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ounce wrote:I got a mile in, this morning.  Well, it was a mile.  .

When I first read this I wondered if it was a mile swimming or running.

Disasters often bring out the best in people...I love those stories.  Occasionally they bring out the worst in people but I guess that's life.

Marty and I have been talking about donating but you hear so much about organizations that pocket more money than they spend actually doing good that we're a bit hesitant.  Any suggestions?

Stay safe...

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:I got a mile in, this morning.  Well, it was a mile.  .

When I first read this I wondered if it was a mile swimming or running.

Disasters often bring out the best in people...I love those stories.  Occasionally they bring out the worst in people but I guess that's life.

Marty and I have been talking about donating but you hear so much about organizations that pocket more money than they spend actually doing good that we're a bit hesitant.  Any suggestions?

Stay safe...

Howdy.  That's very kind of y'all to consider donating.

As much as Houston is getting most of the attention regarding pushes for donations, I'd like to suggest a couple of places that would help the areas not in Houston, like Rockport, Port Aransas, and Corpus Christi where Harvey went ashore and Beaumont & Port Arthur, which was hit hard after leaving Houston.

The three I would consider donating to is:
1. The Texas Diaper Bank in San Antonio - http://www.texasdiaperbank.org/our-programs/disaster-relief/
I'd never heard of them before Harvey, but trusted media outlets have put their name out.  They will use the money to help along the Texas coast, which includes both the Corpus Christi area, Beaumont area, and the Houston area.
2.  This I got from the Astros' minor league team's website (Corpus Christi Hooks)
To submit an online contribution to our #CoastalBendStrong initiative, go to YouCaring.com/CoastalBendStrong  All proceeds go directly to affected Coastal Bend areas.
3.  Southeast Texas Food Bank - http://setxfoodbank.org/ in Beaumont.

I looked at their 2015 financial statement's Schedule of Activities.  Program Services cost was $9.7M and all Contributions was $10.4M, meaning 93% of contributions went to programs, which is pretty durn high.  This food bank services the 9 county region around Beaumont.



Locally, our first Fall front is coming through next Thursday with Friday morning low of 58 degrees!  This front is also assisting in pushing a Low pressure system off the Mexico Gulf coast towards Florida, plus blocking Hurricane Irma from entering the Gulf in 10 days.
Typically, our first Fall front signifies the end of Houston's hurricane season.  This year, it's 2 weeks early and that's fine with me.  Y'all have a good weekend.

So, the sun has continued to be shining and there's not a chance of rain before Monday.  I will tell you that going through a long event like this (it started 1 week ago, tonight), you lose all track of which day it is.  The TV stations are in continuous coverage mode (KHOU did 138 straight hours of coverage starting last Saturday at 8:45 p.m. and the others did similar), no national prime time shows, no syndicated shows, etc. 

Your internal clock doesn't get a chance to calibrate itself against familiar things previously mentioned.  Thursday night was the first night that 2 of the 4 network affiliated stations showed the prime time lineup.  The ABC affiliate was to show the Texans-Cowboys game, but the game was cancelled.  Even the on-air anchors were suffering from lack of calibration.  We had TV reporters coming in to Houston to help the stations cover what was going on.  San Francisco, Detroit, NYC, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, and other Texas stations.

I think the Houston mayor has done a good job, especially with the national media by squashing why Houston didn't evacuate.

There are estimates that 1 million cars will need to be replaced in the Harvey zone.  They estimate 100,000 homes were flooded, but I think it's more like 500,000.

The two reservoirs crested a day or two ago, earlier than expected, because it hadn't rained in a couple of days.  They are in good shape, but the flooding along Buffalo Bayou into the homes will probably not drain out of the homes for probably 2 months.  The other bayous and creeks have crested and are going down.  Flooded homes will begin to drain.  FEMA is here in spades.  I'm sure there are hiccups, but they were here last Saturday helping rescuing with the boats.

Here's our rain total for the year, below.  Mike, the National Weather Service made the graph.

The 72 inches in 1900 was partially due to the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the highest loss of life from a natural event, killing at least 6,000 people.

ounce wrote:So, the sun has continued to be shining and there's not a chance of rain before Monday.  I will tell you that going through a long event like this (it started 1 week ago, tonight), you lose all track of which day it is.  The TV stations are in continuous coverage mode (KHOU did 138 straight hours of coverage starting last Saturday at 8:45 p.m. and the others did similar), no national prime time shows, no syndicated shows, etc. 

Your internal clock doesn't get a chance to calibrate itself against familiar things previously mentioned.  Thursday night was the first night that 2 of the 4 network affiliated stations showed the prime time lineup.  The ABC affiliate was to show the Texans-Cowboys game, but the game was cancelled.  Even the on-air anchors were suffering from lack of calibration.  We had TV reporters coming in to Houston to help the stations cover what was going on.  San Francisco, Detroit, NYC, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, and other Texas stations.

I think the Houston mayor has done a good job, especially with the national media by squashing why Houston didn't evacuate.

There are estimates that 1 million cars will need to be replaced in the Harvey zone.  They estimate 100,000 homes were flooded, but I think it's more like 500,000.

The two reservoirs crested a day or two ago, earlier than expected, because it hadn't rained in a couple of days.  They are in good shape, but the flooding along Buffalo Bayou into the homes will probably not drain out of the homes for probably 2 months.  The other bayous and creeks have crested and are going down.  Flooded homes will begin to drain.  FEMA is here in spades.  I'm sure there are hiccups, but they were here last Saturday helping rescuing with the boats.

