we are dry in my part of the neighborhood, but the neighborhood just to our south-southwest a block is under water, the older houses look to have 6"-1 foot in them, the newer ones are built up higher and look to just have water under the house, but garages are likely flooded.
Klein School District now closed all week. Not returning until Tuesday after holiday.
In reply to John Welsh : Especially with % rain chances being 100,100,100, 80,70,60,60 now thru next Saturday.
I'm watching the news from Houston. I live in Saskatchewan, and I knew there was going to be a biblical flood. Why did the people I am seeing on tv not know this?
As an regular lurker on GRM, I hope everyone in Texas is weathering the storm well and their homes and cars are staying above the water line.
Streetwiseguy wrote: I'm watching the news from Houston. I live in Saskatchewan, and I knew there was going to be a biblical flood. Why did the people I am seeing on tv not know this?
After viewing a bunch of pictures I wondered the same thing. They had plenty of notice that it was going to be bad.
In reply to Streetwiseguy:
Because most people have no concept of what a flood like this can be like.
bmw88rider wrote: There is a town SE of Austin call Bastrop. A few weeks ago they had a really bad fire and it took out a bunch of land. Now they are forecasting the Colorado River to be 3-5 Ft over it's banks by Monday. That place is a natural disaster magnet.
Bastrop is where I stay when I go to the races at COTA. The river banks are very high through most of the town, but I'm betting somewhere, that I haven't seen, it's low enough to allow some flooding.
It's up a bit where the floods there usually happen. Can't see it too clear from 71.
Well, My BIL's rental condo is probably going to be a complete loss. There was a rescue call one street over that was a rooftop rescue due to the house being flooded. There is water up to the door on the home they live in. It's not looking good for them. I hope they have the right level of insurance. Not the time to ask them now.
They are safe here and I'm praying for the best for their regular home.
The photos and videos are just harrowing. We faced a hurricane head-on last fall and it's not fun at all. We bugged out to the other side of the state and fortunately returned to a standing home. The yard was a mess, but that was easily fixed. Some roofs still have tarps on them.
People say it's easy to leave, but for various reasons our neighbors didn't--and it wasn't an issue of money. Afterward, one admitted that staying was just dumb. He was like, I have children and grandchildren--what am I doing here in the middle of a hurricane?
I just sent a few more bucks to the Red Cross. I figure that's the best that I can do to help right now. Maybe one or two of you will join me.
Thanks.
And if you're looking to help another hurricane rescue effort, our friend Brock Yates Jr. is a fan of Team Rubicon.
In Houston it's kind of weird because we haven't been hit with the storm yet. We've now had three days of "outer bands" of rain that just happen to total up to 20+ inches of rain. For those of you who have been through hurricanes you know the relief of a storm hitting somewhere else. You get some rain, watch TV, maybe rake leaves later. Even yesterday there were huge swaths of Houston that had just gotten light rain. People went out to watch the fight last night. They went and hung out with friends.
Then this morning all hell broke loose. I don't really think you can mentally prepare yourself for what 20 inches of rain does.
And here we sit. I'm messaging a friend because they're releasing water from a dam which feeds the floodplain he's on. The dam exists to regulate these events, but if they don't start releasing water now they will have no control over the situation when the water from upstream hit the reservoir tomorrow. For me, we had a nice gap in the rain this evening and the water fell. I'm happy, but they're releasing 22k cubic feet per second from a lake north of me for the same reason. That water poses no danger to me but my yard drains into a creek that drains into a small river that drains into the river that's getting all that water. If things stop flowing, the only dry spot on my property, my living room, won't be dry any more.
Oh, and the storm itself should get her Wednesday. If it has any strength it'll blow trees over because the ground will have been saturated for 96 hours and there is no soil strength to hold them.
Having said all that, driving around in this is idiotic. They are expending a stupid amount of manpower rescuing people that put themselves in harms way.
As the mayor of Houston succinctly stated this morning you simply can't have 6.5 million people evacuate en masse..... to where Norman Okla.? I watched SH249 during IKE turn into a parking lot. Quite a few in this town don't have a pot to pi$$ in let alone exit stage left. The dynamics are thus....continued neighborhood/commercial development coupled with bayous/creeks that cannot withstand said runoff equals widespread flooding....whether it be hurricane related or a stalled series of springtime fronts.....All please stay safe and dry.....out
It stopped raining at 2:00 AM and has been draining. The yard isn't dry, but the majority of the standing water is gone. Ditches full, ground saturated, wind is picking up and the storm is headed to the gulf to pick up some steam and head back onshore. For the next few hours, I get to relax.
