For many Houstonians, climate change is at the doorstep. It shows up as a burst pipe after a winter freeze, flooded homes after a storm, rising insurance costs, and unbearable heat. These often accompany unexpected costs and anxiety about impending disasters.
At a Houston People’s Hearing on Climate Change, elected officials and residents gathered to share stories of survival and push for greater urgency in preparing for increasingly destructive weather events across Texas.
The hearing, part of a national series organized by the Climate Action Campaign, centered on lived experiences from people who say climate disasters are becoming a defining reality of everyday life in Houston.
Speakers also expressed fear that communities are struggling to keep pace with worsening conditions.
“Extreme weather is not some distant threat for Houston families. It is already here,” Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia told attendees, describing worsening weather conditions as immediate challenges facing residents across the region. “Texans deserve to be heard, and they deserve leaders who will fight for solutions instead of siding with polluters.”
The hearing unfolded against a backdrop of increasingly severe and expensive disasters in Texas. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Texas experienced 190 billion-dollar weather disasters between 1980 and 2024, ranging from tropical storms and floods to severe heat and cyclones.
Additionally, 20 of those events occurred in 2024 alone.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>New: Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday expanded a statewide disaster declaration in response to the New World screwworm’s arrival in Texas.<br><br>The expanded declaration authorizes the use of “all available resources of state government to respond to this disaster,” Abbott said.…</p>— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) <a href=”https://x.com/TexasTribune/status/2062951678148485364?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 5, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.x.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
For council member Tiffany Thomas, climate disasters are deeply personal.
During the 2021 winter freeze, Thomas said her father’s ceiling collapsed after pipes burst, leaving him among thousands of residents forced to navigate the crisis largely on their own. Thomas said she also personally faced the fallout of severe weather when damage to her home led to her insurance coverage being dropped.
“Extreme weather isn’t an abstract climate debate; it is an immediate threat to our lives and livelihoods,” she said.
Thomas also cited findings from a recent study by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research showing that nearly 60% of Houston-area residents worry about climate change, while 91% believe a disaster will strike where they live.
“We know that disaster does not discriminate,” Thomas said. “But while the weather strikes us all, we as a city must ensure we have policies and funding in place to remain Houston Strong in the face of disaster.”
Houston residents have reason for concern, speakers said.
Hundreds of Houstonians have died in weather-related disasters over the years, while research has suggested climate change intensified the flooding experienced during Hurricane Harvey.
Studies cited at the hearing found that between 30% and 50% of Houston properties flooded during Harvey may not have flooded had climate change not worsened existing environmental conditions.
Researchers found that during hurricanes, like Katrina, Harvey, and Winter Storm Uri, Black and Latino households experienced more severe damage to their homes, and recovery was slower in these communities, especially multifamily housing, where a majority of this demographic lives.
Recovery takes time
At the center of the hearing was a shared frustration over how recovery burdens often fall on families and burden them for years.
State Sen. Molly Cook, who works in emergency medicine, said she regularly witnesses the health consequences of climate-related crises firsthand.
“I spend every waking moment at the intersection of climate denial and poor health outcomes in the emergency department,” Cook said, emphasizing the importance of listening to survivors and residents directly affected by disasters. “There is no policy expert more informed than someone who has had to live it.”
Extending concerns beyond storms, City Controller Christopher Hollins questioned whether Houston is financially prepared for future disasters.
Hollins also called Houston “the most hurricane-vulnerable city in the country,” adding that the city’s disaster reserves remain dangerously thin despite an increasing pace of federally declared disasters.
“We know that disaster does not discriminate. But while the weather strikes us all, we as a city must ensure we have policies and funding in place to remain Houston Strong in the face of disaster.”
Council Member Tiffany Thomas
Per the controller’s office report, Weathering the Storm, Houston experienced 25 federally declared disasters between 1983 and the present, with disasters accelerating faster than the city’s preparedness efforts.
Toll on Houstonians
Parents and families also voiced concerns about the health toll on children.
Eileen McGinnis, founder of The Parents’ Climate Community, called extreme weather “a parenting issue,” pointing to children suffering from asthma complications and trauma linked to disasters. McGinnis recalled the high death toll during the Hill Country floods in July 2025.
“Our government leaders need to hear, sit with, and be accountable to the devastating impacts of climate-fueled extreme weather disasters on children’s and community health,” McGinnis said.
For organizations working directly with disaster survivors like Sierra Kos, co-founder of Extreme Weather Survivors, the on-the-ground reality is that families across Texas continue to face financial and physical hardship long after disasters fade from public attention.
These occurrences also cause significant emotional distress, as well, per Kos, accelerated by rising cooling costs, housing instability, insurance pressures, and uncertainty around rebuilding.
“This hearing is about making sure survivors are not just heard, but that their experiences help drive the action, accountability, and investments communities need to prepare for and recover from the growing impacts and costs of extreme weather,” Kos said.
