Bad News for Harvey Victims who lived downstream from the reservoirs (Houston: rental car, apartment complex)

[Hopeful for Life]

I just received an email from one of the law firms that the sorry Judge threw out the lawsuit for the downstream victims based on not being able to claim protection from the 5th amendment. The reasoning (at least part of it) was that the “downstream” residents benefited from years of protection from the Barker & Addicks reservoirs, while the “upstream” victims did NOT receive a benefit from having the reservoirs there. Wtf

[lhafer]

Isn’t the reason the down stream folks got into trouble was because city officials didn’t handle the release properly?? Not an issue with the reservoir per se, but the people in charge of it?!??

[gwarnecke]

The City didn’t have control over the operation of the reservoirs.

However, they did an unconscionably poor job of communicating with the ACOE and the downstream residents. As late as the evening before the reservoir releases, we were urged to shelter in place. If the City had had the consideration to evacuate us, we could’ve moved valuables upstairs and driven our vehicles out of harm’s way...instead of being evacuated by boat from our flooded homes the following morning.

I still get sick to my stomach when I remember that not ONE city official lost their job as a result of this extraordinary oversight, and that our sleazy mayor didn’t even have the decency to offer an apology.

I didn’t really expect this lawsuit to go anywhere, although some neighbors who joined were counting on it working out. At this point I mainly hope that upstream properties don’t get treated differently than downstream properties, as this will set a disturbing precedent that may influence the ACoE’s operation of the dams in the future.

[LocalPlanner]

While the City's communication certainly seemed poor, weren't they also caught off guard by the magnitude of the releases? From what I recall, the ACOE described moderate releases on Sunday afternoon that might cause some flooding in spots, but then late Sunday night suddenly more than doubled the release rate with no warning when they figured out that a moderate release wasn't going to cut it.

[Dopo]

don't understand why anybody downstream from a reservoir or dam is surprised that at some point it was opened and their area got flooded

Stop blaming other people and blame yourself for buying in that area

[Jtxg]

Originally Posted by Dopo

don't understand why anybody downstream from a reservoir or dam is surprised that at some point it was opened and their area got flooded

Stop blaming other people and blame yourself for buying in that area

I've lived in the Houston area my whole life. I was wondering (because I honestly do not know), was the reservoir there when they started building houses? If so, it just seems like an obvious risk associated with buying a house near one.

[Hopeful for Life]

Originally Posted by Dopo

don't understand why anybody downstream from a reservoir or dam is surprised that at some point it was opened and their area got flooded

Stop blaming other people and blame yourself for buying in that area

I didn’t buy in the area. I was a renter who lived on the 2nd Floor. Thank Goodness for that! I was new to Houston and had no idea that the reservoirs could have exceeded their capacity.

The ACOE had already warned that this could happen, but the city has never found a developer that it didn’t like and continued to develop the area. . I (like others) don’t have engineering degrees and relied on the City/ACOE to do its job to protect the downstream properties/residents or at least provide warning that this catastrophe could happen.
Sadly, I was in Dallas when the release happened. Since I had a rental car, I had planned on going back to Houston, but my family persuaded me to go to SA instead. As a result, my car was flooded out. My loss pales in comparison to the losses of the first floor residents in my apartment complex and property owners throughout.

As indicated above, the City also dropped the ball by not giving adequate warning to the downstream residents.

In your book, there sure are a lot of DUMB ppl who lived downstream of the reservoirs.

[lhafer]

I remember being up and watching tv that night. I couldn't sleep and was watching storm coverage - my husband was here in Houston, I had taken our kids to DFW to ride it out. I remember watching a press conference that happened in the middle of the night where officials started changing their tune about sheltering in place, and that instead the residents should get out. I remember that because I was like - it's 2am and most people won't see this message because people might not have power, and if they do - it's the middle of the night and they're asleep!

[LocalPlanner]

Well, if people are dumb for living downstream from reservoirs / dams, then you need to also criticize FEMA - when the reservoirs go in, areas downstream are removed from mapped floodplains. So, residents wouldn't know that there's any risk. I think this is the case all over the USA, including many heavily developed urban and suburban areas.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by lhafer

I remember being up and watching tv that night. I couldn't sleep and was watching storm coverage - my husband was here in Houston, I had taken our kids to DFW to ride it out. I remember watching a press conference that happened in the middle of the night where officials started changing their tune about sheltering in place, and that instead the residents should get out. I remember that because I was like - it's 2am and most people won't see this message because people might not have power, and if they do - it's the middle of the night and they're asleep!

Exactly - the ACOE dramatically upped the release rates late in the evening after many folks went to bed, and the City then decided to encourage leaving. Maybe the City should have decided that even the lower release rates from earlier in the day were still too risky for folks to stay? I don't know.