Hurricane season in the Gulf Coast of the United States takes place from the 1st of June to the 30th of November. While not every disturbance in the Gulf makes landfall, those which do can have devastating effects on residents in their path. Although Houston, Texas has a long history with natural disasters coming from the Gulf, those in recent times have been some of the worst on record.
Population Growth from 1990–2018
This animated map shows the changes in population over the most recent decades. While each county has seen overall growth, through this map we are able to note that inland counties have a quicker population growth than Gulf counties.
Population Change in Greater Houston Counties by Percentage
Breaking down this data further, we are able to see the percentage of population growth changes by county and year. If we look at these changes in population through the lens of natural disasters, we can start to see trends based on proximity to flooding areas. However, we must consider that hurricane season is from June–November, therefore when looking at the yearly percentage of population change, we need to look at the year after the disaster happened. We also need to take into consideration that these numbers are from the official Texas census estimates charting permanent migration and displacement rather than people who were temporarily displaced by these disasters as the this is more difficult to track.
Gulf-side Counties
Inland Counties
The Galveston Hurricane of 1900: One of the Deadliest Disasters in American History
“Winds of 120 miles per hour slammed the city with flying debris that cut through homes like shrapnel. Waves crashed onto the streets, leaving the city 15 feet underwater at one point. And, worst of all, virtually nobody had the foresight to evacuate. Galvestonians had experienced ocean floodwaters from storms before, but they hadn't ever done much more than board up windows and build beach houses up off the ground as prevention. This lack of preparation would cost them dearly. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 remains the deadliest natural disaster in modern U.S. history, leaving behind an estimated death toll of 6 to 12 thousand people and creating half a billion dollars in damages.”
Eras of Change for the Houston Population
After most hurricanes and natural disasters like Allison, Ike and Harvey, we see growth in inland counties and either slowed growth or loss of growth in Gulf-side counties or those near bayou-feed bodies of water. In 2006, we see steady growth in a majority of Houston counties due to the city’s efforts to help rehouse Louisiana citizens effected by Hurricane Katrina, and those who opted to remain in Houston after independently choosing to evacuate New Orleans.
While major highways in the Houston area are converted from two-traffic to one-way traffic in efforts to ease congestion, it creates gridlock when cars are eventually pushed back into normal traffic patterns. Evacuation plans like this also create congestion on smaller roads which do not have contraflow plans to allow for more cars. The lack of additional plans involving non-interstate highways changing to contraflow during evacuations leads to traffic build up in those specific areas and creates dangerous environments for those who do not live near or have access to one of these evacuation routes.
“You cannot put 6.5 million people on the road two days before a storm [when] you don’t know where it is going.”
— Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner —
Evacuation Isn’t Always the Safest Option.
“I knew the decision not to evacuate for Harvey was 100 percent right. When the floods came, everyone could see how fast the water rose on the freeways. If there had been a mass evacuation, people would still have been on the roads. […] I feel like Mayor Turner made the right decision in telling people not to evacuate. If we had tried to evacuate I think we would have died on the damn freeway. There could have been so many more casualties than there were, and I’m glad I wasn’t one of them. I think the mayor saved thousands of lives, considering how fast that water rose. People would still have been on the road now when Harvey hit, even if we had started evacuating two days prior.” — Kam Franklin
“I know it is easy for everyone to watch the news and criticize people’s decisions when it comes to natural disasters, especially hurricanes since they are tracked. It is very hard to live through these experiences though. Even though hurricanes are tracked, people have to make very quick decisions which aren’t as easy as you would think.”
"I just thank the Lord. This is a nice spot to go to sleep."
“Mayor Bill White and other Houston officials who vowed Friday to throw open the city's arms to the victims of Hurricane Katrina said that the Astrodome, which pioneered the domed stadium in 1965 but had lost its teams to more modern arenas, could shelter as many as 18,000 storm survivors. But with other emergency centers opening up at the newer Reliant Park next door and the George R. Brown Convention Center downtown, considerably fewer than that bedded down in the Astrodome on Friday night.”
“Houston welcomed through that gateway [of temporary shelter] 60,000 people and ultimately maybe a quarter million people into the Houston area after Katrina.”
— Then-Harris County Judge Robert Eckels
“The reality of the Cajun Navy is everybody out here with a boat that isn’t devastated gets out and helps others.”
What began as a grassroots community response to those left behind by official efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Cajun Navy has quickly become the answer to the Gulf Coast’s need for hurricane and flooding first responders. Often actively evacuating citizens and providing resources to those in need days before state-sponsored organizations arrive, the Cajun Navy is the region’s way of looking after it’s own community wherever and however it can. While this sort of vigilante, un-regulated response cohort comes with challenges, it’s positive and life-saving impact has saved thousands of lives over a ten-year period in both Texas and Louisiana.
“Texas and Louisiana have a special relationship. After the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, Houston took in some 250,000 refugees from New Orleans. At least 25,000 of them never returned to Louisiana, either because they couldn’t afford to or because they hoped for better, more stable lives in the Lone Star State. When Harvey hit Texas, the Cajuns remembered not just Katrina but the countless other times Texas and Louisiana were caught in the same storm. ”
“I can't look at somebody knowing that I have a perfect boat in my driveway to be doing this and to just sit at home.”
“In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, an ad hoc group of Louisianans calling themselves the Cajun Navy took their boats to Texas and started ferrying people to safety. As superstorms rock our coastlines with increasing frequency and underfunded government-relief agencies keep falling short, private citizens are stepping in to save those left behind.”