Tropical storm Harvey on the way (Houston, College Station: gas, Walmart, radio)

[DRob4JC]

Originally Posted by Wardendresden

Not global warming?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survey...climate_change

Global Warming Science | Union of Concerned Scientists

Here in Colorado where I have lived off and on for a total of seventeen years we are seeing it result in more cloud cover. Colorado has historically averaged 300 days of sunshine or partial sunshine. In the early nineties, when I first came here, I never saw a full day of rain (snow in the winter, yes, but not rain). I remember standing with some co-workers one day when a fine mist had been falling all day. We were all astonished. Now steady rainfall is happening every two or three weeks. And this state averages only 14 inches of rain per year--and that includes snow (12 inches of snow equals one inch of rain).

In Texas, rainfall is often severe and prolonged---but Harvey is taking it to new heights in many communities.

There are now even a few scientists stating that there are at most two or three decades to reverse how things have progressed.

Earth's sixth mass extinction
And the loss of population in some animal species in Alaska and the Arctic is due, at least in part, to the warming temperatures.

Good luck in Texas.

Dude - take your global warming mantra and religion elsewhere.

This is actually a decent discussion of local/regional weather and infrastructure issues - as is supposed to be in this area of the forum.

[DRob4JC]

Track of the storm is predicted now to be further to the east of Houston, which is a good thing for the city... definitely not out of the woods, but better.

Good to have a relatively dry night for a change.

[move4ward]

Due to the track change mentioned above, expected rain totals will not be 15-30" for Monday and Tuesday as predicted Sunday evening.

LIVE VIDEO: Track change could lessen Harvey's impact on Houston | khou.com

Originally Posted by KHOU

Lets start your Monday morning with this.....there is a possibility that the next 48 hours may not be as bad as originally thought. That's not to say there won't be rounds of heavy rain throughout the Houston area, but the new forecast track for Harvey brings the storm ashore much further to the east.

[Javacoffee]

It's interesting to read the snarky comments at the beginning of this thread. I guess it's not so funny now.

One news reporter suggested keeping an axe in the attic at all times, in case the occupant needs to chop a hole through the roof to escape the attic. It seems to me that if you're healthy enough to climb the attic stairs and chop a hole through your roof, it might be a better plan to keep an emergency pack in the attic, run up, grab it and hustle your butt out of the path of the hurricane instead.

We have the technology to detect and warn our citizens of approaching catastrophic disasters, but it doesn't seem to matter. Too many refuse to heed the warning. Some people can't be educated no matter what is said or done.

[Meyerland]

Braes Bayou by Meyerland is down right now. It appears that Houston is draining due to a fairly dry night. It would be great to hear from other parts of Houston and the surrounding area. Happily, my home is still dry. Neighbors and friends of ours were not so lucky. People are taking in stray animals and families flooded out. I wish the best for everyone.

How are the bayous surrounding Houston? Is the power out anywhere?

[DRob4JC]

Originally Posted by Javacoffee

It's interesting to read the snarky comments at the beginning of this thread. I guess it's not so funny now.

One news reporter suggested keeping an axe in the attic at all times, in case the occupant needs to chop a hole through the roof to escape the attic. It seems to me that if you're healthy enough to climb the attic stairs and chop a hole through your roof, it might be a better plan to keep an emergency pack in the attic, run up, grab it and hustle your butt out of the path of the hurricane instead.

We have the technology to detect and warn our citizens of approaching catastrophic disasters, but it doesn't seem to matter. Too many refuse to heed the warning. Some people can't be educated no matter what is said or done.

It is not that black and white.

We did that once for Rita and it was a logistical nightmare.

Anyone who experienced the Rita evacuation would agree that if we had did that with Harvey, it would have been a thousand times worse with people stranded on the roadways.

Maybe we can be smarter about how we evacuate and do it in stages... but just to have a mass evacuation... I shudder to think of how bad that could have been.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by Texyn

This is an epic, enjoyable storm, rainfall totals for the books (we are talking feet, not inches, feet!). I hope to see rainfall totals above 60 inches by the end of this month.

Note: Of course I definitely hope that casualties don't happen, and property damage, if any, is minimal.

Well, it's too late for that. Hope you're enjoying yourself.

Now to others who might care:

Regarding my friend in Katy: I was so sick with worry last night I couldn't get to sleep till nearly 4 am. She was starting to panic because the water was lapping at her front door and no one could get in and get her. But the water has receded from her front porch (still in her yard and her neighborhood is still flooded). Which is good because she was trying to leave for hours yesterday and no one could reach her. She is alive and well this morning but she's stressed to the max. I hope the water continues to recede.

[move4ward]

Originally Posted by Javacoffee

It's interesting to read the snarky comments at the beginning of this thread. I guess it's not so funny now.

One news reporter suggested keeping an axe in the attic at all times, in case the occupant needs to chop a hole through the roof to escape the attic. It seems to me that if you're healthy enough to climb the attic stairs and chop a hole through your roof, it might be a better plan to keep an emergency pack in the attic, run up, grab it and hustle your butt out of the path of the hurricane instead.

We have the technology to detect and warn our citizens of approaching catastrophic disasters, but it doesn't seem to matter. Too many refuse to heed the warning. Some people can't be educated no matter what is said or done.

You are just asking for a repeat of the 100+ deaths from Hurricane Rita evacuations. Heat stroke, dehydration, car accidents, flooded vehicles.

It's no surprise to locals that the first death is from somebody evacuating their house and drowning in the streets.

It's pretty clear that you don't live in the area, because you never went through Hurricane Rita.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by Meyerland

Braes Bayou by Meyerland is down right now. It appears that Houston is draining due to a fairly dry night. It would be great to hear from other parts of Houston and the surrounding area. Happily, my home is still dry. Neighbors and friends of ours were not so lucky. People are taking in stray animals and families flooded out. I wish the best for everyone.

How are the bayous surrounding Houston? Is the power out anywhere?

Just talked with my friend in Katy. The water was lapping at her front door last night and she was starting to panic because she had not been able to get anyone lined up to come get her, but thankfully it receded a bit last night. Her neighborhood is still flooded but no water has gotten into her house yet. I am hoping she can get some sleep today.

She has not lost power at all yet.

[loves2read]

Originally Posted by Zhang Fei

Houston has great quality of life because flood control has been ignored. It's got pretty ponds (called "lakes" by marketing people) in place of the big empty holes necessary for flood control. It might have to settle for a lower quality of life, with utilitarian storm drains laid out in a functional but ugly rectangular grid running across the entire city. If storms like the one in 2016 keep putting big chunks of the city out of commission for days at a time, businesses will begin to move. Houston needs to become more business-oriented and less quality-of-life oriented. And that means a tightening of drainage regulations, and the diversion of welfare spending towards infrastructure programs.

Some of what you say is true of almost any area...
I live in DFW TX area which does have flooding issues at times but is not located by the coast nor has as many bayous as Houston does...but newer developments do use drainage ponds to capture run-offs vs putting in more expensive underground drainage systems....

One of the issues is about water release from reservoirs
The people in charge never react soon enough...
Now they are releasing water into Buffalo Bayou which will rise 6 more ft at least
Thousands more will be flooded because of the additional release of this reservoir water...

THAT mistake could have been avoided if officials had acted sooner to drain water from the reservoirs...
Too many management levels and organizations interact in disaster situations with conflicting agendas, responsibility, and authorities....
There needs to be a much more integrated chain of command that takes control so that decisions happen more smoothly and consider longer consequences...