The weather is cooling off. The temps this Tuesday morning are comfortable for the first time in weeks. And yet, not a drop of rain is expected anytime in the forseeable future.

Wildfires are raging out of control in Texas while the land longs for a good, slow soak. Our Louisiana neighbors just received too many inches of rain while we watched longingly for even a mere sprinkle to blow our way. In face, we saw a mere sprinkle but it didn’t help much.

As I have reported previously, this drought and long, hot summer are taking their toll on our infrastructure. The water main breaks are the immediately obvious pain point. The City of Houston and Harris County budgets were tight this year. Our elected officials took necessary steps to avoid raising taxes while their income revenues dropped significantly. Most of us were relieved that the budgets were balanced, even though it was painful, without increasing our own obligations. I certainly was happy to not face a tax increase.

Now, we face financial obligations that will result from our complete lack of rain. The roads are buckling and other infrastructure is becoming unstable. We learned last week that millions of trees in Houston are dying. This one hurt me the most. I love our trees. My out of town clients often comment on the city’s green appearance and how it was most unexpected. I think they come looking for dirt roads and hitching posts.

Houston has beautiful parks and many tree-shaded neighborhoods. While neighbors can take steps to preserve the trees in their yard, it is impossible to water all the trees around the city. With water rationing mandates, trees in our parks and esplanades are suffering. A stroll around Memorial Park will reveal many dead branches and dying trees – those that are always evergreen but are now brown, literally dying from thirst.

Even if our local governments had all the money in the world, we still could not begin to replace the trees we are losing as a result of this drought. Trees for Houston is fighting back and fighting for the trees. Click here to learn more about how you can help and listen to guidelines and suggestions for fighting for our trees.

Our trees not only give us shade from our blistering temperatures, they help with pollution control and beautification of our City. Let’s fight for them, too!