Hurricane Harvey: Dej nyab sab saud, dej ntws qis

“Koj tuaj qhov twg tuaj?”

"Houston, Texas."

“Auj, kuv lub siab zoo. kuv thov txim nawb. Koj tsev neeg nyob li cas?”

“Zoo. Txhua yam zoo uas xaus zoo. "

Raws li ib haiv neeg Houstonian uas tau hu Houston lub tsev tag nrho kuv lub neej (luv luv), Kuv tau nyob dhau Allison, Rita, Katrina, Ike, thiab tam sim no Harvey. Los ntawm peb lub tsev nyob rau sab hnub poob ntawm Houston, peb tsis paub txog dej nyab. Feem ntau, peb cov zej zog dej nyab ib xyoos ib zaug txog ib hnub, feem ntau nws tshwm sim thaum lub caij nplooj ntoos hlav.

Ib tug neeg zej zog taug kev mus ncig ua si thaum lub sijhawm Tax Day dej nyab sab nraum peb lub tsev thaum lub Plaub Hlis 18, 2016.

Txawm li cas los xij, tsis muaj leej twg pom tias nag xob nag cua Harvey ntaus hnyav li nws tau ua. Ntau qhov kev puas tsuaj Harvey sab laug hauv Texas yog tsawg dua txog qhov tseeb nag xob nag cua, thiab ntau ntxiv txog cov nag los nag los nrog nws. Cov cua daj cua dub no maj mam hla Houston rau ob peb hnub, poob dej ntau dhau lub sijhawm ntev. Qhov tshwm sim los nag ua rau lub nroog thib plaub loj tshaj plaws hauv Asmeskas thiab cov xeev nyob sib ze nrog rau tag nrho 33 trillion nkas loos dej.¹ Thaum kawg, feem ntau ntawm cov dej no pom lawv txoj kev rov qab mus rau qhov chaw lawv tuaj, hiav txwv.² Txawm li cas los xij, lawv nqa nrog lawv ntau cov pa phem, suav nrog cov tshuaj lom neeg los ntawm cov chaw ua dej nyab, cov kab mob lom, thiab cov khib nyiab pov tseg hauv txoj kev.³

Raws li National Weather Service, kuv sab ntawm lub nroog tau txais los ntawm 30 txog 40 ntiv tes los nag. ¹⁰

Gulf ntug dej hiav txwv ib txwm yog peb thawj kab ntawm kev tiv thaiv tiv thaiv cua daj cua dub, tab sis peb muab lawv, thiab peb tus kheej, muaj kev pheej hmoo thaum peb tsis tiv thaiv lawv.⁴ Piv txwv li, peb yuav ua tsis tau tiav hauv kev tiv thaiv cov ntug dej hiav txwv dej hiav txwv no, thiab tsis txhob cia lawv raug rhuav tshem hauv kev mob siab rau kev tsim kho cov chaw uas yuav zoo li muaj txiaj ntsig ntau dua li tawm hauv cov av ntub dej los tiv thaiv qee qhov cua daj cua dub yav tom ntej. Ib yam li ntawd, cov ntug dej hiav txwv noj qab haus huv kuj lim dej ntws tawm ntawm thaj av, txo qis kev puas tsuaj rau hiav txwv.

Cov dej ntws ntws ntws mus rau hauv Gulf of Mexico. ¹¹

Kev tiv thaiv ntawm ntug hiav txwv tuaj yeem raug mob los ntawm lwm yam kev puas tsuaj ib puag ncig, xws li cov dej tsis qab los nag los nag xob nag cua Harvey. Cov dej nag ntws los ntawm Houston qhov dej nyab mus rau hauv Gulf of Mexico, zoo li ob feem peb ntawm Tebchaws Meskas cov dej tshiab.⁵ Txawm tias tam sim no, cov dej qab zib poob los ntawm Harvey tseem tseem tsis tau muaj kev sib xyaw nrog Gulf cov dej ntsev.⁶ Hmoov zoo, txawm hais tias cov dej qab ntsev tsawg tau sau tseg hauv Gulf raws li qhov tshwm sim ntawm "cov dej tsis huv", tsis muaj cov ntaub ntawv teev tseg loj-tuag tawm ntawm coral reefs, feem ntau ua tsaug rau cov kev taw qhia uas cov dej ntws tawm ntawm cov ecosystems. Muaj cov ntaub ntawv me me ntawm cov co toxins tshiab tuaj yeem pom nyob rau thaj tsam ze ntawm ntug dej thiab cov av ntub dej, sab laug raws li cov dej nyab tau ntws mus rau Gulf.

