The discovery that their city is now awash in hazardous chemicals has protracted and compounded Houstonians’ trauma. In Houston, for example, Hurricane Harvey led to nearly 80 deaths, damaged 136,000 homes, and displaced more than a million people. Among them is the fact that too many of our communities are situated next to toxic sites that are, quite literally, disasters waiting to happen. Hurricanes destroy, but they also reveal horrors that have been around us all along. Power outages may last for days or even weeks there are no guarantees regarding access to potable water, food supplies, and medical attention and communication can revert to the pre-digital, or even the pre-telephonic, era. As we’re currently seeing in post-Maria Puerto Rico, the systems on which society depends can break down and fail. The disaster simply morphs into a different type of catastrophe. Once its deadly winds have calmed, a hurricane’s wrath isn’t over.
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