Houston Flood

the governor who has no authority to issue official evacuations advising people to evacuate while the local politicians who are in charge of evacuations told people to stay in place is going to in retrospect look extremely fucked

they had time to do orderly evacuations too this was predicted days out

this is a highway i guess

My friend and neighbor, Raul Ramos, sent me this stunning pic: This is I-45 near downtown Houston pic.twitter.com/KSvUgMO5PG

— Manny Fernandez (@mannyNYT) August 27, 2017

Remember that during Hurricane Rita in 2005 they did a mass evacuation from Houston and it was a total clusterfuck. A lot of people remember that and would have refused to evacuate anyway, preferring (as is the natural tendency anyway) to shelter in place.

Some Houstonians are prepared for the long haul. Consider this evacuee with his bag of food.

https://i.imgur.com/hs0c6ct.jpg

Used to travel this road to get to the Ft. Bend library.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DIP4NBnVoAAp_qX.jpg

Friend some of us talked into evacuating up here would have been sheltering in his first floor apartment. Not sure of the area but it sounds like there aren't many places I'd have expected that to be safe.

Remember that during Hurricane Rita in 2005 they did a mass evacuation from Houston and it was a total clusterfuck. A lot of people remember that and would have refused to evacuate anyway, preferring (as is the natural tendency anyway) to shelter in place.

― erry red flag (f. hazel), Sunday, August 27, 2017 2:32 PM (fourteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah ppl are saying that factored into the decision, but the reason that was so fucked in the first place was they made the call only hours ahead of the storm, seems like the government took the wrong lesson

If people had attempted evacuation, they'd have the same problems running out of gasoline in the traffic jam on I-45

Honestly, if you have access to a canoe & friendly neighbors on higher land, sheltering in place can make sense. My sister probably saved mementos and thousands in property during Katrina by working through the night moving photos/clothing/electronics/books/tools to her attic. She slept out on my father's deck a few blocks away. Power was out for a month, and heat indoors was unbearable. I joined her two weeks later to help gut her house and rebuild.

Its safer than driving around through floods, as the families of 8 Houstonians can attest to from last year. You don't want to be this person (NSFL?).

god thats fucking stupid

like maybe consider a plan for evacuation that has a longer timeline than telling people to flee hours ahead of the storm

getting caught in a flood is the best option is seriously perfectly where were at as a country

extreme internalized incompetence and nihilism

https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/galvnews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/d/0a/d0a26bdc-ec0b-50ff-af7e-a06aa603b48a/59a2fe27b730c.image.jpg

15 rescued from Dickinson nursing home

How the hell did they allow the water to get that high?!

And still have them sitting there I mean

that is heartbreaking.

I have friends in The Heights/Timbergrove who report no problems -- yet.

Nursing homes were the worst situations in Katrina, as well. 32 drowned in place at St. Rita's, 22 died at Lafon. On the other hand, 24 nursing home residents burned to death evacuating from Rita. It's rough being old in a society that cherishes the nuclear family above all.

You'd think a place called The Heights would avoid flooding. I guess if it goes under, all Houston would, too.

Surreal, but a lot of boats in action:

Astounding video shows numerous boats maneuvering around stranded vehicles on flooded street in Dickinson, Texas. https://t.co/YGP3fEVW8t pic.twitter.com/LHM5SbVftF

— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) August 27, 2017

like maybe consider a plan for evacuation that has a longer timeline than telling people to flee hours ahead of the storm

The problem was there wasn't much more of a lead on this storm. It didn't become a thing until mid-week, and even then for Houston all that was expected was feeder band rain that was somewhat less than what was ultimately delivered. This storm really blew up at the last possible minutes.

The Heights actually are higher in elevation than downtown Houston, just... not by much.

As for evacuation, I don't trust my opinions on whether that should have been done or not. The Houston metro area has about six million residents... an evacuation order there is a kind of man-made disaster that will also cause a lot of death and destruction. It's not a matter of "evacuate everyone just to be safe". Officials are choosing between two different kinds of disasters, one of which is an unpredictable storm. Back on Wednesday, when an evacuation order would have been effective, Harvey just didn't look like it looks now. It wasn't even a tropical storm at that point.

NY Times photographer making sure to stay aspirational:

The scene right now in Houston's Galleria neighborhood. #Harvey pic.twitter.com/gxQLL1DP6B

— julieturkewitz (@julieturkewitz) August 27, 2017

The problem was there wasn't much more of a lead on this storm. It didn't become a thing until mid-week, and even then for Houston all that was expected was feeder band rain that was somewhat less than what was ultimately delivered. This storm really blew up at the last possible minutes.

