Hurricane Harvey Is About to Get Worse

Hurricane Harvey is about to get worse in Texas.Yes, Washington will send the first several billion dollars in aid. But if the history of hurricanes is prologue, the rest of the massive aid package is worrisome.In Washington, Congress and the administration seem likely to lose sight of Harvey quickly, stumbling as they do from one quagmire to the next. In Austin, Gov. Greg Abbott has made himself the face of recovery, yet committed nothing financially. And on the Texas Gulf, the initial euphoria of survival will turn into the fuming frustration of recovery.There is practically nothing that can prepare you for a hurricane, no matter how many you have been through. Like a beast in the dark, it brings a psychological rush that you never wish you had. On the night that Harvey hit, thousands of people streamed north, and the acting mayor of Rockport issued the chilling instruction to those who remained to write their names and social security numbers on their forearms. And then 200,000 people were plunged into darkness, and millions into uncertainty.When the lights came up there was a collective euphoria among the survivors. And just like any near-death experience, that feeling was powerful testimony to the human spirit. The rescuers in the boats and the rescued exhibited a noble communitarianism.But the third act of a hurricane, upon which Texas is now entering, is a beast of a different kind. It uncoils slowly, inevitably and with seething frustration. People and institutions run low on energy and the work ahead becomes more, not less.  Continue reading...