Tag Archives: Ike Dike

More on the latest Harvey funds

Posted on July 7, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the full Chron story regarding that allocation of federal Harvey recovery money from Thursday. It wasn’t clear from the Trib story I quoted from, but that levee system is, at least in part, the Ike Dike. Jim Blackburn of … Continue reading →

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The Cornyn Ike Dike bill

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Credit where credit is due. With hurricane season right around the corner, Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said Wednesday he is introducing legislation to expedite a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study on a coastal barrier to mitigate storm damage … Continue reading →

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Will we ever get an Ike Dike?

Posted on February 17, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

We will when it gets funded. When might it get funded? Ummm… If the Houston-Galveston region continues to boom for the next 60 years and sea level rises as scientists predict, a direct hit to Galveston from a massive hurricane … Continue reading →

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A big ask for hurricane recovery

Posted on November 2, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck with that. I mean that mostly sincerely. Texas needs an additional $61 billion in federal disaster recovery money for infrastructure alone after Hurricane Harvey’s devastation, according to a report from the Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas that was … Continue reading →

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“We must find a way to co-exist with the bayou ecosystem”

Posted on September 2, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Offcite points to a way forward. We must find a way to co-exist with the bayou ecosystem, not get in its way. As Albert Pope, a professor at Rice Architecture, has pointed out in a series of proposals, most of Houston’s … Continue reading →

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Texas asks for Ike Dike money from the feds

Posted on April 30, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck with that. Almost a decade after Hurricane Ike killed dozens of people and caused $30 billion in damage, a group of Texas politicians and business leaders say they finally have “all the support necessary” to break ground on … Continue reading →

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What is the environmental impact of building an Ike Dike?

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe we should try to figure that out. Plans for building a massive storm-surge protection system for the Houston area are rushing ahead before officials determine whether the project could harm Galveston Bay, environmental groups say. The Sierra Club and … Continue reading →

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Obama signs Cornyn flood mitigation bill

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The title to this post is a bit of an overbid, but this is still a good thing. President Obama on Monday signed into law a bill that could help expedite the long process of constructing a hurricane protection system for … Continue reading →

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Two Ike Dike updates

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Ike Dike could be hidden by dunes: The “Ike Dike” that is being proposed to protect the Galveston-Houston area from a potentially catastrophic hurricane storm surge could take the form of undulating sand dunes hiding a steel or concrete core. … Continue reading →

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Turner endorses Ike Dike

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has endorsed the “Ike Dike” storm surge protection proposal, raising the possibility that Houston could be one of the last cities in the Galveston Bay area to endorse the $6 billion project. If the Houston … Continue reading →

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Cornyn files bill to speed up floodgate construction process

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Credit where credit is due. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn filed legislation Wednesday that he says would expedite the long process of constructing a hurricane protection system for the Texas coast, including the particularly vulnerable Houston region. But while local officials … Continue reading →

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Don’t expect Congress to pay for a Gulf Coast floodgate system

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I sure don’t. After nearly a decade of bickering and finger pointing, Texas scientists and lawmakers finally seem to agree that building some version of a “coastal spine” — a massive seawall and floodgate system — would best help protect … Continue reading →

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Not everyone likes the latest hurricane surge protection plan

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Yet another obstacle. A new proposal to protect the Houston area from hurricanes is reigniting controversy, and potentially diminishing the odds that a consensus will emerge anytime soon on the best plan to safeguard the nation’s fifth-largest metropolitan area. Since … Continue reading →

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Storm protection is expensive

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

But then so would be getting hit by a truly bad storm. Building a storm surge protection system along the Texas Gulf Coast could cost between $7.9 billion and $11 billion, and likely would not be completed for about two … Continue reading →

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Another floodgate proposed

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Third time’s the charm, right? Academic leaders have long beseeched government officials to learn from the damage caused by Hurricane Ike in 2008 and harden the upper Texas coast against future threats. Finally, on Monday, Texas Land Commissioner George P. … Continue reading →

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On the environmental challenges to the Houston region

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I turn the mic over to Jim Blackburn, in a reprint of an article he wrote for Offcite in 2014. The future of the City of Houston might be more affected by extreme weather events than by any other factor. … Continue reading →

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Ike Dike versus Centennial Gate

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s an academic storm surge mitigation smackdown! Lawmakers on Monday told representatives of two of Texas’ most distinguished universities to stop feuding and come together on a plan for protecting the Houston region from a storm surge similar to the … Continue reading →

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What should we do about hurricane preparedness?

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Or, to put the question another way: Ike Dike, Ike Floodgate, something else, or nothing? In 2009, months after Hurricane Ike devastated the upper Texas coast, Texas A&M-Galveston professor William Merrell unveiled a multibillion-dollar plan – to much skepticism – … Continue reading →

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Ike floodgate update

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Call it Ike Dike 2.0 if you want. Five years after Hurricane Ike devastated the upper Texas coast, a group of Houston scientists presented details Tuesday about a proposed gate to protect the Houston Ship Channel and much of the … Continue reading →

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The Ike Floodgate

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We have a recommendation for how to prepare for a future Hurricane Ike. A giant floodgate at the entrance to the Houston Ship Channel, coupled with a 130-mile wetlands recreation area, should be built to protect Houston from hurricane storm … Continue reading →

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Ike Dike gets a study

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The “Ike Dike”, a network of dikes and gates off the coast of Galveston that was first proposed last year by William Merrell as protection against storm surges from future hurricanes, is being discussed more seriously by the Gulf Coast … Continue reading →

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Ike Dike update

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As the first Atlantic tropical storms of the year make their appearance, we get an update on the proposed Ike Dike. One of Hurricane Ike’s legacies may be the hardening of the upper Texas coast against hurricane storm surges. Within … Continue reading →

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