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Re:Expert predicts a major hurricane hitting Houston would b... by adventured on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @10:43AM (#24271827)
> Katrina used to be a once-in-a-lifetime event, now hurricanes of similar size occur every few years

Factually that's simply not accurate at all. The post 2005 era of hurricanes was docile by historical standards until 2017-2018. From 2005 to 2017 zero category 3 (or worse) hurricanes made landfall in the US. Most of those that did, were weak category 1 hurricanes. There was no increase in frequency either.

Texas got hit by four category 3 hurricanes and one category 4 hurricane, in the span of just 22 years, from 1961 to 1983. Nothing like that stretch has been seen by Texas since. Texas also got hit by five category 4 hurricanes in just the span of six years from 1944 to 1950.

Florida went 11 years between hurricanes, from 2005 to 2016, something that is exceptionally rare. They were hit / impacted by four in 2004 and 2005 by comparison.

Katrina also wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime hurricane. It was a category 3, those have never been that rare. The disaster in New Orleans was overwhelmingly caused by people and their neglect of infrastructure.

Re:Expert predicts a major hurricane hitting Houston would b... by 9nGQluzmnq3M on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @11:08AM (#24272105)
I have no dog in the fight, but if this comment is actually wrong (as implied by the downvotes), it'd be nice to hear why.
Re:Expert predicts a major hurricane hitting Houston would b... by NoOneNew on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @11:15AM (#24272191)
It's pretty much on the money. Infrastructure and preparedness are the real factors of surviving a hurricane. A majority of new houses and buildings in FL are now cement or steel construction in response to Andrew and then the 2004 hurricanes. Wood construction is not popular anymore. This doesn't include the massive waterworks projects all across Florida to mitigate flooding.
Re:Expert predicts a major hurricane hitting Houston would b... by JoshuaJB on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @11:21AM (#24272256)
Per [1], the comment appears to be partially correct. The data prior to 1950 does not agree with [1], but hurricanes were not tracked in the same way prior to 1950. The author may just using a different source for those estimates.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_hurric...