Tropical storm Harvey on the way (Houston, Galveston: camper, taxes, cost of)

[Matadora]

Originally Posted by cBach

No it isn't.

I guess you don't like facts.

No flooding with Alicia? Interesting that Alicia was a Cat 3 when it hit and had 115 mph sustained winds.
No flooding with Allison? Allison lasted unusually long for a June storm, remaining tropical or subtropical for 15 days, most of them over land dumping torrential rains.
No flooding with Ike?

No flooding with Harvey?

How do you explain away these facts? Did you live in Houston during any of these storms?

[elnina]

Originally Posted by cBach

My advice going forward (after all is said and done):

* All apartment complexes need to have parking on the first level and apartments starting on the second. That would protect most people from getting flooded.

* The city of Houston or state of Texas needs to buy out around 1/2 to 1 mile of land on the other side of every bayou (or however far the flood plane extends) and make that parkland with no development allowed, except for some bathrooms or picnic pavilions that are elevated.

* Flood maps need to be updated and every prospective buyer of a house needs to be warned if that house flooded in Allison, Ike, Memorial Day floods, or Harvey.

* Pumping stations need to be installed at all low water underpasses.

When all that is done Houston would stop being affordable, and cost of living would resemble SF or NY.
People want changes and improvements, but don't want to pay for it....

[loves2read]

Your use of the word "widespread" is a false analogy...
Widespread just means pervasive, found over a large area, having a wide swathe...

It has NOTHING to do with the severity of whatever is "widespread"...

There can be a widespread rain storm that brings 1-2" of rain over all of Missouri...
So what...nothing to worry about there even if it happens within a short time frame...

Duration, intensity, amount, accumulation---THOSE are the adjectives that address the damage and danger Harvey's rainfall brings....

"Widespread" is really not that important an adjective in the overall damage assessment because it doesn't really confirm or deny the seriousness of the disaster...

A tornado might not be "widespread", but it can be unimaginably destructive...
Does that mitigate the loss and pain those who suffer from it feel to know it was not "widespread" damage?
Hardly...
Using "widespread" in your assessment negates the magnitude of this event...because you say other lesser events had "widespread" flooding as well...

Wait until this is over, and then try to claim it was the same as those you cited...
I was not in Houston...don't know the stats about them...but already people who,DO know are rating Harvey as the worst ever weather event in Texas...
That might be hyperbolic now/o a final reckoning....but with 2-3 or more days of rain to go it seems pretty viable projection...

And Harvey for Houston is NOT a hurricane with high moving wind system that dumps rain and moves on within 24-48 hours
Harvey for Houston is a tropical storm...no fast moving winds...which is the reason it is so dangerous...
It is akin to having one of your kids flush the toilet and having it overflow when you are outside and have no clue what is happening....you come back and find 3 inches of water in your house...
These rain bands keep coming slowly, methodically, and just dumping more rain into an already overflowing dispersal system....

That IMO is what makes Harvey "different"
I called someone about her son and family who.live north of Houston in Spring and she said they were OK but she also said she had heard 10 days of rain...
Imhave not heard that and hope it is not true because if so immense pain to come...

[Matadora]

Originally Posted by loves2read

Your use of the word "widespread" is a false analogy...
Widespread just means pervasive, found over a large area, having a wide swathe...

Houston is spread out wide and is right now experience WIDESPREAD flooding. There is no false analogy. It's a fact.

Torrential Rains Bring Widespread Flooding To Houston Area

[PinkLadyK]

So interesting to watch the news. So far we personally have less flooding than we did on Memorial Day. Hard to reconcile our own personal situation with the rest of the city. Thoughts are with everyone, especially our first responders and Good Samaritans who are going out in their own personal trucks and boats to help strangers.

[Matadora]

Originally Posted by loves2read

Wait until this is over, and then try to claim it was the same as those you cited...

What stats did I cite? All I said, that everyone seems to want to deny, is that Houston experiences heavy floods whenever certain types of Hurricanes/Tropical storms hit it....this is 100% predictable. Houston can't handle the heavy rains that come from storms like Alicia, Ike, Allison and now Harvey.

Originally Posted by loves2read

I was not in Houston...don't know the stats about them...but already people who,DO know are rating Harvey as the worst ever weather event in Texas...

That's not what's at debate here. Harvey just very well may be the worst weather event to hit Texas. This does not negate anything that I have posted. Storms are becoming worse and worse due to climate change.

[loves2read]

Originally Posted by PinkLadyK

So interesting to watch the news. So far we personally have less flooding than we did on Memorial Day. Hard to reconcile our own personal situation with the rest of the city. Thoughts are with everyone, especially our first responders and Good Samaritans who are going out in their own personal trucks and boats to help strangers.

You are so right...

[campers]

Originally Posted by Matadora

I suggest you pay closer attention to what I post and stop with your ad hominem attacks.

No storm is typical. I never talked about a storm being typical.

I said the widespread flooding we see in Houston right now is typical when storms of this magnitude hit Houston. We saw it with Alicia, Ike and Allison...we are now seeing a repeat of this typical flooding with Harvey.

No the flooding is not typical either. It's unprecedented.

[loves2read]

Originally Posted by Matadora

What stats did I cite? All I said, that everyone seems to want to deny, is that Houston experiences heavy floods whenever certain types of Hurricanes/Tropical storms hit it....this is 100% predictable. Houston can't handle the heavy rains that come from storms like Alicia, Ike, Allison and now Harvey.
That's not what's at debate here. Harvey just very well may be the worst weather event to hit Texas. This does not negate anything that I have posted. Storms are becoming worse and worse due to climate change.

I agree with your comment about climate change...

But I don't think any city could handle 40 inches of rain w/o a great deal of flooding
But you have said this flooding is similar to what happened with other hurricanes...
I think, from what I have read and heard on news, that areas that have flooded in past are flooding worse under these conditions...

AND Harvey is not a hurricane, no high winds---just big tropical storm with VERY slow-moving rain bands...

How long did the rain last for the storms you mention? What was total rain fall on any given day?
Edit: I saw the info about Allison...how much rain on any given day?
Makes big difference how rain falls, if there is runoff time, if there is flooding upstream that requires dam releases...

[Matadora]

Originally Posted by cBach

My story was more truthful than what you are trying to say here.

That's really odd. I posted facts. You posted a hoax.

Originally Posted by cBach

Widespread flooding of a minor rain event =/= Catastrophic widespread flooding of Harvery

Alicia nor Allison was a minor rain event. Look it up.

Originally Posted by cBach

This is a big disaster and it shouldn't be downplayed. People's lives are on the line.

Of course it's a disaster and no one is downplaying it. However, shame on anyone who is over exaggerating it.