Hurricane Harvey will be the first major storm to hit the US since 2005. Department of Homeland Security, NOAA and NASA still lack appointed leaders. 45 is parading around holding rallies and telling everyone to ‘Plan Ahead’. He tweeted a PSA video montage of himself strolling around looking important set to a soundtrack of cheesy music, saying, “As #HurricaneHarvey intensifies – remember to #PlanAhead.”
@KDemo You called that one spot-on. I know what goes into hosting a Presidential visit, and it took much-needed manpower and resources away from an increasing disaster. But he really liked the big crowd.
I don’t like to say that alot of us down here know what to do and prepare for the himacanes. It’s a good thing they do announce to the public on how to prepare due to the large number of people that have moved down here. I didn’t realize we had made it to the 2nd largest state until this last year, time flies when you’re not paying attention. We really have alot of great people here when this happens here, you see people helping each other no matter who, what and where they are. The thing I hate the most are the tornadoes that drop down and you can’t see them coming but you sure can hear them coming thru. I got caught in one yesterday the hail was beating the car half to death. The wind busted tree branches they were laying in the road. I didn’t see it until I was right on top of it due to the windows fogging up. Thankfully I had just enough time to miss the biggest part of it. Myiu daughter who’s a young woman now was scared to death . I had a huge pine ripped out of the ground and thrown through the house when Ike blew thru here due to tornadoes and several other trees were down in the back yard. So please keep us in your prayers for I know were going to need them. Peace ✌ out.
@hotwheels53 Where are you, so we can all track it and worry (and pray) about you? I know what you mean about newbies having no clue. Local authorities do what they can, but many people ignore warnings. Stay safe. I think I’ll pick up another case or two of water today.
Fortunately, Texas has a lot of well-maintained roads leading away from the coast. It’s easier to escape from seaside here than in than Florida or some other places.
I have a few family members who are taking a break from being at home near the coast. They were ready tho. Old-timers.
In DFW we’ve already had had serious (but not catastrophic) rain.
That’s prob all we will get. But uncertain. Inland - even 1000 miles, like, say, TN or KY or OH or PA - can get brutal spinoff storm cells that dump 12"plus of rainfall in a few hours, complete with flash floods, or can get spinoff tornados.
All mucho unpredictable.
Downtown Houston is all glass. After one of these storms, often downtown Houston has to be shut down until they clean up the broken glass all over the streets.
@OldCatLady thank you so much for your care and prayers. Forgive me but I’m just now seeing your post so much going on just haven’t had time to look. I am located just outside the Conroe area. This is the most devastating storm I have ever seen. So far I’m doing okay I can’t get out anywhere but I am dry and fed along with my daughter and grandson. It’s really been a miracle that we have had so few loss of lives during this but to us down this way one is too many. We have so many people that are in shelters that they are running out of places to put people. What I find a big shame is thar Joel Osteen who has the largest church in Houston which would hold over 6 thousand people is doing nothing to help I am going to open a twitter account just so I can ask how a so called man of GOD can be so heartless. I don’t go to his church because I don’t believe he preaches the true word of the bible. I have noticed that the god he follows comes on the dollars that he collect’s off the back’s of his parishioners. His love is the love of money and it’s so sad. One thing I do know is that the bible says that those that preach the untruth to their followers will suffer more than anyone else and their day will come. Ok enough of that stuff we have so much water here that its going to be months before 40 thousand or more that have lost their homes it’s going to take months before they will be able to even go back to see the damage. So any and all help will be truly appreciated by everyone here. We are thankful for the people that have come from across the U.S. to help with the rescue’s here. They have been going night and day it’s breaks my heart because in Ike a tree went through the middle of my house and I still have thing’s in tote’s. I now have more work that needs done to my home and I’m so thankful I have insurance but it is slow coming and especially now with this being the worst flooding ever in the history of Texas. Maybe Meh can donate some of those socks that they sell every so often. That and underwear are really needed in the shelters. I want to say to anyone else on hear that is going through this catastrophe to hang in there it will get better just be thankful your with family members and friends. We are all in this together. You are all in my prayers and GOD BLESS YOU ALL. Peace ✌ out.
@f00l I wish it was that easy every freeway in and out of town are under many feet of water they all look like rivers and lakes no longer freeways. We have tractor trailer’s under water, military vehicles under water completely that went out on rescue missions two that I know of for now. Roads are impassable unless you have a boat. Two story home are completely under water we even had one burn down in the flood that one threw me, I thought the water would put it out but it didn’t. There are many pictures posted on click2pins.com it’s one of the news stations here. Just pray that this water goes down quickly because they are saying it’s not going down for who knows how long. Have a wonderful day. Peace ✌ out
Yeah good luck with this thing. From what they are telling us here all of you there are going to have your own private lake in the living room due to the predicted 5 day stall out. I can’t imagine getting up to 30" of rain. The most I have lived through is 10" in less than a day and that made a big mess.
This photo is being shared across several news outlets. I wish they would also remind people that cardboard and duct tape isn’t going to do shit to protect your windows.
@RiotDemon I was in Houston, at least 35 years ago, when they were expecting a hurricane (don’t remember which one.) Every tall building, even our hotel, had duct tape across all the windows. Seemed odd to me then that was how Texans prepared for a hurricane. Is that not the preferred method anymore?
@pitamuffin they’ve found out that tape is pointless. Shutters are preferred here in Florida. You can get polycarbonate sheets that are flat. Plywood is still used, but doesn’t stop nearly as much.
@medz the movie was set in what, the 90s? We didn’t know better then. During hurricane Andrew we just came back from Norway and had absolutely no time to prepare. We put tape and hoped it was ok.
@RiotDemon It was released in 2012.
"The film is loosely based on the experiences of Tatum, who was an 18-year-old stripper in San Francisco, California."
Tatum is currently 37.
37-18=19 years ago
2017-19=1998
Your logic is sound, but the truck he has in the film looks like a 2012 Ford F-150.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@medz yeah, that’s true. I remember that it was sort of based on his past, so that’s what I figured. However, you still see people with tape occasionally. Now I’ll have to check out the news broadcast during the movie to see what hurricane they mention.
As for the comments, that wasn’t there earlier. My point was that all these news outlets were sharing it, without pointing out that it’s not enough to protect your windows. There are people that’ll see the photo and think that it might be enough.
@RiotDemon I agree. All the news places asking to use it…I’m not sure if they think the text is funny or if they are showing it because they think it’s real. Irresponsible, either way.
@RiotDemon If you have an open eastern side, any prep merely stalls the inevitable. I use 5/8 CDX on my house, with the rear windows exposed to the east and houses close c on all other sides. The plywood on the back of th house was beaten into mush and the windows broken. I found a piece of it in the backyard later, and even dried out it was like thick crape paper. The houses that had the worst damage, we’re fully exposed to the east, mine was on a cross street, and my backyard was the west end of an alley formed by the backyards of houses on two streets that ran east/west behind us.
@RiotDemon We drove back to Miami from Orlando the morNing of the storm to board up, Wleft the kids with my folks. I finished driving the last cut nail in a 50 knot gale at 11pm. We took a shower dresses I clean clothes and they shut the grid down about 20 min after we got dressed. It was a hell of a night.
@cranky1950 “Harvey’s Wall Banger” was also the name given to a huge [1000 pounds of dynamite] virtually tamper-proof bomb that blasted through a large part of Harvey’s Resort Hotel on August 26-27 1980. Damn! That’s exactly 37 years ago to the very day.
