Houston teacher pens novel depicting how teenagers are affected by major severe weather events

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston resident and English teacher Jennifer Mathieu recalls how she felt during some of Houston's extreme storms. She also saw the effect it had on her high school students.

This motivated her to write "Down Came the Rain," a novel for teens and young adults. The fictional story follows two high school students, Eliza and Javier, who develop climate anxiety after a severe weather event. It's also based on actual events, specifically Hurricane Harvey.

In a conversation with ABC13 Meteorologist Elyse Smith, Mathieu noted the differences between how her students perceive climate and when she was in school.

"They're particularly nervous about it in a way that I couldn't have even conceived of when I was their age," Mathieu said.

RELATED: Study finds 80% of recent Atlantic hurricanes are stronger due to climate change

Experts say climate change or eco-anxiety stems from feelings of stress or worry about the impact climate change can have on the environment, ecosystems, and human health.

It's a particular issue in students.

A study published in the journal The Lancet found that over half of students and young adults surveyed in the study are very to apprehensive about climate change. Furthermore, descriptors like "sadness and afraid" were themes brought up in the survey.

In "Down Came the Rain," Mathieu uses the phrase "climate-related trauma," which describes the reaction of the two main characters to an extreme natural disaster.

SEE ALSO: HISD removes controversial curriculum from teaching materials that mocks climate change

"We see people in North Carolina and the southeast that have just lived through Helene," Mathieu said. "These are real things, and our kids are going through them, and we have to acknowledge it and we have to make sure we're helping them and providing them with resources."

To do that, she includes a list of resources for students and parents in the novel as a place to start. The author also mentioned that one of the best first steps is listening to a student's or child's concerns about climate change or extreme weather.

For more on this story, follow Elyse Smith on Facebook, X and Instagram.