Gov. Abbott on Houston Suffering from "once-in-a-lifetime flooding event"

[Hunter Thompson]

Governor Abbott has said that it would take many more days for the water to recede in Houston from tropical storm Harvey.  Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States and has experienced record levels of rain from Harvey.  Abbott also talks about how even though the water is receding does not mean that Houston problems are finished.  Considering Houston's great size is will be a long time before things start getting back to normal.

In a statement by Governor Abbott, he tells people that they need to come to grips with how long it will take in order to rebuild the Houston area.  When Harvey moved inland it brought its rain to Louisianna, Arkansas, Tennessee, and parts of Missouri.  Harvey rained 51 inches in some parts of southeastern Texas which is a record for any storm in the United States.  Abbott said the federal and state officials worked together seamlessly, as well as praising President Trump who came and looked at the damage caused by Harvey.

Abbott also talks about how he could see the compassion and concern on the President's face.  He mentioned that the president is very concerned about Texans and is committed to helping Houston with their needs on this road to recovery.  This article indicates that the road to recovery is getting underway for the Houston and the surrounding area.  As the area rebuilds the government will also begin looking into the best way it can the people affected by the storm.  Local business will also start opening up again and will help bring a sense of things being back to normal.

As the area is recovering, companies all over have offered money and other stuff to help the recovery.  People are still trying to get their stuff in order as much as they can still, and to find what stuff needs to be replaced and what can be salvaged from the wreckage.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/29/texas-gov-abbott-houston...;

[Jasmyn Rios]

On a personal matter, I grew up and lived in Houston most of my life. It was very difficult for me and other Houstonians to see such drastic occurrence take place in the heart of Houston. It was a devastating event for everyone, even those in Houston who did not get severe damage. Even right now, Houston is still struggling in certain areas to get it all back together and start good again. However, it makes me proud as an American to see that our country is working together to do something about this matter. Amazing to see that we are not left alone to fend for ourselves. As a community, we are helping one another. I believe that is how our founding fathers built our country, through working together as a whole. I fully believe that is how our country should continue to stand. As American citizens, we are to be held responsible to help one another in times of trouble.

[Lindsay Kathleen McManus]

It is always intriguing to witness the decentralized policy process that we learned about in Comparative Government in action. Typically when we think of policy, we think about legislation, Congress, and politics in general. However, policy constitutes any sort of public decision made by governing entities and individuals. In this case, it is evident the various levels of government worked tirelessly together in order to provide for the people of Texas especially. They jointly identified the issue at hand, formulated a response, adopted and implemented it, and lastly were able to evaluate if it will have lasting positive effects or not. Decentralization speaks to getting stuff done. Texas was better able to respond to the crisis in Houston through the assistance of the federal government, especially in regards to funding, as well as due to the work their state and local government officials put in to help the citizens affected. When tasks are distributed, efficiency is the result. Although Houston is still a long time away from complete recovery, the efforts of different levels of government will certainly speed the process. As people say, "Many hands make light work."

[Joshua Robert Powers]

As the events that unfolded are being scrutinized, one of the things that struck me is the fact that the city's development is a major reason for the extent of the flooding. As the Urban sprawl took over the country side of Houston pavement went with it. This greatly decreased the already strained soil's ability to drain and absorb the water over flow. It will be interesting to see what infrastructural plans will be implemented to change this so it does not happen on this scale again.