Among the relatively small community of Hazardous Device Disposal Technicians aka “the bomb guys,” the thing is absolutely legendary.
OMFG. Next week 45 will visit TX to see all the damage firsthand. He will then say ‘That’s too bad. I told everybody to #PlanAhead, because I knew this would happen.’ The resources needed to host a Presidential visit will be taken from whatever emergency response forces and equipment are on site. Harvey just hit Cat 3, about 1500 EST.
@OldCatLady I think he’ll try to work a deal with the weather. Then bitch on twitter when it falls through. Maybe he’ll work a deal with MS13 trading FEMA assistance for a brown people rally praising TRUMP.
Now would be a good time for some bots to chime in on MSM #fakeweather stories, and call for a huge march in Corpus. With torches. They could post pictures of a tranquil, sunny beach and claim the #fakeweather reports were a conspiracy to keep the marchers home.
If you’re in the path of the storm and have animals outside. Please let them in. Additionally it’s illegal to have dogs chained up during a major weather event like this.
The Mayor of Rockport suggests that if you are riding out the storm, to write your social security number on your arm. For the biblical, use the palm of your hand.
@KDemo Thanks, that’s very sweet. We aren’t expecting much here, maybe a few inches of rain. But I’ll join you in wishing the best for our South Texas friends and family.
@nfi we evacuated for Hurricanes Rita and Ike but not Gustav-- we stayed in a hotel in Houston area for almost 5 weeks (after Hurrucane Rita) as our area had its power lines decimated and we didn’t get power back on at our home for almost 5 weeks – Thanks for your prayers as if it rains as much as predicted, we are in serious trouble as the roadways flood in Houston – also in my area too
So the price gouging has started – local news story in Houston -this is on khou website:
One man sent a copy of his receipt. He says he paid almost $72.00 for four cases of water at a store in North Harris County.
Dislike people who take advantage of others --Its also illegal
@AttyVette After a hurricane scare several years ago & saw how the prices went through the roof, we bought plywood sheets when the prices returned to normal & keep them stored in our garage. So far, we’ve never had to use them.
I’d like to upgrade our generator so it’s big enough to run the freezer & refrigerator, fans for the bedroom at night, and the coffee maker.
Hope everyone gets through the storm with minimal discomfort/damage.
@LaVikinga how big is your generator now? What you’re asking to run is not that much. The fridge and freezer can take turns as long as you’re not opening them that much. My freezer stays frozen for a few days as long as I don’t open it.
Do you have a propane grill? We used that to boil water for showering and cooking. Could easily be used for coffee if you have a French press or similar.
@RiotDemon It’s big enough to cycle the appliances, or run the coffee maker, etc. Ideally, I want to be a princess and have the A/C AND the fridge & freezer, & water heater on line 24/7.
We do have a rather large propane grill with the side burner, a smoker, and a charcoal grill. THREE French presses (don’t ask me how that happened), an insulated coffee maker, plus two thermal coffee carafes. Also have several supersized coolers for ice. Learned to stack them in laundry room & cover with blankets, then siphon the water out into the washing machine drain once the power was restored.
Been through a few hurricanes. A charged garden hose stretched out in the sun for a few hours will give you enough hot water for a “Navy shower.” Clean hair & body does wonders when the rest of the day is out of kilter.
@Kidsandliz I’m a middle-aged woman who still drinks out of the garden hose…
Never thought about water filters. I’ll have to mention them to the mister.
Watching the weather map. Dang, Texas! Y’all don’t do anything half-assed.
@LaVikinga We do have an immune system for a reason (or at least I used to have one), although the garden hose is likely cleaner than what water will be if the treatment plant shuts down.
I kid around about Dallas, but I really hope that if you live in the path of the storm you’ll do what’s safe, like seeking safer shelter. I stubbornly rode out a hurricane once and all that accomplished was making me think I was going to die. The storm is bigger than you, and the sun will shine afterwards!
@OldCatLady love the laugh thanks alot . By the way where are you down here? It’s a shame that so many newbie’s have had to go through this one being a thousand year flood. This one has been one for the books, the only storm to make landfall 3 times in the same state. I think so far we have had 40 to 50 inches of rain so far and still more to go. We have a wonderful saying now, Turn Around Don’t Drown, and it couldn’t come at a better time. I’m in Montgomery Country what county are you in? Stay safe going to try and rest some. Peace ✌ out my friend
@hotwheels53 I’m safe in Jacksonville FL. Hurricanes were a lot of fun when I was a kid. No school! No electricity! Wading through rushing water! Look, a water snake! Mom yanked me out of the water and confined me to the yard after that. Please stay safe and rest.
@hotwheels53 Y’all stole that from El Paso (and you’re welcome to it if it protects you). The City runs “turn around, don’t drown” PSAs throughout the monsoon season. We are prone to flash flooding, the water rockets down downhill streets and even a couple of inches deep can sweep your car away and into a 50’+ deep arroyo, and that’s it for you. If we had half the rain you guys have gotten it would wash us right off the mountain. We are rooting for you guys.
@moondrake I don’t know where they got it if it came from El Paso that makes me feel even better knowing a good ole’ Texas town made it up to begin with and we thank you for lettin us use it. It couldn’t fit a better place at the moment this is a nightmare I don’t think I’ve slept good since this monster hit the 1st time. People where I am at don’t know if the water is just going to swallow us up all at once the news can’t get out here due to the flooding that surrounds us. Thanks for rooting for us one thing about us we will help one another until we fall on our face’s. We might have found the perfect type of transportation everyone rideshare’s with no complaints have to keep a little humor in it or I would be pulling my hair out by the handfuls from the concern of thinking how long it is going to take us to dry out from this. I going to click my heals together and just keep saying there’s no place like home . You take care and I would love to send this your way but I couldn’t do that to my worst enemy and I don’t have any that I know of. Peace ✌ out
Catastrophic flooding – Judge Emmett said to people that have boats to help their neighbors and don’t ask authorities if they can do so first…yes its that bad!
[1]:
I have never done a hurricane at the coast. When I’ve been there, I guess I personally scared them off.
I have ancestors who survived the Great Hurricane of 1900 (the storm surge was about 15’ over the highest point on the island - more or less no one who could not get to a second floor survived that.)
After that storm, which certainly killed way more than 6000+ people (biggest natural disaster in US history), and may have killed 12000-20000 (no one knows, and Galveston was a vacation spot and major port with transportation terminals and many ships in port, and an uncertain census, and was bigger than Houston by far then) - after that storm, the city raised the island by close to 20 feet and built a very serious seawall.
The ones that have affected me most were Carla (spin-off storms with lots of hail flooded all the streets and destroyed windows and roofs, including at school. We did the duck-and-cover thing in the hallways, and after most of the windows were shattered at school, everyone had to work in the auditorium or gym or lunchroom and re-do all the ruined schoolwork. We moaned a lot.
That was one of those storms where the sky turned really dark green before the storm really hit.
I was not in Texas for some of the other big ones.
And then Ike - spin-off storms temporarily put trickle-level creeks 15-20 feet or more above normal levels and few people were swept away and lost.
I drove thru Mississippi along the coastal streets a few years after Camille. There was still visible rubble. And a lot of land where everything left had been cleaned up, but this city center land was still empty and re-building was years away.
