by admin | Feb 4, 2026 | Chicago, Climate, Coastal Management, Disaster, Florida, Hurricanes, Insurance, Iowa, Journalism, Movies, Parks, Personal history, Restaurants, Sports, Tornado, Urban Planning, Weather
It was about 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, January 25, when my United Airlines flight from Sarasota, Florida, landed at O’Hare International Airport, and I finally started getting text messages again. The very first one was from Angel, our 22-year-old grandson, whom I had...
by admin | Aug 5, 2025 | Activism, Books, Business, Chicago, Climate, Colorado, Disaster, Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure, New Orleans, Religion, Renewable Energy, Volunteerism
I had a dream a few weeks ago. Most of my dreams are fleeting and inconsequential. Not so this time. My overladen subconscious mind took me to this empty room, then made me fill it with all that had happened since my “alleged retirement”[1] from the American Planning...
by admin | Dec 26, 2024 | Careers, Climate, Disaster, Disaster Recovery, Education, Floodplain management, Hazard Mitigation, History, Iowa, Natural Hazards, Personal history, Public policy, Resilience, Retirement, Texas, Urban Planning, Weather
About the time the rising Cedar River crested in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on June 13, 2008, a torrential downpour from an incoming thunderstorm joined forces with it to create the perfect flood. In the previous flood of record in the city, the river had reached 20...
by admin | Nov 4, 2024 | Climate, Coastal Management, Disaster, Emergency Management, Floodplain management, Florida, Geography, Hurricanes, Natural Hazards, Resilience, Weather
Barrier islands serve a purpose in nature’s scheme, offering a barrier of sorts to the movement of storm surge and high tides to the continental mainland. In both the Southeastern U.S. and the Texas Gulf Coast, such islands abound, but we have often ignored the power...
by admin | Aug 12, 2024 | Careers, Coronavirus, Disaster, Disaster Recovery, Government, Hazard Mitigation, History, Hurricanes, Natural Hazards, Parks, Recreation, Resilience, Retirement, Urban Planning, Water
Let’s try to imagine: You are the chief executive officer for a 1,300-acre public park in New Orleans, the largest in the city, although it does not belong to the city. It is incorporated under the state of Louisiana. You spend the weekend of Friday, August 26, 2005,...
by admin | Feb 8, 2024 | Activism, Climate, Coastal Management, Disaster, Disaster Recovery, Hazard Mitigation, History, Hurricanes, Natural Hazards, Personal health, Resilience, Social Equity, Texas, Tornado, Weather
It has been a couple of months since I last posted a video of our progress in filming for Planning to Turn the Tide. That last article summarized our film efforts in Jacksonville, Florida, in September 2023, but we had another trip in the offing then, to the Texas...
