A car sits submerged in water in Surfside Beach, Texas, on June 19 as Tropical Storm Alberto approaches land.
Photographer: Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle/AP Photo
Texas’ Extreme Weather Pileups Point to World’s Climate Future
The state is reeling from multiple, back-to-back natural disasters. “Compound events” like these are set to become more common across a warming world.
On a recent weekday morning, Jessica Gutierrez used a push broom to clear mud off a walkway while Shannon Hall walked past her, lugging furniture out to the street. In their front yard sat an oven, a pair of desk chairs and several interior doors, all damaged by a flood in May that ripped through River Plantation, a subdivision 30 minutes north of Houston, following torrential rains.
It’s the first time the women have experienced flooding in their home since moving in almost eight years ago. They had a close call in January, after a different storm hit. Hall and Gutierrez are fostering two boys and recently adopted a third. The family is staying in a nearby town house during cleanup and repairs, which are expected to take a few months—assuming the neighborhood doesn’t get hit again, “with all these pop-up tornadoes and hail storms,” Hall said.