We had major rain here Thursday and Friday. Nothing to worry about as long as you didn’t fall into a creek and avoided a few intersections that always flood.
No winds to notice much so far. We are far enough from the coast (close to 300 miles and hundreds of feet higher) that we usually don’t get wind damage. Unless we get a spin-off tornado. Those are completely unpredictable and can happen anywhere a break-off storm cell wanders. I’ve seen gulf hurricanes cause tornado type events or flash flooding in New England or Canada.
We can also get spin-off rain cells that lead to serious flash flooding. No way to predict that either. Just l try not to be stupid, dont drive thru or get close to water.
I am underwater. In my sinuses. : (
For the last week and a half I have been suffering from a monster sinus infection. One that I caused by getting all upset over something stressful and getting zero sleep. It’s way better now. Not completely gone yet tho. I’ve been so tired that I mostly slept for a week when I could.
I was barely present for the universe this week and completely missed Meh on Friday and almost all of Satorday due to giving into fatigue.
Now trying to catch the fuck up on things.
Think of all the weather and the Presidential Performance Art I missed!
But I did watch a lovely 80% (more or less) eclipse and get some nice tree filter eclipse pix. It got cool and kinda dark here too. Just not as much.
@f00l wow…thanks for sharing your story and for posting the picture of the hurricane house in South Carolina too…I read the book about Isaacs storm-- sad all the way around
@f00l Actually that first picture of half a house is from Union Beach, NJ after Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Only reason I know that is because I lived through it.
Prayers going out for the people of Texas. I can’t watch the news without crying, knowing how difficult it is – and will be – for them.
I feel most sorry for the farm families that are tied to the land and have to fight their way through this. Us city slickers can grab our important paper and go camping somewhere for a month or so until the beginnings of infrastructure begin to reappear. After Andrew it was 3 weeks before most of the roads were clear for travel and the power grid was restored. Then you had to wait tlll they got to your street for power, but water came back earlier.
@cranky1950 I don’t have any real horror stories, our trucks received minimal damage. An hour after the rain stopped we loaded what was most important to us and went to Orlando till my boss called me back to work. That was an interesting drive took us 8 hours to get to Orlando.
@f00l My niece lives near the medical center areas (barely NE of them so likely flooding there). On the second floor. She stashed her car (elsewhere) in a parking garage on the second floor. In the end I hope that is high enough. Last year she lived on the first floor and got scared of flooding so moved to a different apartment in the complex. Smart move and just in time.
Tropical Storm Harvey is still causing catastrophic flooding in the Houston area, as NASA satellites saw the storm’s center moving back into the Gulf of Mexico. NASA’s Johnson Space Center remains closed, but the Mission Control Center is operational and fully capable of supporting the International Space Station from Houston.
Glad to hear that.
Google isn’t showing me any images of the Johnson Space Center taken this week.
Entrance, JSC, Saturday or Saturday. According to what I can find, water came near the entrance gate. The Center is closed, but entirely open for essential activities and Mission Control for the ISS is going normality.
I would post pictures using my iPad but the water got it today, literally . I couldn’t get home ( I live two hours away) and actually had to follow police and other cars the wrong way on highway IH 10 since at least 20 feet of water covered that section of the road I was on ( ahead of ne) so I had to turn around! Helped a few people walking on beltway 8 after they were rescued from flooded apartment complexes but couldn’t make it out of houston due to flood waters but wish I could have done more. Tried to get them to their relatives but roads flooded everywhere. Was able to find a sheriffs deouty who put them on a school bus to a shelter.
Turned around and found out my parents needed rescuing and had to be rescued . I have no words to describe how greatful I am that my parents were rescued but extremely sad for them and everyone else who has lost their homes cars but thankfully , not their lives.And it’s still raining here
@AttyVette Thanks for taking the time to update. Very glad you and your parents are safe. The world needs more people like you. Praying for everyone there.
@OldCatLady thanks friend , I appreciate your kind words. Well , unfortunately, my homes subdivision made national news, as I live in Stonegate subdivision in Port Arthur. Spouse said helicopter rescues still occurred today.
We were fortunate though, as spouse said we only got some water in the garage, He has been stranded there since Monday but our home has electricity and the water is dropping slowly so he decided to stay. Water did get to our threshold of our home but not in the house). Our Next door neighbors got water in their home and were evacuated by boat on Tuesday…
My Elderly 88 and 86 year old Parents house flooded and they lost basically all their possessions, including their car. I am still stranded in Kingwood at my daughter’s house.
My daughters house didn’t flood but I will admit I am stressed out – I can’t go home right now and hotels that weren’t flooded are full! Mom is basically total care and Ih 10 is still under water!
I can’t get to my city even though I want to and grandson has immunity disease and exposing him to all my parents wet, moldy clothes (dad is bringing here from their flooded house), is dangerous to my grandson.
I need to leave and drive my parents to my home but it is surrounded by water so even if I got to Port Arthur, I could not drive to my home. Our county is suffering and many people have lost their homes here! Beaumont today lost all its water and sewage. Hospitals are evacuating its patients to Dallas as there is no water! To top it off Brother lives in Spring yet refuses to take parents in because mom is too much care! His house didn’t flood and is not surrounded by water like mine still is and told me he wouldn’t take them in ! Yeah I am stressed and need everyone’s prayers!
@AttyVette The military (probably ACOE) has put in temporary water pumps and a LOT of piping, to move water through Beaumont’s water treatment plant, and it’s almost back to full capacity. Port Arthur is all over the news. The state and DoD have agreed on a single commander to coordinate forces. Families can be horrible. Everyone on here is thinking about you, and watching the news. http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/30/politics/texas-harvey-flooding-military-response/index.html
@AttyVette Sounds pretty awful. I am glad that at least your house didn’t flood. I’d suspect your parents are going to be really lost with all their stuff, house, etc. gone. That will be so hard on them. My niece got very lucky. Second floor apt (moved upstairs from last year) near the big medical center area and stashed her car in a parking garage at work to keep it out of the water (one of the hospitals in that medical cluster). She stayed dry.
@Kidsandliz yes mom and vey devastated by the loss of her things-/ dad Also looks shell shocked by everything – it’s going to be a long time recovering:(
I was almost killed by a Florida hurricane as a baby, but I have no memory of it. My only adult experience with a hurricane was being chased across the Caribbean in 2004 on Carnival Conquest by Hurricane Ivan, a Cat 5, the 10th biggest Atlantic hurricane recorded. I heard that the mayor of New Orleans ordered 10,000 body bags in anticipation of that storm hitting (fortunately it blew itself mostly out over water). Ivan exactly traced our cruise itinerary backwards, one by one smashing all the destinations we were supposed to visit. It started with Jamaica, destroying the place where we were supposed to get fuel. Worried about running low on gas in hazardous conditions, the captain disabled the stabilizers. Conquest is a very big boat, 12 stories, 110,000 tons. And she was rolling and bouncing on the water like a speedboat. Everyone was seasick, including the crew. The captain came on the intercom and said, “In all my years captaining ships I have never seen the sea like this” (reassuring). Instead of following our itinerary we stayed within sight of the coast of Mexico the whole time, so if the hurricane turned toward us we could run for the coast. Because our original ports were unavailable, we put into some unusual ports, but one of them was close enough that they bused us several hours to Chichenitza, so I got to climb the famous Mayan pyramid El Castillo. The next year they stopped letting tourists climb the great pyramid so it was literally the chance of a lifetime.
