Tag: hurricane preparedness

Houston Matters

Shopping for a Hurricane Emergency Kit with Harris County Judge Ed Emmett

Posted on · (Above: Harris County Judge Ed Emmett shops for emergency supplies with Houston Matters producer Michael Hagerty at Southland Hardware. Photo: Hallie Frazee | Harris County OEM) As each new storm season approaches, we often hear about the importance of putting together an emergency kit for you and your family. Michael Hagerty recently got some help putting […]

Houston Matters

Hurricane Isaiah: A Fictional Storm with Potentially Real Consequences

Posted on · With just under a month left in another relatively quiet Atlantic hurricane season for Greater Houston, it’s natural for complacency to set in. But that’s just what worries the folks at Rice University’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education, and Evacuation from Disasters, or SSPEED Center. Researchers there are trying to understand just how well (or not) Greater […]

Houston Matters

Galveston County Holds First-Ever Transportation Conference

Posted on · Galveston County held its first ever transportation summit Thursday (Sept. 1, 2016) to discuss how $500 million could be invested to improve transportation infrastructure over the next decade. The U.S. Census Bureau says Galveston County’s population grew by close to 11 percent between 2010 and 2015. And while the county is happy to add to its […]

Houston Matters

Preparing Houston for the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Posted on · The 2016 Atlantic hurricane season begins today (June 1, 2016). To find out what Houstonians need to know to be prepared for the season, we talk with Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. Judge Emmett discusses how recent floods might have jump-started public awareness of natural disasters in Greater Houston and what lessons we’ve learned about hurricanes, tropical storms […]

Houston Matters

Study: Levees Cheaper Than Sea Wall To Protect Galveston From Hurricanes

Posted on · The Gulf Coast Community Protection and Recovery District just finished Phase 2 of their storm surge suppression study. Public meetings are scheduled for later this month (March 2016). We learn about the storm surge suppression study from Robert Eckels, former Harris County Judge and president of the GCCPRD. He details what the GCCPRD does and walks us […]

Houston Matters

Report: Greater Houston’s a ‘Sitting Duck’ for the Next Big Storm

Posted on · Reporters from the Texas Tribune and ProPublica have teamed up on a report examining the Houston and Galveston region’s lack of storm infrastructure. The article is called Hell and High Water, and it suggests Greater Houston is simply unprepared to handle that next big storm. To tell us more, we talk with Texas Tribune environmental reporter Kiah Collier. […]

Houston Matters

Research Shows New Ways to Protect Against Hurricanes and Tropical Storms

Posted on · Research from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy is offering new solutions to better protect the Houston-Galveston region from the impact of future hurricanes and storms. With the Atlantic hurricane season just behind us, we talk with three researchers about the legal implications of the proposals, the costs and benefits of each, and how […]

Houston Matters

What Kind of Hurricane Season Should We Expect and How Prepared is Greater Houston?

Posted on · It’s officially Hurricane season, Houston. Starting now, and for the next six months, we Houstonians keep tabs on tropical storms developing in the Gulf and prepare for the possibility that any could make landfall. The last few years have been relatively quiet on the tropical storm front, which would normally leave public officials concerned about […]

Houston Matters

What You Need to Prepare for Hurricane Season

Posted on · New to Houston? Well, we have this thing called hurricane season, and you really need to know about it. First, it starts Saturday and continues through November. It’s the six month period in which hurricanes and major tropical storms are most likely to make landfall and potentially do some damage. And while Greater Houston has […]