Dr. Billy Fields of the Department of Political Science was quoted in a Houston Chronicle article that appeared on October 19, 2024. The article, entitled “What Houston Can Learn from Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene,” focused on whether Houston could “sustain back-to-back hurricanes” and stressed the importance of urban design to mitigating storm damage.
Dr. Fields, one of the experts cited, said that the task was essentially twofold: the first part is “how you deal with this sort of major storm surge,” while the second is “where do you put it and how do you think about it within cities.” He added that moving forward “people need to think more about when designing cities is where to put the extra water that comes from these hurricanes as climate change increases the water in the air.” Fields said, “reconsidering space within the city and where flood water can go can help mitigate risk in the future.”
The article can be found on the Houston Chronicle website here.
