Tag Archives: Gulf of Mexico

There sure were a lot of named storms this year

Posted on November 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Thirty of them, in fact. The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season had a record 30 named storms. Twelve made landfall in the continental U.S., including five in Louisiana. Hurricane season ends Nov. 30 (that’s next week, so fingers crossed there isn’t … Continue reading →

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Who cares how much it will cost to build the Ike Dike?

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Imagine how much it will cost to recover from a catastrophic hurricane whose storm surge could have been mitigated by the Ike Dike. You know, like that hurricane from earlier this year that would have done exactly that had it … Continue reading →

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No, seriously, what are we going to do to prepare for the next Hurricane Laura?

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, the next one is coming whether we’re ready or not. We just don’t know when it will be here. Though the storm ultimately tracked east, sparing Houston, the problem remains: The region is disastrously unready to handle any … Continue reading →

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Just build the effing Ike Dike already

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Enough waiting around. As twin hurricanes converge on the Gulf Coast this week, including one with a decent chance of affecting the Houston-Galveston region, a highly ambitious proposal for protecting the area from a massive storm continues to slowly grind … Continue reading →

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Hope now, support relief efforts next

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is so, so bad. And it’s terrifying to realize how much worse it could have been. With winds topping 150 mph, Hurricane Laura is approaching Category 5 status as it barrels toward the Texas-Louisiana border. As of 7 p.m., … Continue reading →

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Here comes Laura

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Be prepared. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo urged residents to prepare for a hurricane as the track and intensity of Tropical Storm Laura remains uncertain. She said the greatest threat posed by Laura likely would be high winds and a … Continue reading →

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Hurricane season is just getting started

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Just, you know, because we don’t have enough to be anxious about. Already smashing records, this year’s hyperactive Atlantic hurricane season is about to get even nastier, forecasters predict. In the coming months, they expect to run out of traditional … Continue reading →

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Hurricanes and pandemics

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Summertime in the Gulf Coast, y’all. Dealing with multiple disaster threats at the same time is nothing new for Francisco Sanchez. As a 15-year emergency management veteran for Harris County, Sanchez understands the anxiety tugging at local officials wary of … Continue reading →

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Is it finally going to be Infrastructure Week?

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this: Lawmakers have been talking about striking a deal to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure for years. It might take a pandemic to finally get them to do it, and Texas officials are already … Continue reading →

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It’s still supposed to be a busy hurricane season

Posted on August 25, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Hurricane season technically lasts until December 1, but this is the peak of it, so keep paying attention. Don’t be lulled by a quiet June and July. The real Atlantic hurricane season is about to kick off. The hurricane season … Continue reading →

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The Ike Dike debate continues

Posted on August 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There’s more than one way to mitigate against flooding, and it may be best to adopt more than one of them. For about a decade, two of Texas’ top universities have pushed dueling plans to protect the Houston-Galveston region from … Continue reading →

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The Dutch way to mitigate against floods

Posted on July 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We can learn a lot from this largely-below-sea-level country. On a sunny Friday in late May, a jubilant wedding party scrambled to the top of a colossal sand dune in this tiny Dutch beach town for a photoshoot, bridesmaids’ arms … Continue reading →

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Sea levels rise, property values drop

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Cool, cool, cool. Sea level rise has cost Texas homeowners $76.4 million in potential property value, with Galveston hit the hardest, a new study released Tuesday found. First Street Foundation and Columbia University analysts examined about 3 million coastal properties … Continue reading →

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Climate change and hurricanes

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We’re living it now. A group of top hurricane experts, including several federal researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, published striking new research Thursday, suggesting that hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean have grown considerably worse and that climate … Continue reading →

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Look out for lionfish

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Hey, it’s another destructive invasive species, aided and abetted by climate change. Scientists battling coral reef deaths caused by warming ocean waters 100 miles off the coast of Galveston might now have another climate change problem to fight in coming … Continue reading →

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Will we build the right Ike Dike?

