Tag Archives: Texas gulf coast
Rats From a Sinking Ship
A new documentary chronicling a rodent’s invasion of the Gulf Coast is part quirky tale, part sobering climate change parable.
In 1938, E.A. McIlhenny — Louisiana naturalist, businessman and scion of the Tabasco hot sauce fortune — decided to give the fur business a gift. McIlhenny ...Read More
Audit Says State Windstorm Insurance Program is Failing… Again
After Hurricane Harvey, the windstorm insurer of last resort for the Texas coast is “broke, in debt and facing a shrinking revenue pool.”
In 2008, after hurricanes Ike and Dolly ravaged the Texas coast and caused more than $30 billion in property damage, the state’s quasi-governmental windstorm ...Read More
Trump Administration Report: Climate Change Is Hurting Texas
If greenhouse gasses aren’t curbed, the Texas economy will likely face devastating consequences from climate change.
Sea levels along the Texas coast could rise by as much as 8 feet by 2100, submerging parts of the Galveston and Corpus Christi shoreline. Temperatures may incre...Read More
Ted Cruz Won Because of Rural Texas, but Beto Made Small Gains for Democrats
O’Rourke’s strategy of hitting all 254 counties didn’t win him the race, but it likely gained Democratic ground in small-town Texas, Republicans’ most reliable stronghold.
At first glance, it would appear as if Democrats were dealt a series of miserable defeats in rural Texas Tuesday. Beto O’Rourke, who spent beaucoup time and m...Read More
Sinking Land and Climate Change Are Worsening Tidal Floods on the Texas Coast
More than 10,000 homes along the Texas coast will flood at least 26 times a year by 2045, researchers say.
For many folks who call the Texas Gulf Coast home, the coming and going of the tides is just part of the rhythms of salt life. There are high tides and there ar...Read More
Farmers and Ranchers Take a Hit from Harvey, but the Exact Toll is Unknown
The coastal counties devastated by Harvey are also home to an estimated 1.2 million cows, more than a quarter of the state’s total.
The coastal counties devastated by Harvey are also home to an estimated 1.2 million cows, more than a quarter of the state’s total....Read More
Dams Meant to Save Houston from Extreme Floods Pushed to the Limit Twice in Two Years
Houston’s aging flood reservoirs have seen two 100-year floods in as many years.
For the better part of a century, the Addicks and Barker dams have held back water that would have otherwise surged through Buffalo Bayou, the flood-prone water...Read More
Barging In
How a felon with a fake name convinced a federal agency and the Texas General Land Office to fast-track a controversial project in Port Aransas.
BARGING IN How a felon with a fake name convinced a federal agency and the Texas General Land Office to fast-track a controversial project in Port Aransas. When...Read More
The 10 Best Observer Stories of 2016: ‘Company Town’
How big business turned a Gulf Coast beach town into an industrial zone.
Editor’s Note: Many environmental stories rely on familiar tropes, the scrappy locals standing up to the big, bad polluter. The unlikely bedfellows of env...Read More