It's been 14 months since I last left southeast Texas and the aftermath of Hurricane Ike behind. Even though I'm safely away from the risk of hurricanes, Ike is still wreaking havoc on southeast Texas. The latest manifestation of this is the revelation that Galveston's streets are sinking, the result of a chemical reaction between the salty storm surge and raw sewage, which created a mild sulfuric acid that has over the intervening months slowly eaten away at Galveston Island's infrastructure. As the acidic mix has eaten away at sewage pipes, the sandy soil (the city of Galveston was raised several feet after the catastrophic 1900 hurricane) has slowly collapsed, creating potholes in city streets and the potential for much worse damage as time passes. What happens when the ground begins collapsing under hospitals and office buildings?
Unfortunately, FEMA will not pay for repairing this damage, so Galveston is left to rely on the State of Texas and diminishing local resources to keep the island's decrepit infrastructure from a catastrophic collapse. Yes, we have plenty of money, will, and resources to continue fighting two never-ending wars halfway around the world...but we can't fix problems within our own borders? How is it that we're able to understand the risks to our national security posed by conflicts half a world away, but we cannot recognized the risks that are literally under our feet?
When our country eventually slips from it's decaying pedestal, it won't be because angry Islamofascists defeated us through the sheer force of their faith and conviction. It will be because we ignored the pressing reality of the infrastructure crumbling underneath our feet. Galveston Island is merely the canary in the coal mine...and we ignore it at our own peril.
