Urge Obama to Have NOAA & Army Corps of Engineers Draw Plan to Prevent Houston Hurricane Disaster
- by: Susan V
- recipient: President Obama
Located on the Gulf Coast west of New Orleans, Houston may be the next Katrina - with even worse consequences. Experts say there’s no “maybe” about it - that it’s not a matter of “if” but “when.” But still nothing concrete has been done to prevent such a disaster.
The certain flooding of the Houston Ship Channel, from a direct hit by a strong storm, would wreak havoc on the entire US economy and on the environment - and result in thousands of deaths - says a recent report by ProPublica.
The 52-mile Houston Ship Channel is lined by many major oil refineries chemical manufacturing plants whose destruction would cause prices of fuel and many consumer goods to soar. Even worse, storage tank leaks of oil and chemicals into the Gulf would be devastating for the environment.
Houston was given a second chance in 2008 when Hurricane Ike suddenly changed course. But instead of taking that opportunity to prepare for the ultimate direct hit, “more people and businesses have moved into low-lying areas, making the area more vulnerable than ever to storms.” says ProPublica. Even though there’s been studies and talk for years about how to prevent a future catastrophe, nothing concrete has been accomplished.
This potential economic and ecological disaster must be avoided at all costs. Sign this petition to urge President Obama to intervene and have NOAA and the Corps of Engineers come up with plans to prevent a hurricane disaster in Houston - before it’s too late.
Dear President Obama:
ProPublica has taken considerable time and effort to develop a project to show what awaits Houston and the rest of the country if something is not done to prevent such outcomes when, not if, a major storm makes direct landfall.
Its “Hell and High Water" is a multimedia presentation that allows the public to visualize the effects of several storm scenarios, with and without protections in place.
“One of the simulations shows what would have happened if Hurricane Ike had made landfall near San Luis Pass, south of Galveston – as meteorologists originally predicted it would. Because of the way winds and storm surge would have moved, that storm would have inundated much of the Ship Channel.”
In addition to the economic and ecological devastation that would result frpm severe flooding of the Houston Ship Channel, estimates predict that because of Houston’s size as the fourth largest city in America, and the way the lowlands have been developed, far more lives would be lost than occurred with the Katrina disaster.
ProPublica makes the point that when the Katrina’s floods devastated New Orleans, and President Bush claimed he didn’t think “anybody anticipated the breach of the levees,” that claim wasn’t true. It says scientists and two New Orleans Times-Picayune reporters had warned years earlier “that it was 'only a matter of time' before a major hurricane would hit…and breach the city’s complex of levees. But the warnings, as we know, were not heeded.
Therefore, I, the undersigned, and others who support this petition urge you, Mr. President, not to repeat President Bush’s mistakes and take immediate action to prevent a hurricane disaster in Houston that would cause many more deaths than those that occurred with Katrina and likely devastate the US economy.
Thanks for your time and consideration of this urgent request.
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