Sediments los ntawm Hurricane Harvey.¹²

Zuag qhia tag nrho, Houston tau ntsib qhov dej nyab loj heev vim tias lub nroog tau ua rau ntawm qhov chaw dej nyab. Sij hawm dhau mus, kev nthuav dav hauv nroog thiab tsis muaj cov cai zoning ntxiv ua rau peb muaj kev pheej hmoo ntawm dej nyab vim txoj kev ua vaj tse pob zeb hloov cov nyom nrog me ntsis txog qhov tshwm sim ntawm kev tswj tsis tau hauv nroog loj.⁷ Piv txwv li, nyob deb li deb ntawm ob lub Addicks thiab Barker Reservoirs, peb cov zej zog tau ntsib cov dej nyab ntev heev vim tias cov dej nyob twj ywm. Txhawm rau kom ntseeg tau tias hauv nroog Houston tsis raug dej nyab, cov tub ceev xwm txhob txwm xaiv tso cov rooj vag tswj cov dej ntws, uas ua rau muaj kev nyab xeeb ntawm cov tsev uas yav tas los tsis xav tias yuav nyab xeeb hauv West Houston.⁸ Hardscape cov ntaub ntawv xws li asphalt thiab pob zeb yuav tso dej ntau dua li nqus nws, yog li cov dej sib sau ua ke rau hauv txoj kev thiab tom qab ntawd pom lawv txoj kev mus rau Gulf of Mexico.

(Hnub 4) Ib lub tsheb thauj neeg nyob ze, ib txog li ib lab uas raug dej nyab hauv nroog. ¹³

Lub caij no, peb siv sijhawm ntau tshaj ib lub lim tiam marooned hauv peb lub tsev. Tus Saib Xyuas ntug dej hiav txwv thiab cov neeg caij nkoj tuaj yeem pab dawb feem ntau yuav nce siab los ntawm thiab nug seb peb puas xav tau kev cawmdim lossis kev pabcuam thaum peb nyob hauv. Lwm cov neeg nyob ze tau tawm mus rau lawv cov nyom pem hauv ntej thiab dai daim ntaub dawb rau lawv cov ntoo ua lub cim lawv xav kom cawm. Thaum cov dej poob rau hnub thib kaum ntawm qhov kev tshwm sim 1,000 xyoo dej nyab⁹ thiab thaum kawg peb tau taug kev sab nraud yam tsis tau taug kev hauv dej, qhov kev puas tsuaj yog qhov xav tsis thoob. Cov ntxhiab tsw ntawm cov dej phwj nyoos tau nyob txhua qhov chaw thiab cov khib nyiab pov tseg hauv txoj kev. Cov ntses tuag nteg rau ntawm txoj kev pob zeb thiab cov tsheb uas tau tso tseg txoj hauv kev.

(Hnub 5) Peb siv tus pas ntsuas qhov dej siab npaum li cas.

Hnub tom qab peb mus ncig sab nraud, kuv tsev neeg thiab kuv tau teem caij ya tawm mus rau Minnesota rau New Student Week ntawm Carleton College. Thaum peb nce ntau txhiab ko taw saum ntuj, kuv pab tsis tau tab sis xav tias peb yog ib tus neeg muaj hmoo. Peb lub tsev qhuav qhuav thiab peb lub neej tsis raug teeb meem. Txawm li cas los xij, kuv tsis paub tias peb yuav muaj hmoo npaum li cas tom ntej no cov thawj coj hauv nroog txiav txim siab tias nws yooj yim dua rau dej nyab peb cov zej zog dua li ua kom rov tsim kho peb cov kev tiv thaiv.

Ib yam uas cuam tshuam nrog kuv yog thaum kuv txiv muaj rau caum xyoo hais rau kuv tias, "Zoo, kuv zoo siab tias kuv yuav tsis tau pom dab tsi zoo li no ntxiv hauv kuv lub neej."

Qhov uas kuv teb hais tias, “Kuv tsis paub txog qhov ntawd, Txiv.”

“Koj xav li ntawd?”

"Kuv paub li ntawd."

(Hnub 6) Kuv txiv thiab kuv tau taug kev hla dej mus txog qhov chaw nres tsheb roj ntawm ib txoj kev. Peb thov lub nkoj caij rov qab los tsev thiab kuv tau ntes qhov pom zoo nkauj heev.

Andrew Farias yog ib tug tswv cuab ntawm chav kawm ntawm 2021 ntawm Carleton College, uas nyuam qhuav ua tiav kev xyaum ua haujlwm hauv Washington, DC

¹https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/08/30/harvey-has-unloaded-24-5-trillion-gallons-of-water-on-texas-and-louisiana/?utm_term=.7513293a929b
²https://www.popsci.com/where-does-flood-water-go#page-5
³http://www.galvbay.org/news/how-has-harvey-impacted-water-quality/
⁴https://oceanfdn.org/blog/coastal-ecosystems-are-our-first-line-defense-against-hurricanes
⁵https://www.dallasnews.com/news/harvey/2017/09/07/hurricane-harveys-floodwaters-harm-coral-reefs-gulf-mexico
⁶http://stormwater.wef.org/2017/12/gulf-mexico-researchers-examine-effects-hurricane-harvey-floodwaters/
⁷https://qz.com/1064364/hurricane-harvey-houstons-flooding-made-worse-by-unchecked-urban-development-and-wetland-destruction/
⁸https://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2017/10/16/barker-addicks-reservoirs-release-west-houston-memorial-energy-corridor-hurricane-harvey
⁹https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/08/31/harvey-is-a-1000-year-flood-event-unprecedented-in-scale/?utm_term=.d3639e421c3a#comments
¹⁰ https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/tropical-storm-harvey-forecast-texas-louisiana-arkansas
¹¹ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/29/houston-area-impacted-hurricane-harvey-visual-guide
¹² https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=90866