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N. fowleri is difficult to contract but it's often fatal when it happens. This is the least of their problems. LJ is between Houston and Corpus, which is a wea

N. fowleri is difficult to contract but it's often fatal when it happens. This is the least of their problems. LJ is between Houston and Corpus, which is a weather events, floods, and industrial petrochem disaster area. Honestly, it would be better long-term to relocate residents who are in the paths of increasingly-powerful and numerous hurricanes to the northwest rather than taxpayers subsidizing time-and-time again the stupidity of allowing people to build and rebuild neighborhoods in flood plains and right next to oil refineries. Climate change.

koboll 6y ago
It's pretty simple to prevent neighborhoods from having to be "rebuilt" after a hurricane: require all construction to be concrete. Such laws are common in Florida and the Caribbean and probably need to be put in place along the Gulf Coast too.
- jofer 6y ago
  That would be counter-productive. The risk from hurricanes in this area (i.e. relatively inland western gulf coast) isn't wind. It's water. Build on stilts, not concrete. There's a reason we build the way we do here. We're not stupid. Concrete just _guarantees_ that the building is uninhabitable in 2-3 years due to the shrink-swell clays in the soils here. Wood flexes. Brick and concrete don't.
joehandzik 6y ago
Are we proposing to relocate every resident and business along the US gulf coast? I don't think Texas is more or less susceptible to hurricanes than the rest of the gulf. And from the looks of the northwest, there's a chance we'd be relocating folks into the path of worsening wildfires. Climate change is serious and we should respond with corresponding urgency, but let's not pretend that there's anywhere in the US that is 100% guaranteed to be a safe haven.
- jliptzin 6y ago
  The inland northeast (Upstate NY, Vermont, NH, Maine, etc) seems to be pretty well insulated from climate change for now.
  - Steltek 6y ago
    Maybe less than others but we're not unaffected. Boston is very susceptible to sea level rise and fisheries are going to be turned upside down from a warming ocean.
  - joehandzik 6y ago
    As someone who lives in the Houston metro area, I totally agree that there are places in the country better situated at the present moment. My broader point aligns with the other comment here - on the timeframe in which we'd think about these problems, virtually every area of the country will find itself wrestling with changing conditions, many of them with a net negative result. There was an interesting map I came across that tracked where climate change forecasts would move the "ideal zone" of habitation in North America - IIRC, quite a bit of the zone shifts into southern Canada and the northern midwest.
jofer 6y ago
Seriously?? Are you that ignorant and bigoted? Have you ever lived here? It's clear you have _zero_ knowledge of the area. What about SF or Seattle? The bay area is non-stop superfund sites, and unlike the gulf coast, there's _zero_ involvement from the companies that created the mess. Here, we have a few, but with _heavy_ mitigation from the companies involved. Y'all have absurd earthquake, fire, landslide, and drought risk. Let's turn that around... How about: "Evacuate the west coast. No one should be allowed to live in California, Oregon, or Washington. It's just a drain on taxpayers."
- fibers 6y ago
  > Seriously?? Are you that ignorant and bigoted? I don't think you can be bigoted against a region.
  - jofer 6y ago
    Given the comments I've repeatedly received due to my accent, I'd disagree. I'm a bit sick of being called an "ignorant hick" or a "fucking stupid redneck" just because everyone can tell where I grew up if they hear me speak. Yeah, I can be outspoken, but being told that because I'm disagreeing about something technical in a professional setting really gets under my skin, and it happens a lot. People on the east/west coast really do hold it against you if you're not from the east or west coast.
    - mmm_grayons 6y ago
      Seconded, and I don't have much of an accent at all (especially if I'm focusing on it). Even without that, east- and west-coast natives hear I'm from Texas and jump to the "stupid redneck" thing.
      - achenatx 6y ago
        I just wanted to corroborate this. Im originally from up north and have lived in texas for over 30 years and my brain still interprets a southern accent as ignorant/lack of education. I still have cognitive dissonance when I hear rocket scientists from nasa (houston) with southern accents.

koboll 6y ago

It's pretty simple to prevent neighborhoods from having to be "rebuilt" after a hurricane: require all construction to be concrete. Such laws are common in Florida and the Caribbean and probably need to be put in place along the Gulf Coast too.

jofer 6y ago
That would be counter-productive. The risk from hurricanes in this area (i.e. relatively inland western gulf coast) isn't wind. It's water. Build on stilts, not concrete. There's a reason we build the way we do here. We're not stupid. Concrete just _guarantees_ that the building is uninhabitable in 2-3 years due to the shrink-swell clays in the soils here. Wood flexes. Brick and concrete don't.

joehandzik 6y ago

Are we proposing to relocate every resident and business along the US gulf coast? I don't think Texas is more or less susceptible to hurricanes than the rest of the gulf. And from the looks of the northwest, there's a chance we'd be relocating folks into the path of worsening wildfires. Climate change is serious and we should respond with corresponding urgency, but let's not pretend that there's anywhere in the US that is 100% guaranteed to be a safe haven.

jliptzin 6y ago
The inland northeast (Upstate NY, Vermont, NH, Maine, etc) seems to be pretty well insulated from climate change for now.
- Steltek 6y ago
  Maybe less than others but we're not unaffected. Boston is very susceptible to sea level rise and fisheries are going to be turned upside down from a warming ocean.
- joehandzik 6y ago
  As someone who lives in the Houston metro area, I totally agree that there are places in the country better situated at the present moment. My broader point aligns with the other comment here - on the timeframe in which we'd think about these problems, virtually every area of the country will find itself wrestling with changing conditions, many of them with a net negative result. There was an interesting map I came across that tracked where climate change forecasts would move the "ideal zone" of habitation in North America - IIRC, quite a bit of the zone shifts into southern Canada and the northern midwest.

jofer 6y ago

Seriously?? Are you that ignorant and bigoted? Have you ever lived here? It's clear you have _zero_ knowledge of the area. What about SF or Seattle? The bay area is non-stop superfund sites, and unlike the gulf coast, there's _zero_ involvement from the companies that created the mess. Here, we have a few, but with _heavy_ mitigation from the companies involved. Y'all have absurd earthquake, fire, landslide, and drought risk. Let's turn that around... How about: "Evacuate the west coast. No one should be allowed to live in California, Oregon, or Washington. It's just a drain on taxpayers."

fibers 6y ago
> Seriously?? Are you that ignorant and bigoted? I don't think you can be bigoted against a region.
- jofer 6y ago
  Given the comments I've repeatedly received due to my accent, I'd disagree. I'm a bit sick of being called an "ignorant hick" or a "fucking stupid redneck" just because everyone can tell where I grew up if they hear me speak. Yeah, I can be outspoken, but being told that because I'm disagreeing about something technical in a professional setting really gets under my skin, and it happens a lot. People on the east/west coast really do hold it against you if you're not from the east or west coast.
  - mmm_grayons 6y ago
    Seconded, and I don't have much of an accent at all (especially if I'm focusing on it). Even without that, east- and west-coast natives hear I'm from Texas and jump to the "stupid redneck" thing.
    - achenatx 6y ago
      I just wanted to corroborate this. Im originally from up north and have lived in texas for over 30 years and my brain still interprets a southern accent as ignorant/lack of education. I still have cognitive dissonance when I hear rocket scientists from nasa (houston) with southern accents.