By Lawrence Doe
The unfolding tragedy in Texas Hill Country is breathtaking, heartbreaking, and beyond imagination. It destroyed lives, property, and river banks for mile after mile of sorrow. Again, we hear exasperated expressions like, “never seen anything like this”, “unbelievable”, “Pray to God…”, “Somebody should have…”, and “I didn’t know”.
However, the area that flooded is known as “Flash Flood Alley”. Texas has more flood drownings than any other state. Public officials have been talking about better warning systems for two decades, but have been rejected due to cost. Residents say they are used to the typical flooding. So, what happened?
Climate change. Warmer air holds more moisture, so rainfall is increasing. But people don’t seem to be able to imagine disasters getting worse and more often. So preparedness suffers. The 9/11 Commission’s report identified a “failure of imagination” as the biggest failing to prevent the September 11 attacks. Israel hardened their commercial pilots’ doors twenty years before our 9/11. Our policymakers and airline officials could not imagine a problem in the skies over our country.
We have been warned about the negative effects of climate change. The weather is intensifying and becoming unpredictable as normal patterns change. One doesn’t have to believe the science or the scientists. We can ignore the rising oceans displacing communities in the Arctic Circle and the tropical islands of Micronesia. We can tolerate the smoke blowing into our area from intense fires around the world. And all the flooding can be blamed on poor reporting from weather professionals. But the truth is, we are in a new world. John Vallant, in his Pulitzer Prize nominated book, Fire Weather, writes, “reality does not require human belief in order to be real”.
The question is: Shall we continue to be willfully ignorant? Or shall we begin to imagine a future for our children and grandchildren that requires us to change our thinking and prepare now? Our ancestors would encourage us to do so. “Penny wise and pound foolish” is how they might describe some modern policy makers. Benjamin Franklin in 1736 said, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. An ancient Chinese proverb states, “an inferior doctor cures disease, a mediocre doctor treats impending disease, a superior doctor prevents disease”.
Compare the million-dollar grant refused by the state of Texas for a better flash flood warning system in Kerr County to the cost of search, rescue, and recovery of flood victims in that same county. The math is obvious. Penny wise and pound foolish. But this is only one example. Think waterfront homes caught in a continuous cycle of destruction and rebuilding, costing all taxpayers. Think of residential developments built with flammable siding continuing to spread in fire-prone areas. What about the Trump administration’s budget disbanding NOAA’s research department, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, whose job it is to study changing weather patterns so we can prepare solutions? Penny, penny, penny wise. Then there is the current federal administration’s roll-back of all clean energy initiatives. The “pound foolish” part of that sage advice is robbing our future for immediate power and profits.
But the kids who drowned in Texas on the 4th of July, 2025 have no future. Happy Birthday, America.