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Not everyone thinks the best design was chosen. Jim Blackburn, a Rice professor and co-director of [Rice] university’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education & Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center, says the Corps’ initial Ike Dike study was incomplete because it did … Continue reading →

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We have an Ike Dike plan

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Now we need a plan to pay for it. A decade after Hurricane Ike devastated the Texas Gulf Coast, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Friday that a more ambitious version of the proposed “Ike Dike” — a 70-mile-long … Continue reading →

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Army Corps to present Ike Dike options

Posted on October 16, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

About time. Later this month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will recommend a multi-billion-dollar plan to help protect the Texas coast — the Houston area in particular — from hurricanes. When it will become a reality, however, is anyone’s … Continue reading →

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Galveston, ten years after Ike

Posted on September 20, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Overall things are better now, but not for everyone, and nothing can ever truly be the same as before. Galveston has a long and storied history dealing with epic storms, and the destruction Hurricane Ike wrought was no different — … Continue reading →

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What the Texas State Aquarium is up to after Harvey

Posted on June 16, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

They’re doing what they need to do, which they should be doing. During Harvey, aquarium officials took in other birds and marine animals from the University of Texas-Austin Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas and the Aquarium at Rockport Harbor … Continue reading →

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Busy hurricane season predicted

Posted on May 28, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Welcome to summer, y’all. The nation’s climate agency on Thursday predicted an above-normal 2017 hurricane season with 11 to 17 named storms, five to nine of them hurricanes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted a 45 percent chance of … Continue reading →

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Texas asks for Ike Dike money from the feds

Posted on April 30, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck with that. Almost a decade after Hurricane Ike killed dozens of people and caused $30 billion in damage, a group of Texas politicians and business leaders say they finally have “all the support necessary” to break ground on … Continue reading →

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What is the environmental impact of building an Ike Dike?

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe we should try to figure that out. Plans for building a massive storm-surge protection system for the Houston area are rushing ahead before officials determine whether the project could harm Galveston Bay, environmental groups say. The Sierra Club and … Continue reading →

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Obama signs Cornyn flood mitigation bill

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The title to this post is a bit of an overbid, but this is still a good thing. President Obama on Monday signed into law a bill that could help expedite the long process of constructing a hurricane protection system for … Continue reading →

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Climate change will not be kind to Houston

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It could be even worse, if that’s any consolation, but it will be bad as things are going now. Houston’s brutally hot summers, persistent humidity, floods and hurricanes never have been much of a selling point. It’s been something to … Continue reading →

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Two Ike Dike updates

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Ike Dike could be hidden by dunes: The “Ike Dike” that is being proposed to protect the Galveston-Houston area from a potentially catastrophic hurricane storm surge could take the form of undulating sand dunes hiding a steel or concrete core. … Continue reading →

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Turner endorses Ike Dike

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has endorsed the “Ike Dike” storm surge protection proposal, raising the possibility that Houston could be one of the last cities in the Galveston Bay area to endorse the $6 billion project. If the Houston … Continue reading →

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Another bad year for Kemp’s ridley turtles

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This does not look good. The nesting season for the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle is ending with zero nests found on either Galveston Island or the Bolivar Peninsula for the first time in at least a decade, although the … Continue reading →

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Another floodgate proposed

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Third time’s the charm, right? Academic leaders have long beseeched government officials to learn from the damage caused by Hurricane Ike in 2008 and harden the upper Texas coast against future threats. Finally, on Monday, Texas Land Commissioner George P. … Continue reading →

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BP settlement cash

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. The city of Houston, Harris County and Metro netted $23 million in compensation from BP for revenue they could not collect in the wake of the company’s 2010 Gulf oil spill, officials announced Thursday. Houston will pocket about $12.2 … Continue reading →

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Your annual “don’t get complacent about hurricanes” warning

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

You should know the drill by now. It’s been seven years since a large hurricane – Hurricane Ike – threatened the Gulf states, and increasingly there’s talk among scientists that the Atlantic Ocean may be moving toward a more “quiet” … Continue reading →

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A better year for seaweed

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Good news for Galveston beachgoers. In a lucky break for Galveston beachgoers and the Gulf Coast’s tourism industry, the masses of seaweed that plagued the area last summer seem to be turning toward the Caribbean and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The … Continue reading →

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Kemp’s ridley sea turtle in trouble

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Dammit. Texas’ official sea turtle is on a slide that could eventually lead to extinction after a spectacular comeback and years of effort to save it, according to figures released Tuesday at a gathering of scientists and environmentalists. “It was … Continue reading →

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Two environmental stories

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news, and some bad news. The bad news: We have an oyster shortage. Add an oyster shortage in Texas Gulf Coast to the problems exacerbated by the state’s years-long drought. But Texas’ dry spell isn’t the only reason … Continue reading →

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