I took the photo below are on the lifeboat deck. That deck’s about 40 feet above the water. You don’t expect a wall of water that high off up.
This map focuses on major streets if you drill down, so the data may simply be absent for others streets.
I found it difficult, watching the news, to tell how extensive the flooding was. From television reports it would seem that the entire city is flooded. From the Google map, it appears not so.
Far more neighborhoods are not flooded than are flooded? If that’s true, that’s really good news, and with many people able to resume fairly normal life quickly without becoming housing refugees, Houston should start functioning again sooner than I had feared.
A normal hurricane that passes over Houston drains right away. This one’s not normal, or perhaps it’s the “new normal”. It will take a while for all that water to go away.
Metro Houston is large. As in, larger than Delaware. And a huge percentage of the rain that fell inland has to drain through Houston or rivers that hit the Gulf in the metro Houston area.
I heard it described this way:.
If the water that fell in Harris County had fallen on Washington DC, and if Washington DC had container sides (political comments are already obvious, and unnecessary!), the column of water would be higher than the Empire State Building.
Or … Enough water fell on Harris County alone to overfill the Great Salt Lake more than twice.
And that much water also fell on the surrounding and inland countries, which mostly drain thru Harris County or metro Houston.
What was weird about this storm is that it stalled slightly out to sea over a very warm Gulf of Mexico. Which is just rain-fuel. Most storms are pushed along by the jet stream currents. Not this one.
So this won’t be gone in a minute.
And then when the water drains, what will they find? Ugh.
That’s a lot of work. But Houstonians are good at work.
I suspect some will be good at profiteering in less than admirable ways. I really hope that’s minimized.
@f00l Still today Houston is mostly high and damp. It rains a lot there and mini floods a lot and it runs off fast and they’ve got the flood control canals that work on the low tides. Some low lying areas will have water that lingers for a few days or so but for most of the area clean up and reconstruction can begin. Fly by night contractors live for natural disasters.
If you want to see how far underwater your abode would be if this much rain fell where you live, look at this map (scroll partway down the article and put in an address on the map in the article- I can’t figure out how to just post the map - free access if you haven’t used up the number of articles you can read a month there).
@Kidsandliz It’s a WaPo product, and fascinating. You can also put in a ZIP code. Worth remembering is that ditching in the USA is mostly a late 19th-early 20th century effort, to drain swampland and create roads. The swamp will return.
Knowing what I know about water, and hills, and ground composition, I think that tool isn’t very accurate. I’m on a steep elevation, within an area that’s at sea level, and desert (I’m nearly 1000 feet in elevation). It says I’d be under four feet or more of water, and my neighbors just to the east of me (and lower in elevation) would be less. I’ve seen a storm drain get blocked, when we’d had a rainfall, and I’m real sure which way the water goes (turns out, it flows downhill, and not uphill). Not saying there wouldn’t be local flooding, but if my house had four feet of water, most of the city would be completely submerged. Nope. Not going for it.
@cranky1950 I just checked - it is still there. You need to scroll down a bit and wait for it to load (at least if your internet is as slow as mine that is).
@mfladd hammer time!
Hurricane Harvey will be the first major storm to hit the US since 2005. Department of Homeland Security, NOAA and NASA still lack appointed leaders. 45 is parading around holding rallies and telling everyone to ‘Plan Ahead’. He tweeted a PSA video montage of himself strolling around looking important set to a soundtrack of cheesy music, saying, “As #HurricaneHarvey intensifies – remember to #PlanAhead.”
@OldCatLady - omg. Remember after Katrina when they said W didn’t care about black people? Multiply that by a whole bunch and stand back.
@KDemo You called that one spot-on. I know what goes into hosting a Presidential visit, and it took much-needed manpower and resources away from an increasing disaster. But he really liked the big crowd.
@KDemo
@OldCatLady - A pitiful performance. He just wanted to avoid getting wet and get out of there. Oh, and sell his USA caps.
Obama used to meet with victims in private when he could - avoiding the photo ops and protecting those suffering.
@KDemo by “they” you mean Kanye
I don’t like to say that alot of us down here know what to do and prepare for the himacanes. It’s a good thing they do announce to the public on how to prepare due to the large number of people that have moved down here. I didn’t realize we had made it to the 2nd largest state until this last year, time flies when you’re not paying attention. We really have alot of great people here when this happens here, you see people helping each other no matter who, what and where they are. The thing I hate the most are the tornadoes that drop down and you can’t see them coming but you sure can hear them coming thru. I got caught in one yesterday the hail was beating the car half to death. The wind busted tree branches they were laying in the road. I didn’t see it until I was right on top of it due to the windows fogging up. Thankfully I had just enough time to miss the biggest part of it. Myiu daughter who’s a young woman now was scared
to death 
. I had a huge pine ripped out of the ground and thrown through the house when Ike blew thru here due to tornadoes and several other trees were down in the back yard. So please keep us in your prayers for I know were going to need them. Peace ✌ out.
@hotwheels53 Where are you, so we can all track it and worry (and pray) about you? I know what you mean about newbies having no clue. Local authorities do what they can, but many people ignore warnings. Stay safe. I think I’ll pick up another case or two of water today.
@OldCatLady
Fortunately, Texas has a lot of well-maintained roads leading away from the coast. It’s easier to escape from seaside here than in than Florida or some other places.
I have a few family members who are taking a break from being at home near the coast. They were ready tho. Old-timers.
In DFW we’ve already had had serious (but not catastrophic) rain.
That’s prob all we will get. But uncertain. Inland - even 1000 miles, like, say, TN or KY or OH or PA - can get brutal spinoff storm cells that dump 12"plus of rainfall in a few hours, complete with flash floods, or can get spinoff tornados.
All mucho unpredictable.
Downtown Houston is all glass. After one of these storms, often downtown Houston has to be shut down until they clean up the broken glass all over the streets.
@OldCatLady thank you so much for your care and prayers. Forgive me but I’m just now seeing your post so much going on just haven’t had time to look. I am located just outside the Conroe area. This is the most devastating storm I have ever seen. So far I’m doing okay I can’t get out anywhere but I am dry and fed along with my daughter and grandson. It’s really been a miracle that we have had so few loss of lives during this but to us down this way one is too many. We have so many people that are in shelters that they are running out of places to put people. What I find a big shame is thar Joel Osteen who has the largest church in Houston which would hold over 6 thousand people is doing nothing to help I am going to open a twitter account just so I can ask how a so called man of GOD can be so heartless. I don’t go to his church because I don’t believe he preaches the true word of the bible. I have noticed that the god he follows comes on the dollars that he collect’s off the back’s of his parishioners. His love is the love of money
and it’s so sad. One thing I do know is that the bible says that those that preach the untruth to their followers will suffer more than anyone else and their day will come. Ok enough of that stuff we have so much water here that its going to be months before 40 thousand or more that have lost their homes it’s going to take months before they will be able to even go back to see the damage. So any and all help will be truly appreciated by everyone here. We are thankful for the people that have come from across the U.S. to help with the rescue’s here. They have been going night and day it’s breaks my heart because in Ike a tree went through the middle of my house and I still have thing’s in tote’s. I now have more work that needs done to my home and I’m so thankful I have insurance but it is slow coming and especially now with this being the worst flooding ever in the history of Texas. Maybe Meh can donate some of those socks that they sell every so often. That and underwear are really needed in the shelters. I want to say to anyone else on hear that is going through this catastrophe to hang in there it will get better just be thankful your with family members and friends. We are all in this together. You are all in my prayers and GOD BLESS YOU ALL. Peace ✌ out.
@f00l I wish it was that easy every freeway in and out of town are under many feet of water they all look like rivers and lakes no longer freeways. We have tractor trailer’s under water, military vehicles under water completely that went out on rescue missions two that I know of for now. Roads are impassable unless you have a boat. Two story home are completely under water we even had one burn down in the flood that one threw me, I thought the water would put it out but it didn’t. There are many pictures posted on click2pins.com it’s one of the news stations here. Just pray that this water goes down quickly because they are saying it’s not going down for who knows how long. Have a wonderful day. Peace ✌ out
Yeah good luck with this thing. From what they are telling us here all of you there are going to have your own private lake in the living room due to the predicted 5 day stall out. I can’t imagine getting up to 30" of rain. The most I have lived through is 10" in less than a day and that made a big mess.
This photo is being shared across several news outlets. I wish they would also remind people that cardboard and duct tape isn’t going to do shit to protect your windows.
@RiotDemon That preparation might keep a (small) bird from blowing through. Or at least south Texas mosquitos.
@RiotDemon Agreed, plywood needed! But duct tape will (at least) keep some of the shards from flying around as much.
@gregormehndel or they’ll keep them together in a big chunk while flying around? Either way, it’s a terrible choice.
@RiotDemon I was in Houston, at least 35 years ago, when they were expecting a hurricane (don’t remember which one.) Every tall building, even our hotel, had duct tape across all the windows. Seemed odd to me then that was how Texans prepared for a hurricane. Is that not the preferred method anymore?
@pitamuffin They had painters tape on the windows in the movie Magic Mike. I thought that was pointless. Apparently, I was correct.
@pitamuffin they’ve found out that tape is pointless. Shutters are preferred here in Florida. You can get polycarbonate sheets that are flat. Plywood is still used, but doesn’t stop nearly as much.
@medz the movie was set in what, the 90s? We didn’t know better then. During hurricane Andrew we just came back from Norway and had absolutely no time to prepare. We put tape and hoped it was ok.
@RiotDemon It was released in 2012.
"The film is loosely based on the experiences of Tatum, who was an 18-year-old stripper in San Francisco, California."
Tatum is currently 37.
37-18=19 years ago
2017-19=1998
Your logic is sound, but the truck he has in the film looks like a 2012 Ford F-150.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@RiotDemon Saw this on the comments, bruh.
@medz yeah, that’s true. I remember that it was sort of based on his past, so that’s what I figured. However, you still see people with tape occasionally. Now I’ll have to check out the news broadcast during the movie to see what hurricane they mention.
As for the comments, that wasn’t there earlier. My point was that all these news outlets were sharing it, without pointing out that it’s not enough to protect your windows. There are people that’ll see the photo and think that it might be enough.
@RiotDemon I agree. All the news places asking to use it…I’m not sure if they think the text is funny or if they are showing it because they think it’s real. Irresponsible, either way.
@medz that wiki is wrong. He’s a Florida boy.
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/channing-tatum-strips-at-18-in-sexy-1999-flashback-video-watch-20141710
Found that while trying to look up which hurricane they were watching during the movie.
@RiotDemon If you have an open eastern side, any prep merely stalls the inevitable. I use 5/8 CDX on my house, with the rear windows exposed to the east and houses close c on all other sides. The plywood on the back of th house was beaten into mush and the windows broken. I found a piece of it in the backyard later, and even dried out it was like thick crape paper. The houses that had the worst damage, we’re fully exposed to the east, mine was on a cross street, and my backyard was the west end of an alley formed by the backyards of houses on two streets that ran east/west behind us.
@RiotDemon We drove back to Miami from Orlando the morNing of the storm to board up, Wleft the kids with my folks. I finished driving the last cut nail in a 50 knot gale at 11pm. We took a shower dresses I clean clothes and they shut the grid down about 20 min after we got dressed. It was a hell of a night.
@RiotDemon You’re a good researcher. I’m proud to claim him as a fellow Floridian.
@cranky1950 Typos won’t be so prevalent now I’m at a real keyboard.
@cranky1950
Dammit.
You just made me cranky.
@pitamuffin so was I. Hurricane David. Taping windows was advised. That’s what we did back then
Does this mean preparation for Harvey (which is also a pain in the butt)?
@phendrick Tighten your sphincters, Texas.
@phendrick rick! Prepare your end for Harvey!
MMMMMMM Harvey Wall Banger
@cranky1950 Hold the Galliano and orange juice.
@cranky1950 “Harvey’s Wall Banger” was also the name given to a huge [1000 pounds of dynamite] virtually tamper-proof bomb that blasted through a large part of Harvey’s Resort Hotel on August 26-27 1980. Damn! That’s exactly 37 years ago to the very day.
Among the relatively small community of Hazardous Device Disposal Technicians aka “the bomb guys,” the thing is absolutely legendary.
For more info and photos, Wiki is our friend: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey's_Resort_Hotel_bombing
@magic_cave Yeah well a cat 4 storm is all of that
This would seem to be a good time to visit Dallas.
@cranky1950 I can see you’ve never been to Dallas…
@gregormehndel I’ve been there and also sat through a cat 4 storm. Dallas would be heaven by comparison.
@cranky1950
Still sounds like you’ve never been to Dallas, but okay.
@gregormehndel Sound more like you’ve never seen what a cat 3 storm does.
@cranky1950 I’ve gotta be honest… I’ve been waiting to say this to you, and although now is not the perfect time, I’m going to say it anyway…
You complete me.
@cranky1950
@gregormehndel Ick
@cranky1950 Dallas has just turned their convention center into a shelter.
As if shipping anything to / from south Texas didn’t take long enough already . . .
@Pavlov Geez and I’m cranky
@Pavlov could increase delivery speeds with the tail wind and all.
Well meh headquarters is in northern Texas so the trucks might not be able to get there to pick up shipments – if the rain we get is as predicted
OMFG. Next week 45 will visit TX to see all the damage firsthand. He will then say ‘That’s too bad. I told everybody to #PlanAhead, because I knew this would happen.’ The resources needed to host a Presidential visit will be taken from whatever emergency response forces and equipment are on site. Harvey just hit Cat 3, about 1500 EST.
@OldCatLady He’ll also blame Obama and/or Hilary and maybe the media for good measure.
@OldCatLady I think he’ll try to work a deal with the weather. Then bitch on twitter when it falls through. Maybe he’ll work a deal with MS13 trading FEMA assistance for a brown people rally praising TRUMP.
@cranky1950 Yeah! The environment is fine, just more liberal chicken little fake news.
@OldCatLady
He’s special.
And the Secret Service won’t be paid OT either, I suppose.
In DC, they’re calling his conduct “Presidential Performance Art”.
That descriptive phrase was dreamed up by Republican Members of Congress.
Now would be a good time for some bots to chime in on MSM #fakeweather stories, and call for a huge march in Corpus. With torches. They could post pictures of a tranquil, sunny beach and claim the #fakeweather reports were a conspiracy to keep the marchers home.
@OldCatLady https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/24/san-francisco-dog-poo-protest-patriot-prayer-rally
Stay safe Texas. My best wishes and prayers are with you from someone in Ohio.
If you’re in the path of the storm and have animals outside. Please let them in. Additionally it’s illegal to have dogs chained up during a major weather event like this.
@medz if I knew a human that left an animal chained up outside… I’d want to chain them up during the next storm. Ugh.
@medz Honestly at cat3 or 4 just get the hell out of there while you can.
Hope you got your bread and milk
@cranky1950 Don’t forget the TP.
@cranky1950 eggs too
gotta make french toast
All stocked up on bottled waster and discount ammo from the Gander Mountian closing sales days! Bring on the rain!
@CargoGod “bottled waster.” Either a happy typo or a perfect summation of what a rip-off bottled water is.
@gregormehndel
Except during a natural disaster.
The Mayor of Rockport suggests that if you are riding out the storm, to write your social security number on your arm. For the biblical, use the palm of your hand.
@cranky1950 Had to look that one up.
@OldCatLady one of the really early wingnut objections to social security.
I wish all meh Texans well! Do what it takes to stay safe, and please check in here as possible, so we don’t worry.
You too, @djslack and family.
@KDemo Thanks, that’s very sweet. We aren’t expecting much here, maybe a few inches of rain. But I’ll join you in wishing the best for our South Texas friends and family.
@djslack - I heard them mention LA on the news, so I’m glad to hear this one won’t pummel you.
So…How’s that
wall coming along.
Honestly…I live in Florida and weathered Charlie, Frances and Jean. It’s scary and please stay safe. Will be praying for Texas.
@nfi we evacuated for Hurricanes Rita and Ike but not Gustav-- we stayed in a hotel in Houston area for almost 5 weeks (after Hurrucane Rita) as our area had its power lines decimated and we didn’t get power back on at our home for almost 5 weeks – Thanks for your prayers as if it rains as much as predicted, we are in serious trouble as the roadways flood in Houston – also in my area too
So the price gouging has started – local news story in Houston -this is on khou website:
One man sent a copy of his receipt. He says he paid almost $72.00 for four cases of water at a store in North Harris County.
Dislike people who take advantage of others --Its also illegal
@AttyVette After a hurricane scare several years ago & saw how the prices went through the roof, we bought plywood sheets when the prices returned to normal & keep them stored in our garage. So far, we’ve never had to use them.
I’d like to upgrade our generator so it’s big enough to run the freezer & refrigerator, fans for the bedroom at night, and the coffee maker.
Hope everyone gets through the storm with minimal discomfort/damage.
@LaVikinga how big is your generator now? What you’re asking to run is not that much. The fridge and freezer can take turns as long as you’re not opening them that much. My freezer stays frozen for a few days as long as I don’t open it.
Do you have a propane grill? We used that to boil water for showering and cooking. Could easily be used for coffee if you have a French press or similar.
@RiotDemon It’s big enough to cycle the appliances, or run the coffee maker, etc. Ideally, I want to be a princess and have the A/C AND the fridge & freezer, & water heater on line 24/7.
We do have a rather large propane grill with the side burner, a smoker, and a charcoal grill. THREE French presses (don’t ask me how that happened), an insulated coffee maker, plus two thermal coffee carafes. Also have several supersized coolers for ice. Learned to stack them in laundry room & cover with blankets, then siphon the water out into the washing machine drain once the power was restored.
Been through a few hurricanes. A charged garden hose stretched out in the sun for a few hours will give you enough hot water for a “Navy shower.” Clean hair & body does wonders when the rest of the day is out of kilter.
@RiotDemon @LaVikinga Camping water filters are also useful.
@Kidsandliz I’m a middle-aged woman who still drinks out of the garden hose…
Never thought about water filters. I’ll have to mention them to the mister.
Watching the weather map. Dang, Texas! Y’all don’t do anything half-assed.
@LaVikinga We do have an immune system for a reason (or at least I used to have one), although the garden hose is likely cleaner than what water will be if the treatment plant shuts down.
I kid around about Dallas, but I really hope that if you live in the path of the storm you’ll do what’s safe, like seeking safer shelter. I stubbornly rode out a hurricane once and all that accomplished was making me think I was going to die. The storm is bigger than you, and the sun will shine afterwards!
One small bit of wry humor.
@OldCatLady love the laugh thanks alot . By the way where are you down here? It’s a shame that so many newbie’s have had to go through this one being a thousand year flood. This one has been one for the books, the only storm to make landfall 3 times in the same state. I think so far we have had 40 to 50 inches of rain so far and still more to go. We have a wonderful saying now, Turn Around Don’t Drown, and it couldn’t come at a better time. I’m in Montgomery Country what county are you in? Stay safe going to try and rest some. Peace ✌ out my friend
@hotwheels53 I’m safe in Jacksonville FL. Hurricanes were a lot of fun when I was a kid. No school! No electricity! Wading through rushing water! Look, a water snake! Mom yanked me out of the water and confined me to the yard after that. Please stay safe and rest.
@hotwheels53 Y’all stole that from El Paso (and you’re welcome to it if it protects you). The City runs “turn around, don’t drown” PSAs throughout the monsoon season. We are prone to flash flooding, the water rockets down downhill streets and even a couple of inches deep can sweep your car away and into a 50’+ deep arroyo, and that’s it for you. If we had half the rain you guys have gotten it would wash us right off the mountain. We are rooting for you guys.
@moondrake I don’t know where they got it if it came from El Paso that makes me feel even better knowing a good ole’ Texas town made it up to begin with and we thank you for lettin us use it. It couldn’t fit a better place at the moment this is a nightmare I don’t think I’ve slept good since this monster
hit the 1st time. People where I am at don’t know if the water is just going to swallow us up all at once the news can’t get out here due to the flooding that surrounds us. Thanks for rooting for us one thing about us we will help one another until we fall on our face’s. We might have found the perfect type of transportation everyone rideshare’s with no complaints 
have to keep a little humor in it or I would be pulling my hair out by the handfuls from the concern of thinking how long it is going to take us to dry out from this. I going to click my heals together and just keep saying there’s no place like home 
. You take care and I would love to send this your way but I couldn’t do that to my worst enemy and I don’t have any that I know of. Peace ✌ out
[screen shot of tv broadcast ][1]
Catastrophic flooding – Judge Emmett said to people that have boats to help their neighbors and don’t ask authorities if they can do so first…yes its that bad!
[1]:
@KDemo
I have never done a hurricane at the coast. When I’ve been there, I guess I personally scared them off.
I have ancestors who survived the Great Hurricane of 1900 (the storm surge was about 15’ over the highest point on the island - more or less no one who could not get to a second floor survived that.)
After that storm, which certainly killed way more than 6000+ people (biggest natural disaster in US history), and may have killed 12000-20000 (no one knows, and Galveston was a vacation spot and major port with transportation terminals and many ships in port, and an uncertain census, and was bigger than Houston by far then) - after that storm, the city raised the island by close to 20 feet and built a very serious seawall.
The ones that have affected me most were Carla (spin-off storms with lots of hail flooded all the streets and destroyed windows and roofs, including at school. We did the duck-and-cover thing in the hallways, and after most of the windows were shattered at school, everyone had to work in the auditorium or gym or lunchroom and re-do all the ruined schoolwork. We moaned a lot.
That was one of those storms where the sky turned really dark green before the storm really hit.
I was not in Texas for some of the other big ones.
And then Ike - spin-off storms temporarily put trickle-level creeks 15-20 feet or more above normal levels and few people were swept away and lost.
