In a lengthy feature in its February 5, 2023, Sunday edition, the New York Times told the heart-breaking story of a young couple who lost their home to Hurricane Harvey.Written by Jake Bittle, described as "a reporter covering climate, housing and energy," the article was adapted from his forthcoming book The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration. The article claims that Harvey and other "climate disasters" destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes across the United … [Read more...]
Hurricanes departing Atlantic leave behind misery
This year has been a busy hurricane season, leaving lasting effects behind in Puerto Rico, Houston, Texas and portions of Florida. Since Wilma in 2005, no Category-3 or stronger hurricane had made landfall on the U.S. proper, despite plenty of warm water in the Gulf of Mexico to form hurricanes every season. But did Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria really notch any new records? Harvey came ashore east of Corpus Christi as a Category-4. Weakened, it moved northeast toward Houston where it … [Read more...]
Were Hurricanes Harvey & Irma “Worst Ever”?
Larry Bell dispels the myth that Hurricanes Harvey and Irma were "the worst ever" and made so by anthropogenic global warming. Neither was either. See his "No, Hurricanes Aren't More Frequent or Severe" for a tidy historical review that includes this: A review of North Atlantic tropical storm and hurricane patterns fails to reveal any worsening trend over more than a century. The recent Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey and Hurricane Irma actually ended an almost 12-year-long drought of U.S. … [Read more...]
What Unintended Consequences Accompany Mandatory Evacuations for Hurricanes?
While Hurricane Irma was making its way through the Caribbean as a Category 5 storm, the National Hurricane Center predicted that it would veer north before reaching Florida; then that it would veer north a little later, skirting Florida's Atlantic coast and bringing devastation; then that it would veer north still later, plowing right into Miami and then working its devastating way north; then that it would veer north later yet, skirting the Gulf coast and spreading devastation all along … [Read more...]
How Much Do We Really Need Big Brother for Disaster Relief?
USA Today reports that 80% of disaster relief aid following Hurricanes Harvey and Irma comes from faith-based organizations---denominations, individual churches, non-denominational charitable organizations. For anyone familiar with Marvin Olasky's The Tragedy of American Compassion, that's no surprise. In what Bill Bennett called "the most important book on welfare and social policy in a decade. Period," Olasky first gives the amazing history of how well charitable organizations---the vast … [Read more...]
URGENT: A Call to Prayer for Millions in the Path of Hurricane Irma
As I write, Hurricane Irma has reached Category 5, with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. The National Hurricane Center calls it “the strongest hurricane in the Atlantic basin outside of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico in the NHC records” (emphasis added). The NHC says Irma “will bring life-threatening wind, storm surge, and rainfall hazards to portions of the northeastern Leeward Islands beginning later today"; the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico beginning tomorrow, reaching the … [Read more...]
How Can You Help the Victims of Hurricane Harvey?
Millions of people in east Texas are suffering devastating losses as Hurricane Harvey continues to pour massive amounts of rain into the area. How can you help them? First and most importantly, pray. Pray first for their spiritual needs---that Christians won't doubt God's goodness in this but will see how He uses afflictions to draw people nearer to Himself (Psalm 119:67). Pray that non-Christians will consider their mortality and their need to be ready to stand before God's judgment, and … [Read more...]
Why Houston Flooding Isn’t a Sign of Climate Change
[Editor’s note: Please continue to pray for the millions of people in Texas and elsewhere suffering seriously from the tremendous flooding brought by Hurricane Harvey. At the same time, don’t be led astray by claims that it’s caused by human-induced global warming. Cornwall Alliance Senior Fellow Dr. Roy W. Spencer, a NASA and University of Alabama climate scientist, explains why it isn’t in this article] In the context of climate change, is what we are seeing in Houston a new level of … [Read more...]
A Call to Prayer for those Threatened by Hurricane Harvey
Please join with the Cornwall Alliance in praying for those in the path of Hurricane Harvey. The storm is likely to be life threatening and cause severe damage to property throughout eastern Texas and into Louisiana. The greater Houston area, with some 6.5 million people, is among the areas threatened. Its very low elevation makes severe flooding highly likely. Although the greatest threat will be along the coast, where winds will be highest before the storm begins to weaken over land, the … [Read more...]
Blame Global Warming for Hurricane Harvey?
In the hallowed tradition of Rahm Emanuel's "You never let a serious crisis go to waste," ThinkProgress followed Emanuel's advice when it wrote, "As of 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, Trump had posted seven tweets from his personal @realDonaldTrump account. ... Not a single tweet mentioned the potentially devastating storm or warned Gulf residents to prepare for the incoming wind, rain, and possible flooding." A frequent visitor to Cornwall Alliance's Facebook page who excoriates us at every … [Read more...]
