Hurricane Harvey

[Robert Maxwell]

Be safe. I heard and read about the massive flooding these past few days. I have a cousin who lives in San Antonio, though I'm not sure if her area is affected. She and her family are out of the country right now. I was watching the news last night, and one of the evacuation sites (George R. Brown Convention Center) had exceeded the capacity. Some don't have a place to sleep due to a shortage of cots. Now's a good time to donate to the Red Cross.

Do not donate to the Red Cross. Very little of that money will ever help anyone in Houston.

The city of Houston has established a relief fund, which you can donate to here.

Donate to food banks: Houston and Corpus Christi.

To help pets displaced by flooding: Houston Humane Society and San Antonio HS.

Donate to Global Giving's Houston relief fund. That money goes directly to providing things first responders and victims need right now, and will support further relief efforts as funds allow.

 

[StarCruiser]

Got some water in the house and the car is probably toast. One of my neighbors had about a foot of water (.3m).

 

[The Lensman]

Got some water in the house and the car is probably toast. One of my neighbors had about a foot of water (.3m).

Whereabouts are you? I'm on far north side.

Also, to make things worse for Texas citizens, and many Houstonians, a new law is going into effect this Friday. From an old friends Facebook page:

Guys this is not intended to be politically just informative.
Texas Insurance Code changes on September 1, 2017. The change it is going make it harder to file claims for damages due to storms and as a member of the Plaintiffs Bar, most lawyers agree it will be much harder to fight insurance companies that don't pay. In an effort to preserve your rights under the law which already favored insurance companies, attached is a formal notice of claim that you can submit to your insurance carrier before September 1, 2017.

This law is utterly disgusting.

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[StarCruiser]

Near Cypress (Telge/Tuckerton).

I've already contacted my insurance (no flood coverage so...).

As to the new law - yes, it's disgusting that our government seems to be (always) more concerned about the insurance companies instead of the people they were elected to represent. I know - pushing more to the political side but...

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

About the "new law":

A bit of context...

The basic thrust of the gist is, this "new law" won't have much of an effect on claims that are settled out of court, which most insurance claims are. It only comes into play when lawsuits do.

 

[The Lensman]

Near Cypress (Telge/Tuckerton).

I've already contacted my insurance (no flood coverage so...)..

Near Cypress? Damn. Glad ya'll are okay. Sorry to hear about the insurance situation. I think we'll be hearing a lot of this in the days to come. Places that have been traditionally safe were hit hard.

About the "new law":

A bit of context...

The basic thrust of the gist is, this "new law" won't have much of an effect on claims that are settled out of court, which most insurance claims are. It only comes into play when lawsuits do.

Thanks for the info!

The drainage over here has been pretty quick, though the roads are still covered in some spots. I went to help my sister and her hubby drop off some supplies to help some team members and the yards that were underwater weren't by the time we left an hour later. So that was good.

Also, the sun came out today after that. We haven't seen it since last Wednsday. I usually love a gloomy day, but today I was happy see to ole' Sol.

 

[StarCruiser]

Yes - and with the dryer air and cool temperatures - I have opened almost all of the windows. I still have a ton of work to do (pulling up carpets, taking out the lower part of the sheet rock etc...).

 

[auntiehill]

We had to evacuate yesterday. We made it through the worst of the storm without any flooding, only to learn Sunday night that they were going to open the small dam to the north of us and the levee just a few blocks away was about to spill over. Our area has never flooded--ever. We moved a lot of things to the second floor and what we couldn't move, we tried to stack up high. We got a mandatory evacuation notice Monday morning so we got the cat, threw luggage & documents and some emergency supplies into the two cars and drove to Austin. Scariest drive of my life. What should've taken 3 to 3.5 hours took 7.5 to 8 hours but we made it.

I don't know if I will still have a house to return to and if I do, if it will be salvageable. We can just wait and see. It's not a great feeling.

We are staying at my Mom's; she has a large house and says we can stay as long we want. So at least I have a safe and comfortable place to wait--which is more than many others have.

 

[The Lensman]

We had to evacuate yesterday. We made it through the worst of the storm without any flooding, only to learn Sunday night that they were going to open the small dam to the north of us and the levee just a few blocks away was about to spill over. Our area has never flooded--ever. We moved a lot of things to the second floor and what we couldn't move, we tried to stack up high. We got a mandatory evacuation notice Monday morning so we got the cat, threw luggage & documents and some emergency supplies into the two cars and drove to Austin. Scariest drive of my life. What should've taken 3 to 3.5 hours took 7.5 to 8 hours but we made it.

I don't know if I will still have a house to return to and if I do, if it will be salvageable. We can just wait and see. It's not a great feeling.

We are staying at my Mom's; she has a large house and says we can stay as long we want. So at least I have a safe and comfortable place to wait--which is more than many others have.

Good to hear that you and yours are safe and have a place to stay. Sorry to hear about the traffic, I had a feeling it would be pretty bad, but thankfully you got there okay.


