Fires Floods & Sick People
Roscommon/Crawford Chapter Fires, Floods, and Sick People Many of the top news stories in the United States over the past several weeks have been about weather-related catastrophes that owe their intensity to climate change. The recent Hurricane Laura capped a record 13 named storms that struck the southern coast of the US. Texas and Louisiana coasts suffered as Laura brought 150 mile/hour winds, the highest ever recorded in Louisiana. The winds and the related storm surges caused home and building damage and loss of municipal services leaving more than ½ million customers without power in Texas and Louisiana. The total costs for clean-up are not yet clear but one observer gave a hint of the problem, “there aren’t enough roofers in Louisiana to fix all the roofs.” As I write this, a new Hurricane to be known as Sally, is now forming in the over-warm waters of the gulf coast. Hang on. While Laura’s winds were raging, the hurricane brought flooding from the resulting storm surge