Coastal region disasters: Will they affect metro Atlanta's economy? (Dallas: how much, houses)

[atler8]

The short term effects of the Gulf Coast disaster in Texas, centered on metro Houston at this time, will impact Atlanta & much of the rest of the nation in terms of pain at the gas pump. Longer term, once the scope of the disaster in metro Houston becomes clear, will inland cities such as Atlanta be affected in terms of an inbound redirection of business & population flow that would have ordinarily have gone to Houston, a sun belt sister city?
From afar I have observed the all-too-regular flooding disasters in metro Houston that occur in either part of or in the entire metro & that occur with a frequency such that hardly a year goes by without that metro having a costly flooding disaster. This one appears to have the potential to be by far the worst ever for them. Furthermore, with the present forecast taken into account, what has occurred thus far could be only a hint of how bad it will become in metro Houston as the week progresses.
My own thoughts are that in that metro of 6.5 million plus or more residents impacted, this could well turn out to become the most costly storm in U.S. history in terms of damages. Folks, we're talking in terms of of billions & billions of dollars in losses in monetary terms.
Compounding the historical record of flooding problems there, the Houston area is experiencing a frightening level of subsidence that is getting faster over time. We all know of similar subsidence in New Orleans and in coastal Florida but the severity of the problem in Houston may come as as a shock to most Americans. When the concurrent rise of the ocean level is added in, the situation obviously becomes more dire to the point that the long term viability of some of our coastal metros, especially Houston, is called into question.
I look upon the current disaster that is unfolding as a sort of wake up call for coastal dwelling residents & for those people & businesses that would ordinarily consider locating there. As such, is an inland area like Atlanta going to benefit down the road by way of a redirection of growth away from along with an out-flow of population from coastal areas?
I'm not even going to into detail about Florida at this time other to mention that the state of Florida is facing geologic-based subsidence & salt water encroachment problems that will be better revealed when a Harvey-like storm swamps it's coastal regions. Were such a scenario to unfold in our neighbor directly to our south, there would also be a resulting redirection away of people & business.
The first 2 links below show that the subsidence problem in metro Houston has been a known factor for decades and that the rate of subsidence there has gotten faster over the recent decades. The 3rd link is from the online weather channel site which now notes that some parts of that area could receive up to 50" when all is said & done!
Your thoughts?

For years, the Houston area has been losing ground - Houston Chronicle

http://www.twdb.texas.gov/publicatio...s/doc/R188.pdf

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane...texas-flooding

[krogerDisco]

Any such "shift" will probably benefit Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio rather than Atlanta. Or they could move further north of Houston.

[Soccernerd]

It really has seemed like the past few years there's a YEARLY hundred or five hundred year flood in Houston. The topography is so flat, and they're basicallly just pouring concrete on swamp. It's no wonder they've had problems with flooding. I looked at houses, albeit online, that were newer than our house, larger than our house, and were only 100,000 or 150,000. They weren't in Sugar Land or The Woodlands, and who knows maybe they had hidden problems, but that just tells you how much the land is valued there. I think we're going to have rethink development especially along the coast during this time of rising sea levels and more powerful storm systems.

[Jandrew5]

Gas should be fine. Texas has a glut of gas in reserves. Even when the storm was obviously coming, gas in Texas only went up an average of 2 cents.

[DreamerD]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

It really has seemed like the past few years there's a YEARLY hundred or five hundred year flood in Houston. The topography is so flat, and they're basicallly just pouring concrete on swamp. It's no wonder they've had problems with flooding. I looked at houses, albeit online, that were newer than our house, larger than our house, and were only 100,000 or 150,000. They weren't in Sugar Land or The Woodlands, and who knows maybe they had hidden problems, but that just tells you how much the land is valued there. I think we're going to have rethink development especially along the coast during this time of rising sea levels and more powerful storm systems.

That's why I don't know if I could ever live in Texas. The weather alone and the fact that the land is so flat and prone to tornadoes. Here in Georgia, we have some of the best weather in terms of not having bad earthquakes, hurricanes, blizzards, etc.

[Soccernerd]

Originally Posted by DreamerD

That's why I don't know if I could ever live in Texas. The weather alone and the fact that the land is so flat and prone to tornadoes. Here in Georgia, we have some of the best weather in terms of not having bad earthquakes, hurricanes, blizzards, etc.

