Thoughts of cause & effect rise from floods’ loss & pain

The rain has finally stopped after dropping 10, 15 and even 20 inches on some parts of Texas and Oklahoma, and floodwaters are receding. But that is only the beginning of a long and difficult healing process.

And to make matters worse, even as the rain has stopped for now, Texas is entering its traditional rainy season, and the already saturated ground makes much of the state susceptible to more damage for the foreseeable future.

At least 31 people have died as a direct result of flooding that began in Texas and Oklahoma with torrential rains that covered a week. Hundreds of businesses and thousands of homes were inundated.

The Mahoning Valley can appreciate the shock and pain that comes with the widespread loss of lives and homes. We just marked the anniversary of the area’s most deadly natural disaster, the tornadoes of 1985.

The lives of those who have survived the Oklahoma and Texas floods will never be the same. Every year, Memorial Day will hold a special meaning and carry a special pain for those who lost loved ones. And for those whose homes were flooded, the pain of losing everything – every stick of furniture, every photograph, every memento – will never be erased.

It is common to hear people express solace that they may have lost everything, but at least they have their lives. That’s a comforting thought during a time of shock. But for many, the pain will return in weeks and years to come as they remember the bits and pieces of family history that were swept away by the muddy waters of the Colorado or Trinity or Brazos rivers.

Throughout Texas and Oklahoma, neighbors, churches and relief agencies, as well as local state and federal government entities, have joined hands in helping victims of the flood to cope. The people suffering the most are the immediate priority, and rebuilding communities and infrastructure will be the task for years to come. Hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, will be needed.

VALUE OF FLOOD INSURANCE

Rebuilding will come more easily to those homeowners who carried flood insurance, but they are a minority. In Texas about 600,000 properties are covered by flood insurance, and a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas estimated that fewer than half of the homeowners affected by these floods were insured. In Oklahoma, only 16,000 properties in the entire state are covered by flood insurance.

The need for flood insurance becomes more apparent with each downpour, but the drain on the National Flood Insurance Program, which is facing a $23 billion deficit, also makes it clear that the problem of repetitive-loss properties must be addressed. The National Resources Defense Council reports that since the National Flood Insurance Program was instated, more than $1 billion of the damages paid out in Texas – 18 percent of the total – has been paid to 6,683 repetitive-loss properties. One property in Houston has made 27 flood damage claims totaling $1.8 million.

No one wants to be told they should have to move – whether from a home at the river’s edge, along a hurricane-prone coastline or on the shores of a Great Lake – but insurance has to be based on an accurate risk-based price. And for a relatively small number of properties, abandoning rather than rebuilding in the same spot becomes only prudent.

Also prudent, is a realistic assessment of the threat that climate change presents. It is ironic that one of Oklahoma’s senators, James Inhofe, is not only chairman of the Senate environmental committee but also a climate-change denier.

As reported in Scientific American, as the Earth warms, the atmosphere absorbs more moisture. And the Earth has been warming, by 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit, since the beginning of the 20th century. Since 1958, the Great Plains have seen a 21 percent increase in heavy rains. Other regions have seen increases ranging from 7 percent in the Northwest to 74 percent in the Northeast.

We ignore numbers such as those at our own peril and deny the science that links increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to global climate change at a risk to future generations.

It is an ill wind that blows no good. As we witness increasingly dramatic changes in our weather – from more frequent tornadoes, to increasing or decreasing regional rainfalls, to more severe hurricanes, to rising sea levels – perhaps more people will realize the dangers we face when we ignore science. Perhaps even some politicians will come to see that people matter more than ideology or allegiance to special interests.