Vangie Williams plans to make environmental, infrastructure issues priorities if elected
After seeing the recent devastation that Hurricane Florence and her remnants wrought upon the Carolinas and parts of Virginia, two things need to be addressed: Why do hurricanes occur during the so-called “hurricane season”? And, why are hurricanes getting bigger and stronger?
Hurricane season begins after the summer has heated the water and air. And three factors determine just how bad hurricanes can get: extra moisture, hot water, and higher sea levels. Warmer air, warmer waters and higher sea levels are a catalyst for more damaging hurricanes and coastal storm surges.
When a hurricane makes landfall, its winds push seawater ashore creating a dangerous storm surge. Adding sea level rise to storm surge can make flooding even worse. And as sea levels continue to rise, low-lying coastal areas will grow even more vulnerable to hurricanes.
This is especially problematic as the frequency of stronger hurricanes is increasing. Since 1924, there have been 33 Category 5 hurricanes (i.e., the strongest category). Eleven of these Category 5 hurricanes have occurred within the past 14 years. This means that while we’ve had powerful hurricanes before, the frequency with which the strongest hurricanes appear appears to be increasing.
The location of people and housing also needs to be taken into account. From 1970 to 2010, the population of U.S. counties directly on the shoreline increased by almost 40 percent and is projected to increase by an additional 10 million people or 8 percent by 2020. This puts more people in harm's way. Plus, land developments are expanding into more marginal, poorly drained land, so the areas now sustaining residential development have less capacity to absorb or buffer storm damage.
But arguably the worst part of this is an infrastructure nightmare. Over the summer, the Trump administration moved $200 million additional funds to ICE (the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement). That action was then followed up by moving another $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to ICE just this past week—during the beginning of an already challenging hurricane season and while a major hurricane was bearing down on the east coast.
FEMA is not just a relief agency. It also focuses on mitigation and recovery. Cutting funding from infrastructure investments mean a city’s ability to supply potable water, repair telecommunications and get energy up and running becomes a lot harder to do. The way we rebuild and repair systems to withstand the effects of disasters – natural or man-made – impacts the quality of life for people living in that community.
So, what does all of this mean? We should prepare for the long term and invest in infrastructure that limits the damage from future storms. It means that it’s time for our country’s leadership to start taking the country’s infrastructure problems seriously. And, if elected to represent the 1st Congressional District of Virginia, I plan to be at the forefront of that quest.
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Vangie Williams is a public servant and strategic planner who solves problems for our federal government. A real-world professional with 30 years of experience, Vangie is not a career politician who will put corporate interests above people. She is committed to an economy for everyone, healthy families and investing in our communities. Learn more about her vision to put people first at www.vangieforcongress.com.
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