― to fly across the city and find Aerosmith's car (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, August 27, 2017 3:54 PM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this does not at all square with a lot of predictions i was seeing

also mid week is many days ago

i mean how long do you need 24 hours 48 hours do they have a plan even

people just going along with this helpless schtick from a government that has done everything it can to make flooding more dangerous seems pretty dumb

their argument will be that nothing couldve been done and people seem pretty primed to accept that

I think the right question is what is the president going to do to keep the hurricane safe from Texas. Texas don’t play. https://t.co/uNuFmk4xaE

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) August 25, 2017

hell yes erick² texas don't need no gubmint

ive brandished my sidearm at the storm everything is taken care of

Erick E. is safe in Georgia. I think he may be misjudging the mood among east Texans.

ive brandished my sidearm at the storm everything is taken care of

― lag∞n, Sunday, August 27, 2017 3:55 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://i.imgur.com/0ZmSoFC.png

"come into my backyard..."

it's already horrifying and unbelievable and i can't believe it's going to continue raining torrentially for another 4-5 days. those photos of highways turned into rivers and lakes look like The Day After Tomorrow. so many people are going to die, even more are going to lose their homes & all material possessions, and the city will be completely devastated. i remember the clusterfuck of the Rita evacuation & it seems like a damned if you do/damned if you don't situation - it really is picking one disaster over another.

its a good thing this isnt releasing for a month and a half or so

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostorm

wow i'd never heard of that movie until now, comes out in less than 2 months & i think this storm is going to leave Houston and a lot of Texas fucked up for a long time so I wouldn't be surprised if it gets pulled like a lot of movies did in the fall/winter of 2001 (also lol looks like it's already been delayed for nearly 2 years).

really hoping the roof rescues are able to get a significant number of people out (something like 1,200 already?). fear that they're going to be too overwhelmed.

NBC news just showed people setting up tents on roofs in Dickinson with National Guard copters flying above.

Might need to evacuate some of those Houston folks to New Orleans.

i remember the clusterfuck of the Rita evacuation & it seems like a damned if you do/damned if you don't situation - it really is picking one disaster over another.

― flappy bird, Sunday, August 27, 2017 6:01 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the great sigh of limited government

maybe after this is all settled down we can have a week where we just talk about infrastructure

Bush during Rita:

[Removed Illegal Image]

My friend's aunt just got rescued by relatives who inflated a raft to get across the entrance to her house

really gonna put a damper on Astros playoff run

(sorry, gallows humor)

A couple of reservoir are getting released slowly tomorrow...Mandatory evacuations and estimed two months of water going into neighboring homes.

http://m.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Harvey-flooding-forces-release-from-Addicks-and-12035928.php?cmpid=fb-desktop

VITAL LINE OF DEFENSE: Addicks and Barker were built to protect the heart of the city by controlling the flow of water along Buffalo Bayou. Things haven't gone as planned. What's at stake is the safety of the nation's fourth-largest city. If the dams failed, half of Houston would be underwater. Under the worst scenario at Addicks, property damages could reach $22.7 billion and 6,928 people could die.

Trash pandas know the drill:

https://i.redditmedia.com/JY_h8axeL_Tndw4VJjodd59saUsX0m-Q1ddBvQOtpgE.jpg

https://i.redd.it/e1ju7ioylciz.jpg

jfc

Oh great, plague is in the fucking mix now?

(Re that link)

v Planet of the Apes

http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2017/08/galveston_lab_that_houses_dead.html

Thx

http://usa360-tv.com/breaking-news-usain-bolt-donates-150-million-dollars-to-hurricane-harvey-victims/

wow dude

fuck's sake

Not sure that's legit.

Kinda shocked he even has that much money.

it's been debunked already

Ok - sorry!

It would be pretty funny if he just casually whomped JJ Watt's big fundraising push with a massive donation though.

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2017/08/obama_trump_harvey_katrina.html

― Glengarry Glen Marshall (Old Lunch), Thursday, August 31, 2017

I had to take this screenshot when I followed this link earlier today. The juxtaposition of ads against the text is - the right word escapes me

http://i.imgur.com/tntPQgU.jpg

lol iphone screengrab is hueg

Have eyes on the Galleria Zone D'Erotica rn.

So Imelda...many North & Eastside suburbs and communities are getting continuing rains that have already lapped what they got in Harvey.

Seems like a bad place for a city, in the post polar vortex world.

Got a river running outside my window rn. Rain has slowed down significantly tho.

i had to take shelter at my brother’s place on my way home. lots and lots of stranded cars and people who are leaving cars on curbs and medians to find a place to wait it out

Stuck at work. Kids are stuck at school. It is a weird feeling when children are inaccessible.

my friends are all sending pics of their sandbagged front doors... this sure happened quickly! be safe Houstonian ILXors

yeah, kids in remote locations is unnerving. i don’t have any of my own but the nephews and niece are all accounted for and in good hands.

HISD is deservedly gonna catch hell for not cancelling classes today.

So there was this front that came in from the west last night that was sort of a whole hurricane compacted into a few hours. Northside down to The Heights and Downtown seemed to get the worst. A million people lost power, now down to 600K, but those folks might not get it back for a week or more. Saw some video of fallen high tension lines and towers in Cypress where it looked like Godzilla had come through.

that same storm knocked out power to me in Austin, my friend in Houston, and another friend in Lafayette yesterday! buncha sad sacks just tryin' to watch the Astros game in the dark