It’s difficult to describe why those of us who live in Texas treasure the Hill Country in the center of our state. Little wonder that President Lyndon Johnson enjoyed entertaining princes and potentates on his ranch in the area. The Hill Country is a wild and beautiful place that has enchanted those who visit or live there for decades. It has a haunting beauty but those of us who have grown old in Texas remember how rugged life can be there. It has historically been challenged by fires and floods, droughts and hardships.
Many who live there have been living under a strict burn ban for years even as they understand that if the rains come in quick and heavy bursts flash floods may threaten the serenity that attracts so many visitors and settlers to the area. It is a little heaven on earth that can become hell in the blink of an eye.
A few years back there was a flash flood in a small town called Wimberly along the Blanco River that washed homes away from their foundations, killing multiple souls gathered there for a holiday. At a campground where my husband and I have enjoyed peaceful nights there are signs warning campers to leave immediately if a siren begins to blare. It never occurred to me that the peaceful little river running through the camp might be capable of becoming deadly but the reality is that it has done so more than once.
I’ve also camped along the Guadelupe River which is usually known for its happy souls tubing on hot summer days. In some years he river is so shallow that there is hardly a trickle of water to move the bathers from one place to another. On July fourth in the middle of the night it became a deadly wall of rushing water that rose to historic heights in only a matter of minutes. The loss of lives and property has somehow put a sickening mark on the whole area that is traditionally a summer retreat.
I’ll be heading to the Hill County in early August to do some dog sitting. My daughter’s home is located high in the neighborhood but whenever I go there I find myself listening for sirens proclaiming the danger of fire or flood. Both have happened nearby her place and sometimes I worry that one day her little parcel of paradise will feel the wrath of nature and climate change that seems to be getting ever more furious and dangerous with each passing year.
If there are two things that frighten me more than anything it is being caught in a fire or a raging river. Either way would be terrifying to me and so I get a sick feeling when I think of the people young and old whose last moments were spent in such horror. Sadly climate disasters are becoming ever more commonplace and frightening. Areas that never before experienced devastation are feeling the wrath of storms and wildfires. Most of them are the truly beautiful places that have lured us to come rest for awhile.
I am one of those people who plans for difficult times. I was ready with masks and all kinds of supplies when Covid hit. Because I live in a town frequently plagued by hurricanes and storms I have a ladder that I can use to escape from the upstairs of my home if water inundates the downstairs. I have an axe in my attic in case we have to climb up there and get out by way of the roof. There was a flood in my area many years ago that forced people to sit on their rooftops waiting to be rescued. I learned from their stories that if they had not had something to create a hole in the roof they would have been trapped inside their homes. I got the supplies that I hope I never need after reading about that.
I suppose that I may sound a bit neurotic worrying about such things especially by those who still seem to believe that climate change is neither real or a problem. I would say to them that we need to begin taking such issues seriously. Events of the present time are warnings for us all. We not only have the opportunity to prepare for massive weather events but we can also begin to do everything possible to stall the march of climate disasters. Our sacrifices might mean the difference between losing precious lives and saving them.
Each year here in Texas I think of horrific events like hurricane Harvey that left Houston under water after five days of constant rain. I remember the tragedy of the 1900 storm in Galveston. Now the Fourth of July will be bittersweet as I recall the horror of the Guadelupe River’s impact on thousands of innocents.
I don’t know what it is going to take for all of us to realize that we have to start investing in ways to prevent, predict and warn of the horrors that may come our way. Life is precious. Our land is precious. People don’t have to die unnecessarily if we make the sacrifices of taking precautions. The scarred terrain in what had once been a little Shangri-La should remind us of how fragile our earth and the people on it are.
Meanwhile my heart is heavy for the good people who lost so much. We owe it to them to work to make certain that we will do everything possible to attempt to prevent a repeat of the horror they have endured.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 