Poco a Poco: Post-Flood Survival in the Colonias of the Rio Grande Valley

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article engages with the consequences of overlapping environmental (in)justice, economic precarity, and informality as it relates to postflood survival in the colonias of Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. Based on focus groups and interviews, this research reveals the slow and incremental character of adaption by historically disenfranchised communities. This “poco a poco”—or “bit by bit”—adaptive process reflects three main dimensions: the impacts of predatory lending and debt, the prioritization of immediate needs and its long-term consequences, and the precarity of slow postdisaster recuperation. The enduring precarity experienced by colonia residents results from a multifaceted marginalization including environmental racism, economic exclusion, and structural inequities ranging in scale from regional to familial. The concept of poco a poco postflood survival offers a nuanced understanding of responses to environmental vulnerability by marginalized groups and demonstrates the importance of small, microlevel processes enabling postdisaster survival.