Leaving Houston this week - Honest assessment of Houston for newbies (Dallas: Home Depot, to live in)

[StuckInTexas]

Anyone can ignore what is around them, very simple. Every natural and man-made disaster has only affected a small portion of the population of any given city in the US at one time, that does not totally diminish the other significant effects it has on the non-affected population (such as city shutdowns, evacuations, etc)...

I showed you a stat which exceeds damage of most things other than Katrina, the 30,000+ homeless in TS Allison, and you said it was a once in 200-yr event, but realistically in our general area there have been several floods almost that bad or close.

Just because you are in the 4.97 million people not affected, does not mean it isn't something to consider.

Most people in storms are lucky, that does not mean you should tempt that fate. I am forced to live closer to the coast. As I said, depends where you live, etc...

[xsatyr]

Originally Posted by StuckInTexas

Anyone can ignore what is around them, very simple. Every natural and man-made disaster has only affected a small portion of any given city in the US at one time, that does not totally diminish the other significant effects it has on the non-affected population (such as city shutdowns, evacuations, etc)...

Most people in storms are lucky, that does not mean you should tempt that fate. I am forced to live closer to the coast. As I said, depends where you live, etc...

Closer to the coast? Are you even in Houston?

Also it's not really tempting fate when deaths from hurricanes is scarce in this city.

[StuckInTexas]

Given that fact, we should never order another evacuation in any city again, regardless of the potential threat. It is when things go unexpectedly bad in those disasters, like Katrina, to where the evacuations can pay off in thousands of lives saved, or even tens of thousands. One reason fewer people die in storms even though there are many more people living in the paths is because of the evacuations (duh). If no-one evacuated, the stats would be much higher.

[xsatyr]

Originally Posted by StuckInTexas

Given that fact, we should never order another evacuation in any city again, regardless of the potential threat. It is when things go unexpectedly bad in those disasters, like Katrina, to where the evacuations can pay off in thousands of lives saved, or even tens of thousands. One reason fewer people die in storms even though there are many more people living in the paths is because of the evacuations (duh). If no-one evacuated, the stats would be much higher.

Yeah and when a severe storm actually threatens Houston then I'll take notice. It's a rarity. The only reason anyone evacuated for Rita was because Katrina was fresh on their mind. Storms in Houston have been manageable for the most part.

[StuckInTexas]

The entire point of this forum is to compare cities to other cities, not to make up mythical counter-arguments about none of this stuff matters, because it only affects this # or that # of people (and 30,000+ homeless is bad). People were making fake arguments about the weather being passive here, it is not passive.

When is the last time ABQ, Denver, Seattle, Portland, LA, San Fran, Dallas, Austin, NY, or Co springs had a flood that froze the whole city, where we sent helicopters in to rescue people, and 30,000 people became homeless, and hundreds of thousands lost their cars. It has not happened in Houston just once, it happened a few times but in lesser numbers, I was just pointing out the harshest example.

I am simply saying that Houston is not a disaster free city like people are trying to claim earlier in this forum.

There are few other places I can think of that have caused as many homeless people, as many damaged homes, and as many flooded areas as Houston over the past 30 years. That is why the insurance is so freaking high. I point this stuff out not to deter people from Houston, but so people can know that some of these low-cost neighborhoods have their own detrimental risks. The well-to-do's in Houston and nicer areas are purposefully built-up and out of these dangers, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't mention it.

Since Houston is a sprawl town with a good majority of the population living outside what most people would consider the "high-rise / downtown" zones, I consider Houston everything from about Texas City to the Woodlands. There are not even that many people living near downtown Houston, there isn't that much housing in that area compared to most cities.

Downtown has its own dangers with breaking glass during these storms, but as I said, poor people are affected more than rich people, due to structures of homes, as always. Consider that many people were "killed", people often forget how many people are injured seriously or contract an infection from an injury. Realistically, going by pure natural disaster statistics (# of people affected, disasters causing homelessness, lost homes, crime), when you add it all up, Houston is one of the worst cities in the US (check it yourself). Houston experiences floods worse than most other cities, they are EPIC.

