Catagory 3 hurricane Harvey headed for Texas and gulf states.

Yesterday Rockport, Tex. mayor Patrick Rios told those that were too hard headed to evacuate to write their Social Security number on their arm with a magic marker so that their bodies could be identified later.
 

Thanks for the update Bonnie. 3" isn't bad but I read they were expecting 36" and a storm surge of 10 - 12 feet. I guess that's coastal and as Pappy said, has been downgraded. Scary stuff. Be well all SFers
 
When I was a kid, Hurricane Diane passed over us in the middle of Massachusetts. I remember my dad putting rags over the windows, because the wind was blowing water through them. I remember going down to where we had a stream. There was a bridge over this stream, which was 20-30 feet below. It was a roaring river, right up to the bottom of the bridge. The water was going by fast. If you fell in, they'd never find you.You could feel the ground trembling. They kept saying the bridge was going to go. The eye went right over us. One minute , the water was coming through the windows, then nothing. I went out side with my dad. It was calm, and all around us was this ring of black clouds. Then the rain was coming through the windows again.
That was close to 70 years ago. Hurricane Diane scared the hell out of me. You don't think this little trickle of water, can be something that's instant death, if you get near it. I feel bad for them.
 

That was close to 70 years ago. Hurricane Diane scared the hell out of me. You don't think this little trickle of water, can be something that's instant death, if you get near it. I feel bad for them.

In 1975 we were stationed at a USAF base in North Carolina, and one of these huge storms blew through. Luckily, we were living in a nice house on base, and the house had hurricane windows, and a safe room in the middle of the house. Even though we were about 100 miles inland, the storm was still strong enough to bring down some huge trees, and the base streets were flooded for several hours. I can't imagine trying to sit one of these things out just minutes from the ocean front.
 
Yesterday Rockport, Tex. mayor Patrick Rios told those that were too hard headed to evacuate to write their Social Security number on their arm with a magic marker so that their bodies could be identified later.

I heard about that on the news. Scary to hear for those in the path of this storm. Keep in touch and stay dry and be well.
 
:why:Wonder if any SS# marked bodies will show up? ... People expect others to risk their lives to save them from harms way when they are given every opportunity to leave a bad situation before it happens.
Guess the mayor made his case loud and clear.

The second round of rain bands have started this evening around here. It comes and goes, slow and hard, along with some wind. My rain total has reached 7" to this point. Tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be more of the same. .. just a tropical feel to it. Temperatures have sure cooled down.
 
It just depends, I guess, on where you are in the state. Where I live, only about 1/10" of precipitation so far. A lot of flooding in other parts of Texas...the rivers are rising to flood levels, so evacuations are beginning along some of them. I've only heard of two deaths so far from Harvey, but I'm sure there will be more.
 
Special Reports and even Face The Nation are talking about Houston getting the brunt of the rain. 20 inches last night and could be another 3 Feet over the next 5 days. More than they get in an entire year. Plus they've had 17 tornadoes in Houston. Bonnie seems to be a survivor but I'm worried about her. No doubt she'll be without electricity for awhile and we won't get any more updates until it's back up and running. That could take weeks.

New Orleans has still not recovered from Katrina which is being likened to this storm. But the Bush's Homeland Security and military troops didn't even show up for 3 weeks...not even with drinking water. That should never have happened in America. Hopefully Trump will do much better. This is his first natural disaster of this magnitude. American Red Cross arrived before it even started. They seem to always on the scene first worldwide.
 
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They are now saying on the news that this is what they are calling a "500 year flood", and that it is worse than anyone has ever seen in this area before, according to the statistics that they can look at.
KHOU, the regular Houston station was already being flooded out earlier today, and is now apparently unable to broadcast at all; but they are moving their equipment to the upper floors of their building.
The station is still on the air with current information, but it is being sent through another affiliate station.
The pictures are showing cars with only the roof showing, and people in second floor apartments trapped there because the water is so deep below them, and the ground floor people have all been evacuated to a safety area.
Here is the link on Youtube to watch the news update on the storm live.

 
The latest model from the NOAA hurricane page is showing that Harvey will head back out into the Gulf, pick up speed again, and then come back ashore later this week, and hit directly into Houston, giving the already flooded area a second wallop.
There is also a tropical storm moving up the east coast, which has the potential to strengthen into a hurricane, and then flood the states along the Atlantic coast, like Sandy did.
So we might have a repeat of both Katrina and Sandy (two of the worst ever storms); but hitting us at almost the same time.
It looks like Harvey is stalled in Texas clear into September, and they have already had the heaviest floods in many years there.

 
I think Harvey is going to be ten times what Katrina was. There is already no food or water, and no way to get any in to half of Texas. It's not just Houston, but many other towns also. 6.5 million effected in Texas alone. Now it's in Louisiana too. Pretty much the whole state.

It will be at least a few months before the floods drain from the streets. Then it will be billion$ to repair roads. The high rise corporate office buildings will be closed until the roads are passable.

All small businesses will be closed for a long time too.

Eleven oil refineries are off line, gas is going back to $4.00 a gallon.

FEMA says it expects 450,000 victims to file for assistance. I think that is a gross underestimation.

