Rethinking Hurricane Harvey--Cody Lunsford and Reagan Richard
In this episode, Cody and Reagan explore the reasons why historically redlined Houston communities were more susceptible to damage from Hurricane Harvey and describe how this phenomenon exemplifies how environmental inequalities are often structured around race and class. We keep our focus centered on the Fifth Ward in Houston. Generally, many people view disastrous flooding events like Hurricane Harvey as just that – a disastrous weather event that negatively affected everyone. While this sentiment is partially true, it is still unclear to many people how Harvey hit Black and Brown neighborhoods the hardest, or how it was more difficult for those neighborhoods to gain access to aid money years after the fact. It is essential that we take a look closer at the effects of severe weather events like Harvey and examine why certain populations suffered much more than others. All of us should make a conscious effort to view events like Harvey through a political framework rather than an apolitical one. Harvey devastated predominantly low income, Black and Hispanic neighborhoods the most.This story serves as an example of how environmental issues are often structured around race and class, those two being determinants of which places will be effected the most.The fact that redlining is a factor in this story, still hurting people after 50 years, is proof of this. This problem will only get worse in time as the effects of climate change- induced weather events become increasingly frequent and more severe. In order to begin helping the people that our country have historically failed, it is important that we acknowledge the issue for what it is – an example of discrimination based on race and class. We can also help by volunteering and donating to grassroots organizations that are closest to understanding the pain of marginalization, like the Amalgamated Foundation and Project Hope, the links for which can be found below. Additionally, we would like to give a huge thank you to our guest Kristen Schlemmer (kristen@bayoucitywaterkeeper.org) from The Bayou City Waterkeeper, who provided her expertise of the subject of urban flooding to Cody.
Sources:
“About.” Harris County Flood Control District, https://www.hcfcd.org/About/Harris-Countys-Flooding-History/Hurricane-Harvey.
Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-13/displaced-by-hurricane-harvey-by-design.
Ehrlich, Allison. “Harvey Timeline: See How the Storm Developed and Marched across Texas and Louisiana.” Caller, Corpus Christi, 7 Sept. 2017, https://www.caller.com/story/weather/hurricanes/2017/09/02/harvey-timeline-see-how-storm-developed-and-marched-across-texas-and-louisiana/625563001/.
Flooding Disproportionately Harms Black Neighborhoods ... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flooding-disproportionately-harms-black-neighborhoods/.
“Houston Air Quality Index (AQI) and Texas Air Pollution: Airvisual.” Houston Air Quality Index (AQI) and Texas Air Pollution | AirVisual, https://www.iqair.com/us/usa/texas/houston.
“In Houston, the New Normal Should Include More Efforts to Reduce Air Pollution.” The Kinder Institute for Urban Research, https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/2020/05/19/Kinder-Houston-Survey-air-pollution-coronavirus-inequality.
Joshua Burns View Bio More from this Author, and Joshua Burns. “Houston Is Failing Its Communities of Color: A History of Redlining and Pollution Siting.” Climate, 14 July 2020, https://climate-xchange.org/2020/07/14/houston-is-failing-its-communities-of-color-a-history-of-redlining-and-pollution-siting/.
Villalon, Jessica. “Flooding Disproportionately Impacts People of Color.” Bayou City Waterkeeper, 21 Sept. 2020, https://bayoucitywaterkeeper.org/flooding-disproportionately-impacts-people-of-color/.
Map Links:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fkinder.rice.edu%2F2017%2F08%2F09%2Fredlinings-enduring-legacy&psig=AOvVaw0wMws04p_JlBvDWxej4KeU&ust=1637429542186000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCODzp8b6pPQCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD - redlined map of Houston
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.hpm.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F08%2F31085329%2Fsheltersmapthurs.png&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.houstonpublicmedia.org%2Farticles%2Fnews%2F2017%2F08%2F31%2F234305%2Fshelter-list-locations-and-live-map-thursday%2F&tbnid=PdrOSbZ3RGsAjM&vet=12ahUKEwj8xp3Y-qT0AhUPOK0KHTmDCOgQMygFegUIARDVAQ..i&docid=j1FLjSy9GoDz4M&w=1539&h=1113&q=map%20of%20houston&ved=2ahUKEwj8xp3Y-qT0AhUPOK0KHTmDCOgQMygFegUIARDVAQ - modern-day map of Houston
Organizations to donate to:
https://thegrio.com/2021/09/02/12-organizations-black-victims-hurricane-ida/
Thank you for your attention and support!
Sources:
“About.” Harris County Flood Control District, https://www.hcfcd.org/About/Harris-Countys-Flooding-History/Hurricane-Harvey.
Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-13/displaced-by-hurricane-harvey-by-design.
Ehrlich, Allison. “Harvey Timeline: See How the Storm Developed and Marched across Texas and Louisiana.” Caller, Corpus Christi, 7 Sept. 2017, https://www.caller.com/story/weather/hurricanes/2017/09/02/harvey-timeline-see-how-storm-developed-and-marched-across-texas-and-louisiana/625563001/.
Flooding Disproportionately Harms Black Neighborhoods ... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flooding-disproportionately-harms-black-neighborhoods/.
“Houston Air Quality Index (AQI) and Texas Air Pollution: Airvisual.” Houston Air Quality Index (AQI) and Texas Air Pollution | AirVisual, https://www.iqair.com/us/usa/texas/houston.
“In Houston, the New Normal Should Include More Efforts to Reduce Air Pollution.” The Kinder Institute for Urban Research, https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/2020/05/19/Kinder-Houston-Survey-air-pollution-coronavirus-inequality.
Joshua Burns View Bio More from this Author, and Joshua Burns. “Houston Is Failing Its Communities of Color: A History of Redlining and Pollution Siting.” Climate, 14 July 2020, https://climate-xchange.org/2020/07/14/houston-is-failing-its-communities-of-color-a-history-of-redlining-and-pollution-siting/.
Villalon, Jessica. “Flooding Disproportionately Impacts People of Color.” Bayou City Waterkeeper, 21 Sept. 2020, https://bayoucitywaterkeeper.org/flooding-disproportionately-impacts-people-of-color/.
Map Links:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fkinder.rice.edu%2F2017%2F08%2F09%2Fredlinings-enduring-legacy&psig=AOvVaw0wMws04p_JlBvDWxej4KeU&ust=1637429542186000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCODzp8b6pPQCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD - redlined map of Houston
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.hpm.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F08%2F31085329%2Fsheltersmapthurs.png&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.houstonpublicmedia.org%2Farticles%2Fnews%2F2017%2F08%2F31%2F234305%2Fshelter-list-locations-and-live-map-thursday%2F&tbnid=PdrOSbZ3RGsAjM&vet=12ahUKEwj8xp3Y-qT0AhUPOK0KHTmDCOgQMygFegUIARDVAQ..i&docid=j1FLjSy9GoDz4M&w=1539&h=1113&q=map%20of%20houston&ved=2ahUKEwj8xp3Y-qT0AhUPOK0KHTmDCOgQMygFegUIARDVAQ - modern-day map of Houston
Organizations to donate to:
https://thegrio.com/2021/09/02/12-organizations-black-victims-hurricane-ida/
Thank you for your attention and support!