Let's talk about the wealthy neighborhoods and flooding in Houston (West: 2013, house)

[DabOnEm]

Originally Posted by RMESMH

So minor that you felt the need to comment on it.

Yeah because I cant believe that trivial thing was your only takeaway from an article about those affected by flooding.

[Celiene61]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Usually no mountains means no fault line

Not completely true, Dopo...guess sometimes Mother Earth, Gaia designs the planet as she wishes?

[swopoe]

Well, if you walk on a piece of property you are interested in and see displacement of sidewalks, foundations, etc, get out your maps and contact a geologist. My husband is a PhD geologist, and believe me, when we were in college (we went to the same undergrad), one of our professors told us things to look out for when buying a house. We listened.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Usually no mountains means no fault line

Not true in the least. There are fault lines all over Texas, especially along the coast. Some of them are buried and have no surface expression, but they are there. Here's a map of the Edwards Acquifer with faults Faults and Caves

[Celiene61]

Originally Posted by swopoe

Well, if you walk on a piece of property you are interested in and see displacement of sidewalks, foundations, etc, get out your maps and contact a geologist. My husband is a PhD geologist, and believe me, when we were in college (we went to the same undergrad), one of our professors told us things to look out for when buying a house. We listened.

Good advice...now, since you have a highly educated pro at home, ask them this:

Could any of the shifting surface ground/ terrain here in Houston, the so-called "Gumbo"( as a slang local term) be contributing to the stress and strain placed on Barker and Addicks dams?

We are all aware of the strain placed on the dams due to over- development and lack of zoning and some common sense restrictions due to the area being not terribly above sea- level. Also the fact that they are 70 yrs old, outdated due to the exponential growth of building and infrastructure to support a massive population growth. And the 75 million allotted to Addicks may not be enough to address the underlying problems

Notice I said "problems", as there are many, but if you do not address "all" of the problems, well, then the potential weaknesses will show themselves once again...during the next severe storm

Of course, this is a very simple elementary question...so don't abuse the sender I am in medicine, not geology or any such earth science of the sort.

We all deal with the shifting terrain in the Houston area, henceforth the need for quite a bit of foundation work in the area...so this should not be a "taboo" subject.

[xhevoice]

Originally Posted by Shane505

Well I wasn't talking about wealthy people evacuating. I was talking about their homes. I just don't see post flood videos after Katrina or now of people from the wealthier neighborhoods with million dollar homes being interviewed. I guess the interview would anger common folk so that is why they don't do it. Imagine a post flood interview at James Harden's home. "Yeah I evacuated 3 days before to Malibu before the hurricane hit. As you can see my garage was flooded. Now I have to buy a new Bentley."

It's always people from the middle class and lower neighborhoods that get interviewed about how the flood affected their lives. It makes ignorant people like me who don't live there believe that floods mainly affects the common folk. Media needs to be fair. ESPN should be interviewing Houston, New Orleans, and Miami professional athletes and team owners on how it affected their lives every time they get a devastating hurricane to make them realize how fortunate they are and maybe will guilt them into donating to disaster charity to the citizens of their city who pay their enormous salary through game attendance and tv viewership.

Kanye West said George Bush doesn't care about black people during Katrina. No Kanye it's not about race. It's about have and have nots.

They showed wealthy communities flooded too. One of the guys working at a relief shelter, forgot if he was a basketball or football star, said that his home flooded and he lost lots of stuff, but he was volunteering. If you are rich or wealthy, you hurt but it's easier to rebuild.

I didn't see as many videos or reports of the poorer and working class communities in east Houston or East of Houston, I presume they flooded too. It was chaos and reporters reported on areas they could get to. I am now seeing reports of people trapped in blue collar neighborhoods for 2 days with no rescue, waited for the water to recede. Not sure why their areas weren't covered during the storm or why the national guard wasn't sent there to double check. Hopefully it will come out in the ensuing days.

[xhevoice]

Originally Posted by Bessie Elle

I was just wondering if td Jake's has opened his church to evacuated residents they have a lot to say about Osteen mega church but nothing about the rest no mention at all about beyonce pastor useing the largest room at his church for distribution what's up wit that and the other mega churches

Why would he make his church a shelter in Dallas? Do you know how far away Dallas is from Houston and the gulf communities? Personally I would rather be in shelter that had showers, so the stadium where the cowboys play would make a better shelter than a church full of pews

[xhevoice]

Originally Posted by Celiene61

This OP, Shane, smells of a shill, not a troll.... a paid shill.

In the current year, typically paid to post controversial and diversive posts to cause discordant discussions, which in turn can cause fighting among the different groups posting on the forum.

Several NGO's pay for and back this discourse...do not fall for it.

Houstonians, as well as the rest of Texas and our neighbors to the east, Louisiana( the Cajun Navy) and other southern states who have driven in their flat bottomed boats, and large profile vehicles, we salute those people who have generously come to Houston and have helped their fellow human beings...often at great cost to themselves and their families.

And we can not forgot all first line aid workers, police, military, firefighters, medical staff...everyone has pulled together "regardless of race, creed, religion, or culture".

Must really "**** off" the haters and paid shills, looking for something to cause discourse and chaos about. Look elsewhere.

Posters have answered the OP's question flooding...it is everywhere in Houston...and the beach front homes are some of the most expensive in the greater Houston metroplex. Why? Any oceanfront property is costly, as it is a limited resource.

BTW, the Bush's are in Tanglewood, not River Oaks. The bayou close to their town home flooded, and the closest major intersection was just cleared early today. I have no idea if they were, or are in Houston currently...

The Bush's were at their summer home in Maine at the time of the flooding.

[xhevoice]

Originally Posted by Panda_Puck

Lol, same with me. We live in Silver Ranch and the place never flooded. My boss on the other hand lives in a multi-million dollar home in Kelliwood and unfortunately he had to evacuate.

Kelliwood is a beautiful area. I have always admired it, but was nervous about it because it was so close to George Bush park. I'm not too surprised they flooded, however I am surprised Cinco Ranch flooded.

[xhevoice]

Originally Posted by astrohip

Fault lines?

Meyerland first flooded in 1976. That was 41 years ago.

There are tons of fault lines in the Houston MSA. Because the soil is clay and not like the soil out west it doesn't cause widespread problems. But homes & businesses built on the faults will have problems.

That is the one question I forgot to ask when I purchased my home. I forgot to review the fault lines before choosing a community.

Yup Houston has its geological & geographical pecularities. All places do, we (gov't & citizens alike) need to be environmentally prudent when developing. But to developers and oil & gas, and some other industries environment is a dirty word and is always shut down. Sadly, if Houston is to persist for another 50+ years balance needs to occur, otherwise FEMA might say large swathes of the area is to expensive to rebuild.