What will voters say when Trump says no money for FEMA, because we gotta build the wall?

I think this could cost at least $100 billion.
 
I think Harvey is going to be ten times what Katrina was. There is already no food or water, and no way to get any in to half of Texas. It's not just Houston, but many other towns also. 6.5 million effected in Texas alone. Now it's in Louisiana too. Pretty much the whole state.

It will be at least a few months before the floods drain from the streets. Then it will be billion$ to repair roads. The high rise corporate office buildings will be closed until the roads are passable.

All small businesses will be closed for a long time too.

Eleven oil refineries are off line, gas is going back to $4.00 a gallon.

FEMA says it expects 450,000 victims to file for assistance. I think that is a gross underestimation.

(delete)

I think this could cost at least $100 billion.

Maybe we need General Honore ?

 
From a thread I started earlier about how 9 or 10 HUGE new silver passenger planes with the American Flag logo flew low over my house headed South West toward Texas. And I didn't know why but was hoping it was to transport Hurricane Harvey Victims. Well guess what? KenNTexas just posted that 4 planes were due to arrive any time now in Dallas with 5,000 victims. Hallelujiah! Hopefully more transports to other safe havens.

Read what KenNTexas says about what Dallas has set up for them...medical help too.
It's wonderful and such a fast response!! I hope they get to Ina.

https://www.seniorforums.com/showthread.php/31637-What-s-Going-On-!-9-Huge-American-Flagged-Planes-Just-Flew-South-Over-My-House!-TX-Hurricane-Relief


A BIG helicopter just flew over from south to north. Must be returning from TX. I must be right in the flight path for this. Otherwise, I never see low lying planes.
 
Lara, I was so happy that I was crying when I read your post about all of those planes that our president is sending down to help the flood victims ! !
I messaged Ina to let her know about it, and also sent her the link to your post in case she has time to read it. She has been up almost constantly since this started, and her stress level has to be beyond belief at this point, not knowing what will happen next.
She does not want to leave her home, but it is impossible for her to even get out right now anyway unless she is rescued. She has no ladder to get on the roof with, and elderly people that might not even be able to manage that if she did have one.

I do think that this will turn out to be as devastating as Katrina, or Sandy, or any of the other bad ones we have had over the years, and that it will take months, if not years, to get everything right again.
I remember last year when Louisiana had those terrible floods, and both Trump and Pence were down there along with Franklin Graham, and helping distribute food and water to victims and rescue workers, and it was well over a week before Obama even showed up in Louisiana. I am so glad that things are happening faster this time !
 
Is everybody still okay? Terry? Ina? I heard 7 have died from the floods and it still looks terrible in Houston where they clearly were not prepared for anything this bad. Be well everyone.
 
While it appears that most of the storm has moved further east and into Louisiana, things are not totally over for flooding in Houston yet, and this new flooding is not looking good at all, and will mostly affect the downtown area, as well as the nuclear power plant.
According to the news, the rivers are all rising at an unprecedented rate, and expected to go about FIFTY FEET above normal levels, as the river fill up from the rainwater, and the water being released from all of the lakes, reservoirs and dams flow into the nearby rivers.
Here is a video that shows the areas where they expect the most problems. It doesn't look like the area where Ina lives will be impacted this much; but I am not sure about Terry123, because she lives in West Houston, I think she said.

 
A chemical plant blew up. The operator of the plant warned that it was inevitable a few days ago, since without power they couldn't cool the chemicals. From their studies, they knew to evacuate all houses within 1.5 miles of the plant. My question is: who authorized building the plant near those houses (or conversely building the houses near the plant)? Losing power for a few days could happen for a number of reasons and if that made the plant a danger, why would they allow it near neighborhoods?
 
Flood plains flood

Besides the rainfall of the century keep in mind that Houston area is basically one big flood plain that saw rapid population growth and construction including poor zoning laws and/or priorities. Literally, pun intended a perfect storm of conditions. Construction not only takes up ground that could absorb water but it also deflects it elsewhere in this case into many residential neighborhoods.

http://www.npr.org/2017/08/31/547575113/three-reasons-houston-was-a-sitting-duck-for-harvey-flooding

But again a keep in mind that 50 inches of rain is not a common occurrence but a history of flooding is.

RIP those who perished and best of luck to all survivors!
 
Good morning everyone. Well things are starting to dry out again, and our roads are lined with small mountains of flood debris. In my neighborhood we received 4 to 6 feet of water inside most homes, and now the streets are full of everything that you would expect to find inside.

It is so sad to see people that have lost everything digging through the waste that we have piled on the side of the road in an effort to find anything from bedding to furniture that they might be able to salvage just so they will have somewhere so their families can rest. With the help from my grandson, I have been looking around my place to see what we can do without, so we can offer it to someone that doesn't have it.

So many are suffering from no where to move to, because dry housing is at a premium here. Of course when you lose everything the last thing you need to hear is that prices are going up. It's not just housing that is hurting our city, but so many people now have no jobs.

There is so much sadness, and I wish I knew something that could lift it.

Now it is a matter of helping where we can, so I'll not be complaining about my losses. :wave:
 


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