As Rummusser has pointed out, Mumbai is having a huge flood right now too. It’s basically the same problem as Houston — a coastal city, heavy rains and previously open areas of soil and vegetation replaced by concrete and other impervious material without investing in a good drainage system.
Andy and I are well aware of the importance of soil and plants. Our floods after the 2011 fire scorched all the soil and made it impervious to rain. And it destroyed all the trees and other vegetation that slow down runoff. The water didn’t linger, of course, it simply eroded the landscape and tore up roads.
We spent a lot of money for several years fixing up the roads, installing culverts for drainage, etc. We noticed a difference even after only two years:
August 23, 2011
September 15, 2013
And by now the burn-scar effect is essentially gone. Andy does need to keep the culverts in the drainage system open, and we will have Orlando do some roadwork repairs next month. But it is nothing like the first few years.
Regreening is a mighty task particularly when the top soil has gone. Persistent efforts are called for and our Forestry folks here and many volunteer organisations have been at it for decades.
We’re mostly just waiting for nature to do it for us. Andy sows some seeds, but mostly the native plants are doing all right. They may look messy, but we’re rooting for them.
I wonder how Houston will recover from all the damage. It’s going to take years. (and hopefully some restructuring)
Yes, it will be years, not months for most people. Even here in town when some houses burned in the 2000 fire it took three or four years before people could rebuild them.
I remember those years. it seemed as if andy was constantly rebuilding that road to the cabin.
but his patience and persistence paid off. and it’s amazing but it seems like only yesterday.
Yes, things have changed a lot, haven’t they? We have cheerfully moved on from the flash floods.
I don’t know the answer, whatever some one (usually a guru) comes up – it’s knocked on the head in a very shrot time…
yes that statement “years and months” seems to be all around – anything that is destroyed for whatever reason..