Don't call 911 here in Houston

Bonnie said:
I don't know what part of Houston you are in Terry, but all my best to you, and getting that help. 911 has got to be jammed up beyond belief!

I'm on the fringes of the area out northwest of Houston. It's rained off and on for 2 days now, and we've had 26"... but all manageable, no flooding in this immediate area. I haven't been out on any roads.
The pop-up tornados that keep coming (around 120 at last count) are all but being ignored by a lot of people now. Just too much being thrown out there to take in ... information overload I guess.
Power has been on and off several times in my home since yesterday. It doesn't stay off for too long when it does go out though.

I'm getting my weather news from local TV coverage, and it seems like the moving parts of this system keep changing. The city will pretty much be shut down for the entire week ... no schools, and I heard them say that they are evacuating large hospitals in the city. (like Ben Taub). That is shocking to me. It's not a good time to be sick or in need of medical attention.
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MD Anderson now has problems with flooding. My nephew lives downtown by the bayous and he is watching things closely for his family. I am in the clear lake area and the tornado alerts are many. My phone keeps going off for everything!
 

Terry I hope you'll be okay. I've been watching the floods on TV people are being rescued by anyone with a flatboat. The bayous are all flooded. It's like something from a nightmare.

Be safe and well.
 
Terry, Bonnie, Ina, and all TX SFers...I'm praying. FEMA is coming "tomorrow" (monday or tuesday) and 3,000 National Guard are coming. NBC is saying 55" is likely in the Houston and other areas when the rain is finally over. Rivers will continue to rise. They say stay where you are until rescuers can get to you or stay at the shelter at the convention center (500 are there right now). Best is to get on the roof but if you go to your attic take an ax with you so you can get out. First responders are there. Rescues are in progress from locals and I saw a helicopter for roof rescue on the news.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
It's heart warming that your community is pitching in to help one another. Houston is a great city!!
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I agree with Fuzzy. Times of crisis tend to bring out the best or the worst in us. It is very heartening to hear that people are thinking of others at a time such as this.

Terry, when it is all over please let us know how you coped and tell us what happened. The media covers the more sensational aspects but I am interested in the experiences of the majority of people caught up in dangerous situations.

I will be keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers.

Ina, if you read this, I am in awe of your compassion. You are definitely a small 's' saint. God bless you and keep you safe.
 
I am chatting with Ina again. She said the water is still coming up. It is not inside her house yet, but right at the door, and she has never seen this in all of the years that she has lived in this house, and she is scared. She asked me to thank everyone for the prayers and please do not stop praying. She still has power; but she has two very elderly couples sheltering with her now and they need oxygen. As long as she has electricity, they are oaky unless the water keeps getting deeper and in the house.
She has no ladder to get on the roof, and she has an attic but no axe or chainsawto get out if they have to go up there.
Ina has called for a rescue; but they are so swamped with trying to rescue people that she does not think they would get to her today.
Her Kia is partially underwater now, so hopefully, it will not ruin the engine or transmission.
I will let you all know when I hear from her again, how she is doing.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
I am chatting with Ina again. She said the water is still coming up. It is not inside her house yet, but right at the door, and she has never seen this in all of the years that she has lived in this house, and she is scared. She asked me to thank everyone for the prayers and please do not stop praying. She still has power; but she has two very elderly couples sheltering with her now and they need oxygen. As long as she has electricity, they are oaky unless the water keeps getting deeper and in the house.
She has no ladder to get on the roof, and she has an attic but no axe or chainsawto get out if they have to go up there.
Ina has called for a rescue; but they are so swamped with trying to rescue people that she does not think they would get to her today.
Her Kia is partially underwater now, so hopefully, it will not ruin the engine or transmission.
I will let you all know when I hear from her again, how she is doing.
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Thoughts and prayers to Ina. I hope this passes quickly and that relief comes soon for everyone.
 
Thank you Happyflowerlady for letting us know. This is sad and scary. I hope she has plenty of drinking water, oil lamps, food, and that the national guard can rescue those on oxygen quickly. Bless her heart.
 
Ina said that the water around her home is not inside of her house, but it is still getting deeper. Last night it was about a foot away from her door, and this morning she said it is just a few inches away. The water was supposed to have crested yesterday, but the NOAA hurricane page shows the storm moving back into the Gulf, and working its way east, so Houston is still going to be in the middle of this hurricane for another week.
She said she is really scared; but the water outside is way too deep for her to get out with her Kia, and she does not know if any of the emergency shelters have room for her and the 6 other people who are sheltered at her house.
It is a hard situation to know what to do.
If she stays, and the water continues to get deeper, eventually the house is going to flood. Rescue workers are still swamped with getting people out that are stuck on rooftops, so she does not know if they can even be rescued, or where they would go if they were rescued.
She said her television quit during the night but she still has power. I sent her the link for live online coverage, so she can at least keep up with things that way.
She is exhausted, and I am sure suffering from lack of sleep and worry. Please keep praying for Ina !
 
Happyflowerlady, if you are still in touch with Ina, please tell her that she should register for help now. Apparently water is going to be released from dams. This, plus continuing rain, will place her and her friends in serious jeopardy.

