Eighteen years ago, Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans, overpowering the city’s levees and destroying entire communities. As leader of Joint Task Force Katrina, I saw the devastating force of nature and the high cost of being caught unprepared.
Now, hurricane season is here again. And according to NPR climate correspondent Rebecca Hersher, even if El Niño makes this hurricane season a milder one, storms will continue to become more frequent and on average more severe with each passing season.
The science is clear: the warmer the oceans, the stronger the storms. Heat is energy, and the more of it there is in the ocean, the more fuel for increasingly destructive storms. At the same time, rising sea levels, caused by the melting of the South Pole’s ice caps and Arctic glaciers, mean higher storm surges.
I don’t have to tell you that storm surges are the deadliest part of a hurricane making landfall. They occur when a storm pushes a wall of seawater several feet high onto the land, causing lethal flooding and costly property damage. In New Orleans, I saw the city’s Lower 9th Ward all but razed by fierce ocean waters. Residents evacuated as far as other states; nearly two decades later, many have never returned.
Tragically for Louisiana, the state has 740 petrochemical plants that are vulnerable to tropical storms, according to a new report by The Times-Picayune and The Advocate. While most have weathered storms in the past, there’s no evidence to show they will be able to withstand the storm surges of the powerful superstorms that are becoming the new norm.
In additional reporting by The Advocate, it was revealed that many of these facilities could spread toxic, even lethal chemicals through the air anywhere across a 25-mile radius, were they to be damaged or destroyed in a hurricane. Chemicals like chlorine gas, once used as a chemical weapon in the First World War, could quite literally choke, burn or even kill innocent bystanders living all the way in another parish from the damaged plant.
The massive corporations that own and operate these plants claim that such potential calamities are merely worst-case scenarios that won’t happen. That’s just spin, and it’s no comfort to the 1 in 4 Louisiana residents who live within 25 miles of a dangerous chemical plant.
It’s also callous on the part of plant owners to dismiss the real threats their operations pose during a hurricane or other natural disaster. Storms are becoming more powerful and more frequent. The same plants that may have withstood storms in the past may not be able to survive the supercharged storms of the near future — or even the present.
It’s outrageous that chemical plant owners can put the health and safety of some 1.2 million Louisiana residents at risk. The rest of us understand we need to undertake additional precautionary measures now that hurricane season is becoming increasingly deadly. Petrochemical companies should not be able to put us in harm’s way by denying this reality.
If you live anywhere on the Gulf Coast or the Eastern Seaboard, prepare yourself this hurricane season. Make sure you have at least 1 gallon of water per person per day for at least five days. Lack of access to clean water during a disaster is the single greatest cause of disease and death. Stock up on nonperishable foods, like ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits, vegetables and other high-energy foods that won’t spoil when the power goes out. Make sure you have your prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, flashlights, batteries, nonelectric can opener, and a mess kit — and if you get an evacuation order, follow it.
Don’t wait. Prepare yourself and your family now. And while you’re at it, call your member of Congress. Tell them petrochemical companies need more stringent safety guidelines and disaster protocols in hurricane zones.
Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (Ret.) is the former commanding officer of the U.S. First Army. He led disaster recovery efforts in New Orleans as head of Joint Task Force Katrina.