The thing about Georgia though is that it seems highly susceptible to alternating drought and flooding. Now every place everywhere can face those conditions (St. Louis is in a bit of a drought now despite widespread flooding this spring), but it just seems like ATL sees these conditions frequently. Also the rapid growth has put a strain on water resources in the area, and I think there needs to be more proactive measures taken to ensure flood control and plenty of drinking water.

[DreamerD]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

The thing about Georgia though is that it seems highly susceptible to alternating drought and flooding. Now every place everywhere can face those conditions (St. Louis is in a bit of a drought now despite widespread flooding this spring), but it just seems like ATL sees these conditions frequently. Also the rapid growth has put a strain on water resources in the area, and I think there needs to be more proactive measures taken to ensure flood control and plenty of drinking water.

Yes, the increase in.population has put a strain but I believe we also share water with Florida. There was a time where GA, Fl dunno if there was a third state...it hink there was but they were going.to court over water. Maybe one day the government will manipulate the weather system so that we don't have droughts. Not sure how this would affect the rest of the world though but I am pretty sure the U.S. and other countries have been experimenting.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by atler8

The short term effects of the Gulf Coast disaster in Texas, centered on metro Houston at this time, will impact Atlanta & much of the rest of the nation in terms of pain at the gas pump. Longer term, once the scope of the disaster in metro Houston becomes clear, will inland cities such as Atlanta be affected in terms of an inbound redirection of business & population flow that would have ordinarily have gone to Houston, a sun belt sister city?
From afar I have observed the all-too-regular flooding disasters in metro Houston that occur in either part of or in the entire metro & that occur with a frequency such that hardly a year goes by without that metro having a costly flooding disaster. This one appears to have the potential to be by far the worst ever for them. Furthermore, with the present forecast taken into account, what has occurred thus far could be only a hint of how bad it will become in metro Houston as the week progresses.
My own thoughts are that in that metro of 6.5 million plus or more residents impacted, this could well turn out to become the most costly storm in U.S. history in terms of damages. Folks, we're talking in terms of of billions & billions of dollars in losses in monetary terms.
Compounding the historical record of flooding problems there, the Houston area is experiencing a frightening level of subsidence that is getting faster over time. We all know of similar subsidence in New Orleans and in coastal Florida but the severity of the problem in Houston may come as as a shock to most Americans. When the concurrent rise of the ocean level is added in, the situation obviously becomes more dire to the point that the long term viability of some of our coastal metros, especially Houston, is called into question.
I look upon the current disaster that is unfolding as a sort of wake up call for coastal dwelling residents & for those people & businesses that would ordinarily consider locating there. As such, is an inland area like Atlanta going to benefit down the road by way of a redirection of growth away from along with an out-flow of population from coastal areas?
I'm not even going to into detail about Florida at this time other to mention that the state of Florida is facing geologic-based subsidence & salt water encroachment problems that will be better revealed when a Harvey-like storm swamps it's coastal regions. Were such a scenario to unfold in our neighbor directly to our south, there would also be a resulting redirection away of people & business.
The first 2 links below show that the subsidence problem in metro Houston has been a known factor for decades and that the rate of subsidence there has gotten faster over the recent decades. The 3rd link is from the online weather channel site which now notes that some parts of that area could receive up to 50" when all is said & done!
Your thoughts?

For years, the Houston area has been losing ground - Houston Chronicle

http://www.twdb.texas.gov/publicatio...s/doc/R188.pdf

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane...texas-flooding

Misleading article. As they note, the subsidence district was formed in 1975, yet they compare the subsidence to 1920. Numerous areas are under orders to eliminate use of groundwater over the next 10 or so years. Many of the unincorporated Municipal Utility Districts are teaming with the city of Houston which already relies on resevoirs, not wells. Pretty much all of Harris County will be off groundwater in the relatively near future.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by DreamerD

That's why I don't know if I could ever live in Texas. The weather alone and the fact that the land is so flat and prone to tornadoes. Here in Georgia, we have some of the best weather in terms of not having bad earthquakes, hurricanes, blizzards, etc.

Georgia is actually almost as bad as Oklahoma with tornados. Not so much the Atlanta area, but South Georgia.

[DreamerD]

Originally Posted by bu2

Georgia is actually almost as bad as Oklahoma with tornados. Not so much the Atlanta area, but South Georgia.

Interesting...I didn't know that but then again, been in the metro area most of my life. I guess I am privileged not to have lived in a part of the state that sees a good deal of tornadic activity.