I have never seen anything like this before. Because of much-warranted fear before, during, and after the storm and because of unprecedented flooding, we are running out of food in Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, and Harris Counties.
Here are some pictures showing the conditions as of this evening at the HEB Plus in Lake Jackson:
The store is about 60-70 percent empty because people have bought everything and there are few ways to replenish the shelves in the near future. Kroger Marketplace is in a similar condition.
All too often, we take grocery stories for granted in our modern/contemporary world. Weather events help make this invisible necessity somewhat visible. Perhaps we now have a very slight glance of what living in a food desert is like.
Sadly, there will be more people than usual who are starving in the near future. We might need food dropped from helicopters before too long! I’m not worried about myself. I have plenty of food, I know how to cook, and I can eat at a restaurant (although many have not been able to open again), but many are not so lucky.
As we speak, more and more communities are flooding as waters make their slow return to the ocean. The elementary school I attended is flooding this evening, too. The house I “grew up” in is likely flooding this evening, too, according to local reports.
Solutions are available. Hopefully, maybe, the oligarchs will set their pocketbooks aside for a second and will listen to experts.
Events like Hurricane Harvey make me really think about relocating somewhere in Houston on much higher ground.
Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda
Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda 