After Hurricane Harvey, Texas senator eyes using state’s savings for flood control
Before the next Hurricane Harvey strikes, and thousands of homes are damaged or destroyed, some Texas lawmakers want to make sure communities statewide are better prepared for future floods. On Tuesday, state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, filed legislation to establish Texas’ first-ever flood plan – slated for completion by September 2024.
The statewide plan would incorporate regional plans to better coordinate flood-control projects and strategies. It would also look at flooding problems on a watershed basis, not just at the community level. This would also allow communities within the same watershed to pinpoint joint solutions – and ensure that one local plan does not unintentionally impact another community in a negative way, Perry’s office said….
How Australia’s Deadliest Fires Made Thousands of Students Fall Behind
Natural disasters come in all many forms, from hurricanes to wildfires. They all have something in common, though: They ruin people’s lives. And the effects can linger years after the event has passed, especially for elementary school children whose education has only just started, according to a new study.
Published in the Child Development journal Thursday, the study tracked 24,642 Australian children who attended primary schools in the state of Victoria and felt the impacts from the Black Saturday wildfires in 2009. These fires were among the worst the country has seen: 173 people died, thousands of structures burned, and more than 988,000 acres were torched, according to the Country Fire Authority. This new study found that kids’ academic progression suffered roughly a 5 to 6 percent loss as a result of the traumatic event…