STORM SURGE IS PREVENTABLE

Call it what you will – Ike Dike, Coastal Spine, Coastal Barrier Protection – the devastation
wreaked by storm surge throughout our history from 1900 to 1917 is the
same. Death and Destruction has taught us a terrible lesson. We do not have to be
victims.
Jose Boix recently sent The Post a letter which said; “On Thursday, March 15 the
CAC had a very interesting program and speaker. Dan Seal, Executive Director –
Special Initiatives for Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership (BAHEP) shared a
wealth of information regarding the need for a Coastal Spine (aka “Ike Dike). He
includes some URL links for a must see video: UNPREPARED: A Nation at Risk.”
You can view it at: http://www.tamug.edu/ikedike/ and “a “call to action” asking all of
us to use another URL to write to our elected officials in Congress at: https://buildthecoastalspine.
rallycongress.netI feel that this is important information that we all
should have. If you attended the Thursday meeting you may already have a card,
but having the information electronically, you may be able to share it further.
The message is clear; the need is crucial, the time is now.”
President of Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership wrote in March of 2016,
the following article addressing the cost of prevention versus recovery in the Texas
Tribune.
“In 2008, Hurricane Ike slammed the Houston-Galveston region, making landfall
on the Texas coast with maximum sustained winds of 112 miles per hour and a
storm surge of 12-15 feet. Even though the Houston-Galveston region avoided the
predicted direct hit, Hurricane Ike killed 80 people and caused economic damages
totaling over $39 billion. Imagine the consequences if Ike had made a direct hit.
The clock continues to tick. Major hurricanes hit the upper Texas coast approximately
every 14 years. History and science concur that such a “direct hit” threat to
the region is not a matter of if, but when, it will occur.
This is not just a Houston-Galveston problem. The nation’s security and economy
are extremely vulnerable during a storm surge event. At risk are the livelihoods and
well-being of millions of residents, their properties, jobs and businesses. Devastating
impacts include:
• Disrupting transportation, including the interstate system, railroads and
waterborne commerce
• Closing ports, including the Port of Houston, the nation’s busiest port in foreign
tonnage
• Shutting down the nation’s largest petrochemical complex, which supplies
27 percent of America’s gasoline and 60 percent of the fuel used by the U.S.
Department of Defense, causing fuel shortages and price increases on goods that use petrochemicals, including pharmaceuticals, plastic resins, detergents, cosmetics, and
other synthetics
• Irreparable environmental damage
Multiple lines of defense are being considered to provide comprehensive storm surge protection for the region. Texas A&M University at Galveston remains focused on
further developing the proven method to stop the surge at the coast using a continuous coastal barrier or spine, also known as the Ike Dike Concept, based on proven technologies
that have been used in The Netherlands and other parts of the world for decades. Meanwhile, the SSPEED Center at Rice University is concentrating its efforts on
suppressing surge using barriers internal to the Galveston Bay system and non-structural alternatives.
Through coordinated and collaborative research efforts, both TAMUG and the SSPEED Center are committed to the development of a single surge protection plan that has
multiple lines of defense to achieve the best overall solution for the region from an economic, environmental and social perspective.
For the past four years, regional momentum has been building to implement storm surge protection, recognizing that the region is every bit as
exposed today to the devastating effects of storm surge as it was in 2008. More than 30 cities and municipalities, economic and industry organizations,
such as the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, the East Harris County Manufacturers Association and the Harris County Mayors’
and Councils’ Association, have formally stated their support for storm surge protection.
It’s imperative that a collaborative plan for regional protection be developed and submitted for congressional approval and funding. First, however,
a comprehensive initiative is underway to conduct several necessary studies, including an economic impact analysis; barrier design modeling;
landscape integration; a calculation of cost/benefit ratios; and environmental mitigation
Texas has always prided itself on being a “can do” state, never being the kind to look for a handout. Although this is usually looked on as an
admirable quality, in the case of storm surge protection, I think that it has been a detriment to our progress. Perhaps a greater deterrent has
been the lack of political leadership up until now.
It is crucial that the Legislature supports a coastal barrier system, and it’s going to take strong political leadership to spearhead such a bill
through the next legislative session in 2017. The people, homes and industries of the upper Texas coast, as well as the state’s and nation’s
economy, must be protected. We cannot expect Congress to appropriate the necessary funds unless we stand united in this cause.
We can wait until our hopes and dreams, and possibly our lives, are swept out to sea when the next big hurricane hits, or we can do something
now. Unfortunately, we too often are committed to recovery rather than protection. Meanwhile, the clock continues to tick.”