Toyman01 wrote: In reply to Streetwiseguy: Because most people have no concept of what a flood like this can be like.
Exactly. Plus, from some of the data cited in THIS Slate article, Houston is seeing a once-in-a-million-year occurrence. The NWS said this rainfall amount is unprecedented.
I hope everyone stays safe.
This sparked a conversation with Tunawife last night about our emergency preparedness. The woman who questions my scope and knowledge every time I do anything, and has to have a contingency plan for everything which can go wrong to the fifth iteration said "Eh, I'm not worried, if we had a few hours notice, you could build us a boat out of something, I mean we have tables and doors and stuff"
I'm not sure if I should be flattered or worried.
Inlaws were 8 miles outside of Galveston harbor yesterday waiting to see if the coast guard were going to open the port. They did not and are now on their way to Miami. Wouldn't be an issue except the F-i-L is due for his next shot on Friday of this week and they're not planning on being back to Galveston until next Saturday. So they're trying to find a flight out of Miami.
tuna55 wrote: Tunawife {...} said "Eh, I'm not worried, if we had a few hours notice, you could build us a boat out of something, I mean we have tables and doors and stuff" I'm not sure if I should be flattered or worried.
just add outboard?
I'll admit that all the discussion of "High Water Vehicles" and apparent lack of any "official designation" of such has wheels turning in my head. I tend to feel a bit "not being of much use" whenever one of these storms hit.
Mrs. Deuce just sent me to the store. Ultimately futile, of the six grocery stores within 7 miles, five were closed and the sixth looked like there was a mob at the door. We declined.
The worrying thing is the people driving around. Yes, I was just one of them. I'm part of the problem. But, the one spot with a bit of water over the road I watched a guy in a minivan blow through it at 40mph. Between when I left the neighborhood and when I got back someone put a suburban in the ditch at the scary corner store. They had two trucks hooked up with what looked like ski rope and a third truck unhooked it's John boost in the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD and was joining the other two. There appears to be too much beer fueled decision making going on. Oh, and my neighbors are cutting up a couple of medium trees that just fell over. Those guys aren't sober on a sunny work day, there is no way I want to he anywhere near them with chainsaws.
Wind starting to pick up here (western Montgomery county), keeping an eye on the canopy. 
In reply to 759NRNG:
Just walked out back. Trees are starting to fall. None in my yard. Yet. Power is going to start going.
mazdeuce wrote: In reply to 759NRNG: Just walked out back. Trees are starting to fall. None in my yard. Yet. Power is going to start going.
Hang on. Yeah, it's stressful.
When Matthew rolled through here in the fall, we debated staying. Friends in Tampa invited us over. Finally, the morning before the storm arrived I told my wife to grab her stuff: We were leaving within one hour. We grabbed the dogs, photographed our stuff, and left town. We just missed the giant traffic jam. I figured that the house could be replaced.
Our next-door neighbors stayed home and gave us updates. We lost power and water. Once the water came back, we figured it was safe to return. "Bring a chainsaw," she added. So we stopped at H-D and stocked up. Since we were on the other side of the state, it was business as usual there.
We took the non-interstate way home to avoid any traffic, finally hopping on I-4 for the last stretch across the St. Johns River. That's where this photo was taken: out-of-state power trucks heading our way. We chatted with these guys when we stopped for gas. If I remember correctly, they were from Indiana and had been staging in Orlando.
Big take-home lessons: Have plenty of food and water on hand, and when you gut says to leave, leave.
Do you folks in Texas have generators, or do you just ride it out w/o power?
Most don't have Generators. The storm hit an area of just under 7M people. There is just too many people to have them all have generators.
If the roads are clear, I'll be down there next weekend to help friends and family assess the damage. Not sure if they will be by then but we will see. I fully expect to be sleeping out of the back of the Xterra all weekend.
Hang in there guys.
We're also a community of sharing. During hurricane Rita we borrowed a generator on day four of the power outage that had already been to two houses. We used it for about 48 hours and then we passed it on. Even the SCCA autocross generator went to 3-4 houses before it was all said and done. There will be huge power loss, but there will also be huge areas where power stays. We tend to buy generators for work or play and use them for emergencies.
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