DigitalKoans

Based on the Vulcan carbon dioxide inventory project, Purdue University scientists have named Harris County, which is the Texas county that Houston is in, as the top carbon-dioxide producing county in U.S.

Read more about it at "We're No. 1! Harris County Named U.S. Capital of Carbon."

After examining a color-coded map of the U.S. from Risk Management Solutions that shows the combined risk from earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and hailstorms (as well as considering other risk factors), Houston Chronicle science reporter Eric Berger says "one might be forgiven for wondering whether this [Houston] is one of the country's riskiest cities in which to live."

Read more about it at "What's the Least-Catastrophe Prone Major U.S. City?"

Although the Houston and Galveston region may have been able to meet the old EPA ground-level ozone standard as soon as 2014, meeting the new, tougher standard could take as long as 15-20 years according to the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention. The new EPA ozone standard of 75 parts per billion less stringent than the 60-70 parts per billion suggested by EPA advisory committees. Previously, Texas had used an 85 parts-per-billion standard.

Read more about it at "EPA Tightens Pollution Standards" and "Perry Criticizes Tougher EPA Air Quality Standards."

Bill Read, Director of the National Hurricane Center, has concerns about the Texas hurricane evacuation plan. A key problem is that the plan assumes that there will be sufficient reaction time for an evacuation effort before the storm hits like there was with Hurricane Rita. About Rita, Read says that "That's as much lead time as you're ever going to get with a storm" and "by making their plan around Rita, they're really fighting the last war."

Massive Traffic Jam on I-45 as Houston Residents Flee Hurricane Rita

Source: AmyEmilia, This photo is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 License.

Read more about it at "Hurricane Center Director: Texas Has Work to Do" and see the evacuation map for Brazoria, Galveston, and Harris Counties (Houston is in Harris County).

What state has had the highest number of declared disasters according to FEMA? California? Florida? Louisiana?

The answer is Texas, with 81 declared disasters from 1953 to 2007. Hurricanes, tropical storms, and severe storms and flooding significantly drove up that total.

In the seventh edition (2007) of the Places Rated Almanac, the Houston metro area has a mean score of 67, where zero is the worst score and 100 is the best score. Overall, it ranked 48th out of 379 metro areas in its composite score for best metro area.

Below are the specific rankings from worst to best (scores are normalized so that the average in all categories is 50).

"Ambience" includes bookstores and reading, visible history (e.g., landmarks), lively arts, and population characteristics (e.g., affluence, diversity, and education).

Of the five largest metro areas in the U.S., only Chicago has a worse crime score:

Under the climate category, the Places Rated Almanac gives Houston a "1" for summer weather, reflecting its hot, muggy climate.

The Wall Street Journal has run an article about the growing problem of Houston's lack of zoning ("Houston's Twilight Zone: Projects Rise in Odd Spots").

What got the newspaper's and the Mayor's attention is a plan to build a 23-story condominium in a high-end neighborhood not far from Rice University. Understandably, the influential residents of this area are not thrilled by the prospect of an enormous tower looming over their increasingly pricey homes.

Real estate values in the "Inner Loop" (an inner city area bounded by the 610 highway) have skyrocketed in the last 15 years, and property taxes have followed the sharp upward curve. Desirable older neighborhoods with single-story houses built in the 1950s and 1960s have been ravaged by developers, who have torn down these houses to build large multiple-story mansions in the $800,000 to well over $1 million range. Builders have been undeterred as the prices of these single-story houses have doubled (or more) to roughly the $300,000-$400,000 range. Poor neighborhoods close to downtown have been decimated as builders have erected one high-end condo or apartment complex after another. This trend has increasing driven those looking for affordable housing outside the Loop, the further the cheaper (good values can be found there, and they keep Houston's overall housing costs fairly low). But Houston is a big sprawling city (about 600 square miles), and those fleeing inner city face long commutes on packed highways that are under perpetual construction in a futile attempt to keep up with the demand for new lanes.

Zoning issues are not new in Houston, but what is new is the trend for developers to want to erect large, expensive condominium complexes in the midst of high-end neighborhoods (the project mentioned in the article is not the only one in the works), and that's got the natives riled in those neighborhoods.

According to the 2007 Annual Urban Mobility Report by the Texas Transportation Institute, Houston ranked seventh in the nation in traffic congestion in 2005, with drivers stuck in traffic jams 56 hours per year—the equivalent of seven eight-hour workdays. That’s up from 45 hours per year in 2000.

After the New Orleans Hurricane Katrina disaster, I'm sure that awareness about the possibility of long-lasting devastation from U.S. hurricanes increased significantly. After all, who could have imagined that the U.S. response to such a catastrophe would be so pathetic?

About a month after Katrina, Houston was threatened by Hurricane Rita, and the panic was unbelievable as millions tried to flee, creating one of the most massive traffic jams in U.S. history, with cars stranded by the thousands as they ran out of gas idling in gridlock and local service stations were closed or dry as a bone. Again, officials were slow to act, and in-town trips that would normally take about 15 minutes took as long as 12 hours.

Why the panic? To some degree, I'm sure that it was fueled by media images of Hurricane Katrina; however, it was also driven by the potential devastation that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane would cause in Houston.

For those of you who don't have the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale memorized, here's what the National Weather Service says about Category 4 and 5 hurricanes (Katrina was a Category 3 hurricane):

Category Four Hurricane:

Winds 131-155 mph (114-135 kt or 210-249 km/hr). Storm surge generally 13-18 ft above normal. More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof structure failures on small residences. Shrubs, trees, and all signs are blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Extensive damage to doors and windows. Low-lying escape routes may be cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore. Terrain lower than 10 ft above sea level may be flooded requiring massive evacuation of residential areas as far inland as 6 miles (10 km). . . .

Category Five Hurricane:

Winds greater than 155 mph (135 kt or 249 km/hr). Storm surge generally greater than 18 ft above normal. Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. All shrubs, trees, and signs blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Severe and extensive window and door damage. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 15 ft above sea level and within 500 yards of the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5-10 miles (8-16 km) of the shoreline may be required.

Here's a map showing the greater Houston and Galveston areas' evacuation zones.

Here's a PDF file that shows this in more detail.

Here's an explanation of the zones (zone C is the zone closest to Houston):

For example, those in Evacuation Zone C should plan to evacuate for a Category 4 or 5 hurricane. Those in Evacuation Zone B should plan to evacuate for a Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricane. Those in Evacuation Zone A should plan to evacuate for all hurricanes.

To understand the reason why there are such large-scale evacuation plans, read this article, which discusses how severe hurricane damage could cost up to $50 billion: "Models Show 'Massive Devastation' in Houston."

That's why Houston worries about hurricanes, especially Category 4 or 5 ones.