and impact,
summarizing it in accessible language accompanied by abundant illustrations --
not just graphs and charts -- but dramatic photos and informative maps.
Check it out here (link to book's
page on website).
Read more about the recent
discussion of hurricane preparedness in Texas Tribune.
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