Hey HN, thank you to Federal taxpayers, who funded matching grants to bayou and watershed changes that, even in an incomplete state, have saved many houses and people. The article focuses on an incomplete big set piece that if fully funded would have likely starved the myriad smaller improvements that have made life better for a large number of people and done nothing for this week's disaster.<p>Everywhere I go I see the things people have done to mitigate weather events:
* commercial buildings with high water dams
* freeway underpass pumping stations
* new suburban neighborhoods and commercial centers with large water retention zones that become parks and playing fields in the 99% of the time they aren't underwater
* infill housing in existing neighborhoods that is raised on piers to protect people without displacing water needlessly
* regional sized water retention ponds for established neighborhoods that have become wetlands for migratory waterfowl and local wildlife.<p>Is there a lot left to be done? Sure. Could what is being done be done better? Sure, we learn all the time. I think learning is the reason why the current semi-organic approach is sound. The glass may be half empty or half full, but the fill rate is moving in a direction of increased storm resilience (which this week is toward empty for sure ).
Three Years After Sandy, Is New York Prepared for the Next Big Storm?
<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29102015/three-years-after-sandy-new-york-prepared-next-big-storm" rel="nofollow">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29102015/three-years-afte...</a><p>California ill-prepared for the Big One, experts say
<a href="https://phys.org/news/2016-07-california-ill-prepared-big-experts.html" rel="nofollow">https://phys.org/news/2016-07-california-ill-prepared-big-ex...</a><p>What Would Happen If Yellowstone's Supervolcano Erupted?
<a href="https://www.livescience.com/20714-yellowstone-supervolcano-eruption.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.livescience.com/20714-yellowstone-supervolcano-e...</a><p>America’s Crumbling Dams Are A Disaster Waiting To Happen
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/america-crumbling-dam-infrastructure_us_573a332be4b08f96c183deac" rel="nofollow">http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/america-crumbling-dam...</a><p>Scientists say Seattle’s overdue earthquake could happen within 50 years
<a href="http://mynorthwest.com/12944/scientists-say-seattles-overdue-earthquake-could-happen-within-50-years/" rel="nofollow">http://mynorthwest.com/12944/scientists-say-seattles-overdue...</a><p>Ancient aliens are hibernating on Earth – and they are waiting to ATTACK - shock claims
<a href="http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/618941/ancient-aliens-hibernating-underneath-earth-attack-invasion-encelladus-trappist-1-NASA" rel="nofollow">http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/618941/ancient-a...</a><p>There's nothing particularly interesting about old articles that appear to have predicted current events.<p>When it happens, someone will dig up the old article saying "are we ready for the floobledasch EVENT?!!!"
I found this "floodsplainer" series of tweets informative about Houston's flood-mitigation infrastructure efforts.<p><a href="https://twitter.com/CorbettMatt/status/901959336850804737" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/CorbettMatt/status/901959336850804737</a>
And now you see how ridiculous this "Ike Dike" idea was. It would have protected nothing. The problem was and is is still the massive rain falls, not the incoming storm surge.<p>Energy industry could easily build such a "Ike Dike" but why should the city of Houston do such a thing? Bush lobbied strongly for it on behalf of the energy guys, but didn't get it. Now you see why.
Direct link to plain text version for those who prefer it: <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/hell-and-high-water-text" rel="nofollow">https://www.propublica.org/article/hell-and-high-water-text</a><p>It is also linked from the article, but embarrassingly took me a minute to find it.