Houston Homes Damaged Again by Recent Rains
Tracking Houston's Recovery Three Years Later on Harvey
Support Remains High for Addressing Flood Hazard, Climate Change
Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of pelting beyond parts of Southeast Texas, causing devastating flooding. Photo: Getty Images
Iii years after Hurricane Harvey dropped devastating amounts of rain across the Houston area, nearly people whose homes flooded are back dwelling house or in other permanent housing.
But a survey by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston found people remain affected by the experience – overwhelmingly in favor of public funding to reduce the threat of flooding and of government regulations to reduce the impact of climate change.
Almost 20% of those displaced by the storm said they are all the same in temporary housing.
The survey is the latest in a series looking at the touch of the 2017 hurricane, funded by the National Science Foundation to provide a quantitative look at the region's recovery from a tempest that dropped more 50 inches of rain on parts of the metropolis, acquired $125 billion in damage and is directly or indirectly blamed for more than than 100 deaths.
Kirk P. Watson, founding dean of the Hobby Schoolhouse, said more than two-thirds of people surveyed are worried about global warming, and 3 out of four believe warming poses a serious threat of future flooding. More than one-half said people in the United States already are being hurt past global warming.
"People are focused on the hereafter, and nosotros constitute a large majority back up both authorities funding for more than wind and solar power and regime regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions," Watson said. "There is a strong consensus that global warming poses a clear and present threat in the form of futurity flooding."
Pablo Pinto, director of the Eye for Public Policy at the Hobby Schoolhouse, noted more than than ninety% support mitigation projects including elevating homes in flood-decumbent areas, widening bayous and banning construction in floodplains. Creating new reservoirs or retention basins drew support from 93% – slightly higher than in a survey conducted just a few months after the tempest.
"And while people were nearly probable to choose 'no tax increase' every bit their favored option, we found they were more than sensitive to increases in sales taxes than property taxes, giving us some ideas nigh how willing people are to pay for projects and what mechanism they support to do and then," Pinto said.
Among the other findings:
- 41.9% said their homes were damaged by Hurricane Harvey. Of those, slightly more than forty% had to move out of their homes, at least temporarily. 60% of those who moved out are now dorsum in their homes. An additional 21% are in new housing, while more than 18% remain in temporary housing.
- Respondents overwhelmingly support flood mitigation policies, ranging from 93% who support a third reservoir or other retention basin to 78% who support a home buyback program for those afflicted past flooding. 92% supported elevating homes in flood prone areas, widening bayous and banning structure in floodplains.
- 52% said they are somewhat or very confident urban center and county officials know how to prevent future flooding.
In general, respondents were more likely to rate state and local officials favorably than unfavorably.
Renée Cross, senior director of the Hobby School, noted that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner were viewed favorably by 47% and 44% respectively, compared with 31% who viewed Abbott unfavorably and 26% who said that almost Turner.
"That didn't hold true for President Trump, still," she said. "He was rated favorably by only 35% of residents, while 54% rated him unfavorably." That was reversed amidst Republicans, with 71% rating him favorably and xx% unfavorably.
The survey was conducted between May xx and June 23 and involved a representative sample of residents in Brazoria, Fort Curve, Harris and Montgomery counties. In total, ane,065 people responded. The full survey is available on the Hobby School website.
"All in all, we found that most people felt they had recovered from Harvey," said Sunny Thousand.C. Wong, an economist and professor at the Hobby School. "About 22% were not insured, only of those who had insurance, about two-thirds said insurance covered all or most of their losses. Most who lost jobs were back on the payroll within half-dozen months."
In addition to Watson, Pinto, Cantankerous and Wong, principle investigators for the project include Jim Granato, associate dean of the Hobby School; Richard Murray, a research associate with the Hobby School; Marking P. Jones, a political science young man at Rice University'south Bakery Establish for Public Policy; and Robert Stein, a political scientist at Rice University.
Source: https://uh.edu/news-events/stories/august-2020/08242020hobby-harvey-survey.php
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