I drove thru Mississippi along the coastal streets a few years after Camille. There was still visible rubble. And a lot of land where everything left had been cleaned up, but this city center land was still empty and re-building was years away.
We had major rain here Thursday and Friday. Nothing to worry about as long as you didn’t fall into a creek and avoided a few intersections that always flood.
No winds to notice much so far. We are far enough from the coast (close to 300 miles and hundreds of feet higher) that we usually don’t get wind damage. Unless we get a spin-off tornado. Those are completely unpredictable and can happen anywhere a break-off storm cell wanders. I’ve seen gulf hurricanes cause tornado type events or flash flooding in New England or Canada.
We can also get spin-off rain cells that lead to serious flash flooding. No way to predict that either. Just l try not to be stupid, dont drive thru or get close to water.
I am underwater. In my sinuses. : (
For the last week and a half I have been suffering from a monster sinus infection. One that I caused by getting all upset over something stressful and getting zero sleep. It’s way better now. Not completely gone yet tho. I’ve been so tired that I mostly slept for a week when I could.
I was barely present for the universe this week and completely missed Meh on Friday and almost all of Satorday due to giving into fatigue.
Now trying to catch the fuck up on things.
Think of all the weather and the Presidential Performance Art I missed!
But I did watch a lovely 80% (more or less) eclipse and get some nice tree filter eclipse pix. It got cool and kinda dark here too. Just not as much.
@f00l
After Hurricane Camille
@f00l
Carla
@f00l
Ike
@f00l
Galveston 1900
Hurricane patterns and the nature of storm surges were poorly understood then.
(This was an orphanage with 100’s of children. They all tied themselves together when the waters rose. It didn’t help. Everyone here died.)
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/features/sep13/galveston.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane
https://www.amazon.com/Isaacs-Storm-Deadliest-Hurricane-History/dp/0375708278
@f00l
I totally covet this house.
Eye Of The Storm
Monolithic Dome
Sullivan’s Island, SC
Built to withstand anything the Atlantic has to offer, included extensive power outages, flooding, and powerful storm surges.
http://www.monolithic.org/homes/featured-homes/the-eye-of-the-storm
http://m.live5news.com/live5news/pm_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=od:nA7c1TSi
Eye of the storm: Home built to withstand hurricane
@f00l wow…thanks for sharing your story and for posting the picture of the hurricane house in South Carolina too…I read the book about Isaacs storm-- sad all the way around
@f00l Actually that first picture of half a house is from Union Beach, NJ after Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Only reason I know that is because I lived through it.
Prayers going out for the people of Texas. I can’t watch the news without crying, knowing how difficult it is – and will be – for them.
@beachbum
Ok. I just googled pix of Camille and got that one.
Basically, for Camille, the areas around Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pass Christian were flattened for miles inland.
@f00l “built a very serious seawall” - that was partly built/supervised by one of my my grandma’s brothers (corp of army engineers).
Poor wild animals are even trying to flee the High water
I’m watching the Weather Channel about the flooding. I’m so far away and feel so helpless. Those poor people. Geez. What to do?
A couple from our church are Red Cross volunteers and left for TX yesterday. This isn’t their 1st hurricane aftermath; they responded to Katrina.
I’ve never been through a tornado or hurricane, but I have been displaced due to flooding. Not fun and can be very scary.
I feel most sorry for the farm families that are tied to the land and have to fight their way through this. Us city slickers can grab our important paper and go camping somewhere for a month or so until the beginnings of infrastructure begin to reappear. After Andrew it was 3 weeks before most of the roads were clear for travel and the power grid was restored. Then you had to wait tlll they got to your street for power, but water came back earlier.
@cranky1950 I don’t have any real horror stories, our trucks received minimal damage. An hour after the rain stopped we loaded what was most important to us and went to Orlando till my boss called me back to work. That was an interesting drive took us 8 hours to get to Orlando.
I texted my cousin to find out what happened to his house, and had any family stayed in town?
A day later, no reply, I was getting worried. He finally texted back.
He and his wife, along with kids and grandkids, had been stranded for days and completely surrounded by water.
With almost no cell service.
.
.
,
They are “Stranded” at a luxury Island resort near Vancouver for a family wedding. (The bride lives somewhere kinda nearby.).
They texted pix. The were surrounded by beaches and gardens. Clear skies. No flooding.
Back home, water came to within several feet of their front steps, according to a neighbor. They are somewhere kinda near Rice U I think.
Then the waters dropped a bit. But with continual rain and various floodgates being opened upstream, the waters may rise again.
According to The Weather Channel, Houston had gotten more than 3 feet of rain since Friday, with rain still falling.
My mind can’t quite process that much rain.
Some houses near Buffalo Bayou are flooded to over the rooftops.
@f00l My niece lives near the medical center areas (barely NE of them so likely flooding there). On the second floor. She stashed her car (elsewhere) in a parking garage on the second floor. In the end I hope that is high enough. Last year she lived on the first floor and got scared of flooding so moved to a different apartment in the complex. Smart move and just in time.
@f00l Buffalo Bayou
@nadroj
Yeah normally the Bayou doesn’t look quite like that.
Houston is pretty flat. I bet the people whose residences are up even 10-15 feet from the other buildings in the area are pretty relieved now.
I wonder if Houston will now alter the building and landscaping codes.
Houston has or had no zoning. Nothing Nada.
Basically, I can put a junkyard or feedlot right next to your house or fancy restaurant without getting permission.
Houston had been pretty good about protecting waterways and runoff avenues tho. Because it rains there every other second. Hmmm.
@f00l
From
www.nasa.gov
Tropical Storm Harvey is still causing catastrophic flooding in the Houston area, as NASA satellites saw the storm’s center moving back into the Gulf of Mexico. NASA’s Johnson Space Center remains closed, but the Mission Control Center is operational and fully capable of supporting the International Space Station from Houston.
Glad to hear that.
Google isn’t showing me any images of the Johnson Space Center taken this week.
@f00l
Entrance, JSC, Saturday or Saturday. According to what I can find, water came near the entrance gate. The Center is closed, but entirely open for essential activities and Mission Control for the ISS is going normality.
@f00l
Houston and Harvey from the ISS taken Sunday.
@f00l
Mission Control at JSC, today.
@f00l
Some link on how they are dealing with it
Ars Technica
https://www.google.com/amp/s/arstechnica.com/science/2017/08/how-nasas-johnson-space-center-is-riding-out-the-hurricane/%3Famp%3D1
Prep info
https://climate.nasa.gov/blog/2485/houston-we-have-a-problem/
WaPo
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/08/28/nasas-johnson-space-center-closed-amid-harveys-brutal-winds-and-rain/
Whitepapers
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/full/10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00169.1
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/jsc_climate_change_handout_2012.pdf
I would post pictures using my iPad but the water got it today, literally . I couldn’t get home ( I live two hours away) and actually had to follow police and other cars the wrong way on highway IH 10 since at least 20 feet of water covered that section of the road I was on ( ahead of ne) so I had to turn around! Helped a few people walking on beltway 8 after they were rescued from flooded apartment complexes but couldn’t make it out of houston due to flood waters but wish I could have done more. Tried to get them to their relatives but roads flooded everywhere. Was able to find a sheriffs deouty who put them on a school bus to a shelter.
Turned around and found out my parents needed rescuing and had to be rescued . I have no words to describe how greatful I am that my parents were rescued but extremely sad for them and everyone else who has lost their homes cars but thankfully , not their lives.And it’s still raining here
@AttyVette Thanks for taking the time to update. Very glad you and your parents are safe. The world needs more people like you. Praying for everyone there.