Anyone else in Houston who is close to flood waters should also take note of this report and act prudently.

Tropical Storm Harvey: Houston braces for even more flooding, officials forced to open dams

Updated 32 minutes ago
Mon 28 Aug 2017, 10:37pm (Australian time)

Water releases from Houston-area reservoirs overwhelmed by rain from Tropical Storm Harvey could cause additional homes in the city to flood, Texan officials say. The move was aimed at protecting the city's downtown from devastating floods but that could still endanger thousands of homes, even as the nation's fourth-largest city braced for more rain.

Harvey, which made landfall on Friday as a category four hurricane and has lingered dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm, sent devastating floods pouring into Houston. The rising water chased thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground and overwhelmed rescuers, who could not keep up with the constant calls for help.

Residents living near the Addicks and Barker reservoirs — that were designed to prevent flooding in downtown Houston — were warned on Sunday local time that a controlled release from both dams would cause additional street flooding that could spill into homes.

Rising water levels and continuing rain was putting pressure on the dams that could cause a failure without the release.
Residents in two counties were told to pack their cars on Sunday night and leave first thing Monday morning.

"The idea is to prepare… pack up what you need and put it in your vehicle and when the sun comes up, get out," said Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist for the Harris County Flood Control District.

The Army Corps of Engineers started the reservoir releases before 2:00am Monday — ahead of schedule — because water levels were increasing dramatically at a rate of more than 15 centimetres per hour, Corps spokesman Jay Townsend said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-...vey-houston-flooding-tipped-to-worsen/8850396
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Happyflowerlady said:
Ina said that the water around her home is not inside of her house, but it is still getting deeper. Last night it was about a foot away from her door, and this morning she said it is just a few inches away. The water was supposed to have crested yesterday, but the NOAA hurricane page shows the storm moving back into the Gulf, and working its way east, so Houston is still going to be in the middle of this hurricane for another week.
She said she is really scared; but the water outside is way too deep for her to get out with her Kia, and she does not know if any of the emergency shelters have room for her and the 6 other people who are sheltered at her house.
It is a hard situation to know what to do.
If she stays, and the water continues to get deeper, eventually the house is going to flood. Rescue workers are still swamped with getting people out that are stuck on rooftops, so she does not know if they can even be rescued, or where they would go if they were rescued.
She said her television quit during the night but she still has power. I sent her the link for live online coverage, so she can at least keep up with things that way.
She is exhausted, and I am sure suffering from lack of sleep and worry. Please keep praying for Ina !
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Is her grandson still with her to help her? I'm very worried about her.
 
I am really worried about Terry123 also !
She is on the west side of Houston, and that is where the Barker Dam, Addicks Dam, and reservoirs are located, and since they are trying to keep the dams from failing and breaking (which would be the very most horrible catastrophe !), they will have even more flooding on that side of the city.
I talked with Ina (we are actually messaging because it saves her cell phone battery) and she said that the water is starting to recede a little now; but it is also raining again, so this could cause even more flooding.
When you look at the traffic map for Houston, almost all of the streets are underwater and closed. Ina does still have her grandson there to help, plus two couples her age, and one lady in her 80's. She is cooking and taking care of all of them, and she said that thankfully, she still has power and water.
Since the water in her yard is around 3 feet deep, she can't get herself out of there unless rescue workers come after them.
I sent her a website that has a bunch of numbers to call for help, so hopefully, she can get out if the water starts rising again.
I didn't see any dams that were close to the northeast side of Houston, but since the whole area is pretty flat, the water would spread all over regardless of where it comes from should the dam fail.

Here is the traffic map that shows all of the closed and flooded roads. If you look at the square that goes around the city, Ina is inside that in the upper right hand corner, below where it says "Humble".

http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/layers/layers_ve.aspx?nml=true&ref=ts&inc=true&rc=true
 
I hope Ina and her group have let rescue know where they are. I'm not there, of course, so can't imagine what it is really like on the ground, but I'd want to get the heck out of there before it gets any worse.

If anyone hears from Terry123, please let us know.
 
It looks like Terry123 was on the forum this afternoon and posting, so she must be okay, too. The latest update from Ina is that the rescue workers came out by boat, and they got everyone except Ina and her grandson. It was starting to get dark, so it will be tomorrow before they can come back and get Ina, but the water seems to still be receding a little bit at a time.
She has been awake most of the time since last weekend, so she is beyond exhausted, and hopefully she can get some rest now while the water is going down and not coming up, and she doesn't have 5 extra people to take care of.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
It looks like Terry123 was on the forum this afternoon and posting, so she must be okay, too. The latest update from Ina is that the rescue workers came out by boat, and they got everyone except Ina and her grandson. It was starting to get dark, so it will be tomorrow before they can come back and get Ina, but the water seems to still be receding a little bit at a time.
She has been awake most of the time since last weekend, so she is beyond exhausted, and hopefully she can get some rest now while the water is going down and not coming up, and she doesn't have 5 extra people to take care of.
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Thanks so much for the update.
 
Wishing the best for Ina, Terry and all affected. When I watch the news I can't believe how intense this disaster is for Texas, flooding at that level is devastating to people and property. :(
 

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