So there’s a hurricane beating on Texas that is sparking all sortsa comparisons to Katrina. Anyone remember that? I remember thinking that Katrina was going to be the paradigm by which disaster responses (and disasters themselves) were benchmarked by for the next few decades. And, so far, I’ve been right.
I expect the AAR’s from people to start showing up on the usual forums soon. I’m especially curious to see if local governments have learned anything since then regarding these huge events. To be fair, Texas actually has some pretty decent emergency management, and Louisiana isn’t exactly known for its ‘can do’ attitude.
Of course, there’ll also be the footage of people sitting on rooftops and being roped out of flooded cars as they ask why officials don’t “do something”.
Two kindsa people…the prepared and the unprepared. No surprise which camp will fare better in this thing.
Where I’m at north west of Houston, it has been nothing like Katrina. Not even close to Ike. The only thing that could get us close to Ike is if all the rain that is here and coming throughout the week has no where to go. I haven’t even lost power yet…knock on wood. Tornadoes are a concern though until the storm is gone. The coast got hit hard around the Rockport area
Prayers – positive thoughts – smoke for all affected due to effects of Harvey. Houston, similar to New Orleans, is natural low ground so when it rains hard, they are going to feel it. In cases of extreme rain . . .
Checking in from NW Houston, inside the Beltway, north of I 10. We were missed by a lot of the rain bands but still got 9.45 inches so far today. Got more than 7 in yesterday. Still have power water and sewer. I expect infrastructure to start failing tomorrow or the next day. As part of getting ready, had a normal fresh food shopping day on Tues, with a top up on Fri. Basically battened down the hatches around the yard, took down my HF antenna, secured the loose stuff.
Topped up my stored water with additional 75 gallons of tap water.
Topped up the gasoline storage with another 20 gallons.
Our neighborhood is still draining, although the streets do fill up. Keep in mind when watching coverage, streets and freeways in Houston are DESIGNED as storm water detention and channels. Flooded streets are DOING THEIR JOB. Flooded houses, not so much.
We are still in the ‘neighbors helping neighbors’ phase. We’ll see what it looks like if the stores don’t open or the people are not able to shop. We saw a LOT of last minute shopping which helps delay the empty bellies, but there is a ton of flooding out there, and more on the way.
We’ve already seen the ‘why didn’t they evacuate’ nonsense and ‘why doesn’t someone help me’ from the usual suspects. Our elected leaders are being surprisingly blunt and practical. Our citizens, esp the normal suspects, not so much.
Houston and Harris County have well practiced and competent EMgmt personnel. If they can do their jobs, it will go as well as it can. This is our ‘normal’ disaster, albeit on steroids.
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NB- during the press conference the Mayor of Houston basically admitted that you can’t evac Houston and Harris (6.2 million peeps). think about the implications with the 4th busiest port and the potential for a dirty bomb in a ship or container…….
Uh, this rain shower isn’t even half the size of Texas!!! I worked Ike and several other hurricanes. I can tell you we get worse weather in North Texas than what a hurricane could ever throw at us. Hail so large that it can punch a hole in your roof, go through your ceiling, and still have enough velocity to kill or serious injury you.
seriously not serious
There always has to be one.
No, there is a whole bunch of us!!! Texans take care of Texans. We don’t hang out at some stadium waiting for a handout. We get it done!!!!