[AK123]

[AK123]

Originally Posted by StuckInTexas

The pollution of LA is more focused near downtown LA, east houston to Deer Park to Texas City is in fact one of the top 5 most polluted metro areas in the Us. If they just measured that part of Houston, we would be much worse. The fact the air just outside of downtown is also counted, distorts the stats of the study. If you live in EAST Houston, you are in fact living in one of, if not the worst polluted places in the US.

Hurricane evacuations also suck.

Okay, whatever. Since when is Texas City considered Houston?

And I've been in the Houston area for close to 15 years now. The worst that happened to me personally was the three days of no electricity after Ike. During TS Allison I lived central-west in city limits, though our area had almost no flooding. I have never evacuated, have never needed to. Nor do most people.

Have you never lived somewhere they get ice storms and blizzards? Yes, those will down power lines and they will also be without electricity for days.

There is a hurricane risk, but it's not as high as it is on much of the East Coast, and they are not particularly common here. And like someone else said, TS Allison was considered a 500-year storm.

The most recent natural disaster where I know several people affected was the wildfires on the outskirts of Austin (Bastrop) two years ago. A huge number of people lost their homes, and the area will take an untold amount of time to recover as far as what it looks like (miles of dead forests.) At least in flooding, especially minor flooding, it's cleaned up and back to normal relatively quickly.

Maybe you really do just need to leave Texas.

[OducksFTW!]

Originally Posted by AK123

Okay, whatever. Since when is Texas City considered Houston?

And I've been in the Houston area for close to 15 years now. The worst that happened to me personally was the three days of no electricity after Ike. During TS Allison I lived central-west in city limits, though our area had almost no flooding. I have never evacuated, have never needed to. Nor do most people.

Have you never lived somewhere they get ice storms and blizzards? Yes, those will down power lines and they will also be without electricity for days.

There is a hurricane risk, but it's not as high as it is on much of the East Coast, and they are not particularly common here. And like someone else said, TS Allison was considered a 500-year storm.

The most recent natural disaster where I know several people affected was the wildfires on the outskirts of Austin (Bastrop) two years ago. A huge number of people lost their homes, and the area will take an untold amount of time to recover as far as what it looks like (miles of dead forests.) At least in flooding, especially minor flooding, it's cleaned up and back to normal relatively quickly.

Maybe you really do just need to leave Texas.

You have to understand you were one of the fortunate ones during and after IKE.

My family was out of power for a full week and a half, and with the god awful heat that came afterward, it was not a fun experience. Actually, I could say it was probably one of the worst experiences I've ever had. I couldn't sleep for most of those nights.

I would have traded that miserable experience with a winter blizzard, at least you could have a fire and put on warm blankets when power goes out. Besides, most furnaces in that part of the country are gas run anyway.

Im not defending "stuckinTexas" ,I just think after 30+ years, you would need to make a change if you're unhappy.

But, please, when making a point, think of people that weren't as fortunate as you.

The map you put up, shows that the most at risk are mostly Texas cities. So I dont understand the "not as high as East Coast" statement, but maybe you're speaking of some other statistic.

And you say "most people" dont evacuate, but then why do they put up "hurricane evacuation" routes and when Rita and Ike was around the corner, it seemed like the highways were packed and traffic backed up for miles upon miles. Maybe I was seeing the some other "most people"

[AK123]

Originally Posted by OducksFTW!

The map you put up, shows that the most at risk are mostly Texas cities. So I dont understand the "not as high as East Coast" statement, but maybe you're speaking of some other statistic.

Originally Posted by OducksFTW!

And you say "most people" dont evacuate, but then why do they put up "hurricane evacuation" routes and when Rita and Ike was around the corner, it seemed like the highways were packed and traffic backed up for miles upon miles. Maybe I was seeing the some other "most people"

The evacuation routes are for ways out of town for the people who live in low-lying areas and have to evacuate, which are primarily on the east/southeast side of town or right on the coast and travel through Houston to get inland. However, like has been said, the bulk of Houston's population lives west of downtown.

[fordlover]

The map included risk of hurricane remnants? So risk of getting rained on?

Wow