Water, Water Everywhere

As I listen to the story unfold on public radio concerning Hurricane Harvey, I am reminded of how damaging water can be. I know a guy who lives in Houston and have been watching his social media postings with trepidation as the rising water lapped at his front steps and garage door. Another fellow has chronicled this disastrous weather event in his blog and it's a good read. I was remembering the crazy storm here back at the beginning of May that flooded the basement and had the streets running like rivers. A block to the east, water pressure popped manhole covers aside and there were geysers spewing ten feet in the air in the middle of the street. It was surreal in how quickly it happened and was almost as quickly over with. Leaving me with a basement that took over a month to dry out completely. So much greater is the volume of water in Houston and the surrounding area, so much more damage and so many people displaced. Having experienced a minuscule version of invasive water and its accompanying havoc and how exhausting it was dealing with its aftermath, I can't begin to comprehend the damage that a full-on disaster of a flood would leave in its wake. My heart goes out to all of the residents of the gulf coast communities that have been affected. As global warming gives rise to more frequent freakish storms, leaving us with less recovery time in between and fewer dollars to clean up the mess, will we get smarter about building in marginal, flood-prone areas? All I know is, houses can be replaced, but the loss of lives can't be. So I wonder if our priorities will be reset to not just a higher elevation, but to a higher moral ground as well.