As the storm raged on outside, my family anxiously waited to see if the water creeping up the driveway would make it inside our home. When the rain finally subsided we ventured outside to see the damage. My dad got his kayaks out and we paddled down the street to my grandmother’s house to check on her. We were joined by other neighbors with canoes and small boats. The water reached as high as my waist.
Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston area August 17th, 2017, a week before my sophomore year of high school was supposed to start. Harvey was a category 4 hurricane that caused severe flooding throughout the Texas and Louisiana gulf coast. Many areas of Houston received around 40 to 50 inches of rain in a three day period. One town near the Louisiana border received 60 inches of rain in total. The lives of many Houstonians were put on pause for months. The city postponed the first day of school for three weeks.
My family and I got lucky. Our house just happened to be on a slight incline, preventing us from flooding. Most of my neighbors and friends had their homes and belongings destroyed by flood waters. The next few months were full of hurricane relief efforts and helping neighbors rip out water-damaged drywall. The entire city smelled like mold from the damage.
I found it interesting how the storm affected architectural decisions and the housing market. After that year, many homes were torn down and replaced with taller houses. A lot of the small bungalow houses in my neighborhood were lifted onto stilts. Houses on my inclined street skyrocketed in price for surviving Harvey. All around the city has changed dramatically since Harvey. The city has invested a lot of money into flood mitigation strategies and disaster relief. Climate change and over-development has made flooding in my hometown more and more common.
I think it's really interesting what you mentioned about how real estate value changed after the hurricane. It's sad to think that our generation is going to have to consider climate change/natural disasters when figuring out where to live after college more than generations past. I'll be interested to see if in a couple of decades from now if "hazard-proof" features will be main selling points for houses as climate change worsens.
ReplyDeleteI also think touching on the architectural change within Houston is super interesting. I wonder if the city's development could escalate to a sort of positive feedback loop, where if the construction/reconstruction becomes major and consistent, then the emissions released contribute to climate change. Then the atmosphere creates a warmer climate, which creates an environment where stronger hurricanes thrive more, which leads to the need for more reconstruction and city development.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you focused on how housing was impacted by Harvey -- both how architecture changed after the hurricane, and how the prices for the houses on the inclined streets increased. I think it's really interesting how so many people might not even think about stuff like the height of houses until it becomes extremely relevant. It's also so wild that your dad was able to kayak down the street!!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to think about how our population is continuing to move to the coasts, even as hazards such as hurricanes are becoming more and more prevalent and are requiring more money from us and from our government. I wonder if this trend will begin to reverse as more people experience events similar to the one you write about here, or if people will continue to bear the financial burden of increased climate related crises. Will we see a new trend where land in relatively climate safe areas becomes more desirable and more expensive than coastal land?
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