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This is not an image you ever want to see.
I’ve studied flooding in TX & LA for almost a decade & Port Arthur is one of the places I lose sleep over the most.
Port Arthur often gets overlooked because they aren't Houston but they have been through A LOT so, A THREAD: https://twitter.com/EricBlake12/status/1298578855385542657
I’ve studied flooding in TX & LA for almost a decade & Port Arthur is one of the places I lose sleep over the most.
Port Arthur often gets overlooked because they aren't Houston but they have been through A LOT so, A THREAD: https://twitter.com/EricBlake12/status/1298578855385542657
Port Arthur sits at the intersection of all kinds of vulnerability. They sit right up against Sabine Lake, next to the Gulf. The flood infrastructure system desperately needs to be upgraded. Yes, climate change is a factor.
As of 2017 nearly 1/3 of residents lived in poverty & they have been hit hard by the economic impacts of the failed pandemic response. Decades of policies- especially related to recovery- have compounded racial inequality throughout Port Arthur.
These vulnerabilities are inextricably tied up to their main industry – oil. Port Arthur is home to the largest oil refinery in the country. It looms over the town.
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/welcome-west-port-arthur-texas-ground-zero-fight-climate-justice/
Longer thread of articles about this from @usofdisaster https://twitter.com/USofDisaster/status/1298575196887154689
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/welcome-west-port-arthur-texas-ground-zero-fight-climate-justice/
Longer thread of articles about this from @usofdisaster https://twitter.com/USofDisaster/status/1298575196887154689
Port Arthur is no stranger to flooding but they were hit especially hard by Harvey.
80% of housing was damaged or destroyed. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/us/port-arthur-flooding.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
80% of housing was damaged or destroyed. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/us/port-arthur-flooding.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
Recovery is a difficult process for all communities but residents of Port Arthur have faced a particularly difficult time.
A year after: https://www.texasobserver.org/hurricane-harvey-one-year-later-port-arthur/
Two years after: https://www.texasobserver.org/two-years-after-hurricane-harvey-port-arthur-remains-in-disaster-recovery-limbo/
A year after: https://www.texasobserver.org/hurricane-harvey-one-year-later-port-arthur/
Two years after: https://www.texasobserver.org/two-years-after-hurricane-harvey-port-arthur-remains-in-disaster-recovery-limbo/
Port Arthur brings to life the ways in which the US approach to recovery is unjust and impossible for many to work through. The lawsuits are ongoing. https://www.texasobserver.org/you-can-only-take-so-much-low-income-hurricane-harvey-survivors-sue-over-discriminatory-recovery-process/
Continued displacement due to failed state/federal recovery efforts lead to spiraling problems that are putting Port Arthur's future at even greater risk.
Here's an example of how displacement affects the census from @amalykinz https://www.texasobserver.org/census-port-arthur-hurricane-harvey/
Here's an example of how displacement affects the census from @amalykinz https://www.texasobserver.org/census-port-arthur-hurricane-harvey/
Port Arthur is instructive of what we see in other parts of east Texas, Louisiana, & other states – people cannot rebuild before the next flood comes which then makes them even more vulnerable to the next disaster.
We are getting trapped in cycle of recovery.
We are getting trapped in cycle of recovery.
The residents of Port Arthur live at the intersection of racism, poverty, public health crises, environmental disaster, repetitive flooding, & are on both ends of the climate crisis.
They are the definition of a frontline community.
They are the definition of a frontline community.
Port Arthur is why emergency management reform cannot wait. They are why we do not have the luxury of picking between climate mitigation and adaptation – we have to do both and every minute we don’t people like the residents of Port Arthur have their lives put at risk.
Climate conversations often brush aside adaptation & rarely include emergency management reform.
So, just know that when you create this false choice between mitigation and adaptation that these are the people who you are sacrificing.
So, just know that when you create this false choice between mitigation and adaptation that these are the people who you are sacrificing.
I did an interview with @yessfun where I talked through all of this in more detail. https://earther.gizmodo.com/hurricane-laura-is-heading-for-a-city-that-can-t-take-a-1844857171