Storms Don't Have to Be This Catastrophic
The US is moving too slowly to embrace proven methods to limit storm damage.
We could do more to prevent this.
Photographer: John Tully/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Imagine trying to build a boat while it’s already at sea and taking on water. You rush from springing leak to springing leak, haunted by a vague sense that a storm is coming but with no idea how big it will be or how long it will last.
This more or less describes how the US is approaching the growing flood threat posed by a warmer atmosphere that holds more water, subjecting the country to bouts of torrential, catastrophic rainfall. Lives are being lost and property destroyed partly because we’re moving too slowly to embrace proven solutions to bolster our infrastructure against disasters that are becoming increasingly routine.