@OldCatLady thanks friend , I appreciate your kind words. Well , unfortunately, my homes subdivision made national news, as I live in Stonegate subdivision in Port Arthur. Spouse said helicopter rescues still occurred today.
We were fortunate though, as spouse said we only got some water in the garage, He has been stranded there since Monday but our home has electricity and the water is dropping slowly so he decided to stay. Water did get to our threshold of our home but not in the house). Our Next door neighbors got water in their home and were evacuated by boat on Tuesday…
My Elderly 88 and 86 year old Parents house flooded and they lost basically all their possessions, including their car. I am still stranded in Kingwood at my daughter’s house.
My daughters house didn’t flood but I will admit I am stressed out – I can’t go home right now and hotels that weren’t flooded are full! Mom is basically total care and Ih 10 is still under water!
I can’t get to my city even though I want to and grandson has immunity disease and exposing him to all my parents wet, moldy clothes (dad is bringing here from their flooded house), is dangerous to my grandson.
I need to leave and drive my parents to my home but it is surrounded by water so even if I got to Port Arthur, I could not drive to my home. Our county is suffering and many people have lost their homes here! Beaumont today lost all its water and sewage. Hospitals are evacuating its patients to Dallas as there is no water! To top it off Brother lives in Spring yet refuses to take parents in because mom is too much care! His house didn’t flood and is not surrounded by water like mine still is and told me he wouldn’t take them in ! Yeah I am stressed and need everyone’s prayers!
@AttyVette The military (probably ACOE) has put in temporary water pumps and a LOT of piping, to move water through Beaumont’s water treatment plant, and it’s almost back to full capacity. Port Arthur is all over the news. The state and DoD have agreed on a single commander to coordinate forces. Families can be horrible. Everyone on here is thinking about you, and watching the news.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/30/politics/texas-harvey-flooding-military-response/index.html
@AttyVette Sounds pretty awful. I am glad that at least your house didn’t flood. I’d suspect your parents are going to be really lost with all their stuff, house, etc. gone. That will be so hard on them. My niece got very lucky. Second floor apt (moved upstairs from last year) near the big medical center area and stashed her car in a parking garage at work to keep it out of the water (one of the hospitals in that medical cluster). She stayed dry.
@Kidsandliz yes mom and vey devastated by the loss of her things-/ dad Also looks shell shocked by everything – it’s going to be a long time recovering:(
I was almost killed by a Florida hurricane as a baby, but I have no memory of it. My only adult experience with a hurricane was being chased across the Caribbean in 2004 on Carnival Conquest by Hurricane Ivan, a Cat 5, the 10th biggest Atlantic hurricane recorded. I heard that the mayor of New Orleans ordered 10,000 body bags in anticipation of that storm hitting (fortunately it blew itself mostly out over water). Ivan exactly traced our cruise itinerary backwards, one by one smashing all the destinations we were supposed to visit. It started with Jamaica, destroying the place where we were supposed to get fuel. Worried about running low on gas in hazardous conditions, the captain disabled the stabilizers. Conquest is a very big boat, 12 stories, 110,000 tons. And she was rolling and bouncing on the water like a speedboat. Everyone was seasick, including the crew. The captain came on the intercom and said, “In all my years captaining ships I have never seen the sea like this” (reassuring). Instead of following our itinerary we stayed within sight of the coast of Mexico the whole time, so if the hurricane turned toward us we could run for the coast. Because our original ports were unavailable, we put into some unusual ports, but one of them was close enough that they bused us several hours to Chichenitza, so I got to climb the famous Mayan pyramid El Castillo. The next year they stopped letting tourists climb the great pyramid so it was literally the chance of a lifetime.
I took the photo below are on the lifeboat deck. That deck’s about 40 feet above the water. You don’t expect a wall of water that high off up.
@moondrake wow thanks for sharing /- that would have been a scary experience for sure!!A wall of water is NEVER good!
Flooded street map for the Houston Area using Google maps.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1Nzjiw9FHdJPHgNJiVMSHWhBQQd0&hl=en&ll=29.689876409961286%2C-95.43221514456002&z=10
This map focuses on major streets if you drill down, so the data may simply be absent for others streets.
I found it difficult, watching the news, to tell how extensive the flooding was. From television reports it would seem that the entire city is flooded. From the Google map, it appears not so.
Far more neighborhoods are not flooded than are flooded? If that’s true, that’s really good news, and with many people able to resume fairly normal life quickly without becoming housing refugees, Houston should start functioning again sooner than I had feared.
@f00l It’s Houston. It stopped raining, the water goes away very quickly.
@cranky1950
A normal hurricane that passes over Houston drains right away. This one’s not normal, or perhaps it’s the “new normal”. It will take a while for all that water to go away.
Metro Houston is large. As in, larger than Delaware. And a huge percentage of the rain that fell inland has to drain through Houston or rivers that hit the Gulf in the metro Houston area.
I heard it described this way:.
If the water that fell in Harris County had fallen on Washington DC, and if Washington DC had container sides (political comments are already obvious, and unnecessary!), the column of water would be higher than the Empire State Building.
Or … Enough water fell on Harris County alone to overfill the Great Salt Lake more than twice.
And that much water also fell on the surrounding and inland countries, which mostly drain thru Harris County or metro Houston.
What was weird about this storm is that it stalled slightly out to sea over a very warm Gulf of Mexico. Which is just rain-fuel. Most storms are pushed along by the jet stream currents. Not this one.
So this won’t be gone in a minute.
And then when the water drains, what will they find? Ugh.
That’s a lot of work. But Houstonians are good at work.
I suspect some will be good at profiteering in less than admirable ways. I really hope that’s minimized.
@f00l Still today Houston is mostly high and damp. It rains a lot there and mini floods a lot and it runs off fast and they’ve got the flood control canals that work on the low tides. Some low lying areas will have water that lingers for a few days or so but for most of the area clean up and reconstruction can begin. Fly by night contractors live for natural disasters.
If you want to see how far underwater your abode would be if this much rain fell where you live, look at this map (scroll partway down the article and put in an address on the map in the article- I can’t figure out how to just post the map - free access if you haven’t used up the number of articles you can read a month there).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/08/30/what-the-harvey-deluge-would-look-like-where-you-live/?tid=pm_politics_pop&utm_term=.e58c76c6598a
@Kidsandliz It’s a WaPo product, and fascinating. You can also put in a ZIP code. Worth remembering is that ditching in the USA is mostly a late 19th-early 20th century effort, to drain swampland and create roads. The swamp will return.
Knowing what I know about water, and hills, and ground composition, I think that tool isn’t very accurate. I’m on a steep elevation, within an area that’s at sea level, and desert (I’m nearly 1000 feet in elevation). It says I’d be under four feet or more of water, and my neighbors just to the east of me (and lower in elevation) would be less. I’ve seen a storm drain get blocked, when we’d had a rainfall, and I’m real sure which way the water goes (turns out, it flows downhill, and not uphill). Not saying there wouldn’t be local flooding, but if my house had four feet of water, most of the city would be completely submerged. Nope. Not going for it.
@Kidsandliz Looks like they removed the link to the tool.
@cranky1950 I just checked - it is still there. You need to scroll down a bit and wait for it to load (at least if your internet is as slow as mine that is).