Dear Friends,
This week marked the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Harvey. No matter how many years pass, those of us who were in the Houston region in August 2017 will never forget the torrential rainfall and floods that devastated the area.
While Harvey’s floodwaters did not discriminate, it worsened the inequality that existed long before the storm ever made landfall. Harvey exposed how the neighborhoods – primarily in communities of color that have been redlined, polluted, and neglected for decades – were also unfairly passed over for vital flood protection investments year after year. This makes recovery harder for those communities and leaves them vulnerable to future storms, which we have seen recently with the Derecho in May and Hurricane Beryl in July.
We are working to change that. Since Harvey, we have established an equity framework to guide our investments in flood protection. From concrete plants to creosote contamination, we’re confronting environmental injustice in our communities. We’re taking action to prepare for and prevent unnatural disasters caused by climate change so that every community is better protected, more resilient, and able to recover before the next storm.
The county and my office are also partnering with our communities to make our region more resilient to climate change by developing and implementing climate action plans, equitably expanding greenspace, reducing carbon pollution, creating good-paying green jobs, and developing a program to increase access to affordable, reliable, clean energy for low-income households.
One of the greatest lessons we learned from Hurricane Harvey is the power of people coming together in common bond and purpose — we still have a way to go toward a truly resilient future for all. It will take all of us working together, guided by equity and justice, to make sure no community is left behind and every family is safe and thriving.
Sincerely,
Rodney Ellis