Lately, I find myself paying a lot more attention to the weather. The intensity of the storms this year has created a global conversation and raised the issue of global warming to the forefront. While the warmer waters have not resulted in more storms, they certainly seem to have increased the intensity. I feel for all those in Puerto Rico and the Houston area who are struggling just to conduct daily life. It must be overwhelming to even know where and how to start re-building.

In comparison, our little town came out of our major tropical storm (Lidia) relatively unscathed. Cabo did not fare as well and many people (mostly local families) are still homeless. Buildings were damaged, cars swept away and some of the arroyos washed out parts of roads. The toll road from our area to the airport was closed for a while after the storm, but is now open. One striking illustration of how powerful the storm was is the amount of wood washed up on the beaches. My husband snapped this shot of the beach around the corner from our property a couple days back.

When we were looking for property, we actively considered how climate change would affect us. At that time, we were focusing primarily on sea level rise, but we’ve found a few other factors that have contributed to different building situations. In a hurricane, there seem to be three major factors that contribute to property damage, storm surge, flooding/water run-off, and wind. Building on a hill set back from the ocean will protect us from storm surge. To combat the wind, we’re building out of brick (learned our lesson from the three pigs) and installing hurricane-resistant windows and doors. For the flooding and run-off, our land is pretty rocky and doesn’t erode easily. This won’t be great for gardening, but will protect our house from sliding down the hill. At this point, I’m feeling pretty good about our choices.

One benefit of the massive amounts of water from the sky is that it turns the desert green and lush. Birds are chirping and the desert has exploded with cottontail rabbits and their new babies. After the rains subside, the green will stay for about a month and we’ll be back to the typical dusty landscape.

On that note, I’ll leave you with a picture of the lushness.