maryss's blog

Harvey was definitely not the first hurricane to cause devastation on American soil. Indeed, Harvey follows several such major storms that caused billions of dollars in damages including Katrina (2005), Sandy (2012), Ike (2008), Wilma (2005) and Andrew (1992). Hurricanes are certainly not a new phenomenon. In fact, Christopher Columbus encountered one in 1495 near Hispaniola (SunSentinel, 2017). We have had 522 years to prepare more effectively for huge storms and, yet, we are often not ready or, at least, not as prepared as we ought to be. The question is why that is so.

In the month of March 2015, France approved a law which requires all new buildings in commercial zones must either be covered partially by plants or solar panels. The reasoning behind this change in policy is that green roofs help reduce stormwater runoff as well as provide birds nesting grounds in urban settings.