The roads here should be passable tomorrow, so I'll find out what kind of flooding I might have had. The most bizarre thing about this hurricane for me personally, is that we never lost power. Not once. I've been through several hurricanes and we've always lost power, in some instances for up to a week or more. Hell, we never even lost internet connectivity. Just amazing, really. So glad to have been able to stay informed during this disaster.

Hope to hear from any others who've made it through the storm.

 

[BillJ]

Do not donate to the Red Cross. Very little of that money will ever help anyone in Houston.

The city of Houston has established a relief fund, which you can donate to here.

Donate to food banks: Houston and Corpus Christi.

To help pets displaced by flooding: Houston Humane Society and San Antonio HS.

Donate to Global Giving's Houston relief fund. That money goes directly to providing things first responders and victims need right now, and will support further relief efforts as funds allow.

Thanks for the links.

 

[auntiehill]

Good to hear that you and yours are safe and have a place to stay. Sorry to hear about the traffic, I had a feeling it would be pretty bad, but thankfully you got there okay.


The roads here should be passable tomorrow, so I'll find out what kind of flooding I might have had. The most bizarre thing about this hurricane for me personally, is that we never lost power. Not once. I've been through several hurricanes and we've always lost power, in some instances for up to a week or more. Hell, we never even lost internet connectivity. Just amazing, really. So glad to have been able to stay informed during this disaster.

Hope to hear from any others who've made it through the storm.

It wasn't traffic; it was flooded out roads.

Yeah, we had power and internet almost the entire time. We only lost power for a few hours when the storm hit and it came back on--never had problems after that. After Ike, we lost power for 5 days. Having power really helped. We could search the county website for info and had the TV news on all day.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Fantastic article about Houston and the issues regarding development and flood prevention
https://projects.propublica.org/houston-cypress/

 

[StarCruiser]

Yep - that issue has been at the core of all of our flooding problems for many years. While it is true that you can't completely plan for all possibilities - those in charge have far too often chosen not to plan at all.

One simple thing to do, leave some land undeveloped.

Where I live - near Cypress Texas - the area was not heavily developed until just the last 20 years or so. The TI plant on highway 290 (used by Compaq and now Sysco Foods) was just about the only significant structure and even it had a decent sized retention pond near it when TI built it. Wyman Gordon has also been in the area for decades but, there wasn't a whole lot else along 290 and old Hempstead road.

Now, well - look at that article and notice the comments about that area. Note the section of the map in the northwest - it's packed with houses and businesses and schools etc...

Another simple thing to do, and developers could do this without being pushed, is to NOT use solid concrete or asphalt roads everywhere. While they are durable, they are also "non-permeable", meaning that water cannot get through into the ground below. How about a modern version of old fashioned cobblestone? Make it from strong concrete but, lay it out on a permeable substrate and allow water to seep through it. That would help some.

More open parks would help some but, they usually don't include switchgrass, only "attractive" plants are usually included.

 

[Lakenheath 72]

There is an article about hero worship. The guy who saved Harvey the Hurricane Hawk - who is doing well at a rehabilitation center - has been receiving criticism for having a Confederate flag in his home. Honestly, I did not see it - I was paying attention to the interaction between the humans and the creature. Personally, I do not care if he has this flag in his home. That's his business. He invited us into his home through the videos. It is rude of us to treat his gesture with disparaging remarks about him. Now, to be fair, if I saw him in public, standing with other racists and speaking words of hate, I might be more disinclined against him. That is the public sphere. You have a right to be judged by others in that realm.

https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/harvey-the-hawk-confederate-flag/

 

[StarCruiser]

People are going to have to get this weird idea through their heads:

NOT everyone who has a "Southern Cross" flag is a racist! There ARE folks out there that just identify as Rebels, or just see it as part of their family heritage.

I, personally, don't think of it that way but, I can see the point of view of those who grew up in the south and listened to all of the old "South will rise again" gibberish.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

People are going to have to get this weird idea through their heads:

NOT everyone who has a "Southern Cross" flag is a racist! There ARE folks out there that just identify as Rebels, or just see it as part of their family heritage.

Upholding the Confederacy is a major part of my "family heritage" and I gotta say, I wouldn't dream of "celebrating" it. It's more embarrassing than anything else, like finding out one of your ancestors was a Nazi.

Can't say I'm inclined to give people like that any benefit of the doubt.

 

[Snaploud]

Note to anyone prominently displaying the Confederate flag: you're celebrating an insurrectionist movement whose primary purpose was the perpetuation of slavery. You may or may not be a racist, but you definitely qualify as a jerk.

 

[publiusr]

My state got walloped by severe weather spawned by Harvey--
https://stormtrack.org/community/threads/2017-08-31-reports-ms-al-tn.29882/

Rope tornado touchdown in Texas

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[BillJ]

OT everyone who has a "Southern Cross" flag is a racist! There ARE folks out there that just identify as Rebels, or just see it as part of their family heritage.

Rebels need to find a new banner. I would be embarrassed if my "family heritage" was being traitors to the United States.

 

[Mattadd]

Rebels need to find a new banner. I would be embarrassed if my "family heritage" was being traitors to the United States.

The US was a traitor to the UK and Americans don't seem to have any problem with that. A little hypocritical to be embarrassed of different treasonous movement just because it failed.