Here's our rain total for the year, below.  Mike, the National Weather Service made the graph.

The 72 inches in 1900 was partially due to the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the highest loss of life from a natural event, killing at least 6,000 people.

Good gravy. Yes, I think you're safe to beat this record for the year. I wonder what the casualty count would have been if Harvey had struck back then. 

The scale of destruction/damage is mind-boggling. Clearly, everybody has been affected by the flooding, but what percentage of the region would you say is or was actually underwater? 

It'll be a bad time to buy a used car out of Texas once those flood vehicles start hitting the market. (At least it's fresh water, though.)

Houston had only 44K in 1900 and Galveston had 37K.  Buffalo Bayou has always existed.  Both Addicks and Barker reservoirs were constructed after a flood from Dec 6-9, 1935 ravaged downtown.  From wxresearch.com:
20.6" in 35 hours over Westfield, TX. Houston reported 5.52" of rain. Satsuma in northwest Harris County had 16.49" of rain. Bayous were 52 feet above normal. The city's pumping station was unable to supply water for a few days and the city had no protection against fire. Buffalo Bayou at Houston 54.4 feet with 40,000 cfs. Buffalo Bayou at Addicks 85.6'. 2/3 of rural Harris County was flooded. Halls Bayou was over its banks. Spring and Cypress Creeks were out of their banks. (1)(4)(3)(6)


I haven't seen any numbers on how much of the county(ies) were flooded.  Buying a used car (even a new car) will have to be a cautious exercise.

So the below map is from the Harris County Flood Control District on August 30 showing in a bluish color where the flooding along Buffalo Bayou is in subdivisions.  This is the middle map of 3 maps.  West is at the top, North to the right, East at the bottom and South to the left.  I-10 is just out of view on the right.

Since Allison in 2001, there has been tons of work done to the different bayous in Harris County.  Not so much to Buffalo Bayou in the area below, other than raising the height of the two reservoirs which is scheduled to be finished in 2019.



Below are the different bayous in Harris County.  All but two of the bayous empty into the Houston Ship Channel, which empties into Galveston Bay, then the Gulf..  I have not ever heard the Ship Channel being too full.  It's very wide and I think it can handle the new supersize boats that fit through the Panama Canal, now.  Most of the petro-chemical refineries in Houston are located along the Ship Channel.  Both Port Arthur and Corpus Christi have sizable petro-chemical refineries with Port Arthur being the largest in the country.  The Baytown Refinery, about 15 miles east of Houston, is the #2 refinery in the US.

Mark, Here's your answer to how much water covered part of the area. 

It is estimated that 70% or 1300 sq miles of Harris County’s 1800 sq miles was covered with 1.5 ft of water #houwx #hounews #txwx
— Jeff Lindner (@JeffLindner1) September 1, 2017

Jeff Lindner is the meteorologist for the Harris County Flood Control District.  Houston is in Harris County.  Jeff Lindner was the face of the TV updates on the bayous and is extremely knowledgeable.

Eric Berger @SpaceCityWX
Harvey essentially dropped two feet of rain over an area about the size of West Virginia. Most ever by a storm over 3- and 5-day period

Thanks for the suggestions for charities.  I haven't done anything yet...I don't think the need is going away anytime soon.

I saw a post on Facebook this morning that said "Dear Texas, Please send rain. Love Washington"  Oregon could use some to.  We have huge fires all around us and the smoke is awful.  I did work in the garden for a bit but decided it wasn't healthy to run or bike.  Wondering if the MAC Dash is going to happen on Saturday.  Several events were cancelled last week and it's worse today.

nkrichards wrote:Thanks for the suggestions for charities.  I haven't done anything yet...I don't think the need is going away anytime soon.

I saw a post on Facebook this morning that said "Dear Texas, Please send rain. Love Washington"  Oregon could use some to.  We have huge fires all around us and the smoke is awful.  I did work in the garden for a bit but decided it wasn't healthy to run or bike.  Wondering if the MAC Dash is going to happen on Saturday.  Several events were cancelled last week and it's worse today.

Well, you may want to hold off and think about contributing to something in Florida.  They'll need the money, too, next week.  I hear that on Sept 12, the 4 broadcast networks will hold a 1 hour contribution drive for Harvey victims...as Florida is getting pummeled.  Many, many, many stars.

Not sure if I would expect Irma to remain a category 5, as it is now.  I don't know why, but hurricanes tend to wind up to a high level, like a spinning top, but rest or relax, then rebuild.  Timing is critical on this rebuild.

If it lands as a category 4, it'll be the first time in US history that 2 category 4's have hit in the same year.  Records go back to 1851.

ounce wrote:

Not sure if I would expect Irma to remain a category 5, as it is now.  I don't know why, but hurricanes tend to wind up to a high level, like a spinning top, but rest or relax, then rebuild.  Timing is critical on this rebuild.

Figured out about why hurricanes rebuild.  With Category 4 and 5 storms, the eye wall (center of the hurricane) will go through Eye Wall Replacement Cycle.  Right now, Irma has a superbly defined eye.  That's the Virgin Islands getting pummeled to the west of the main bands.


As far as Harvey and the water heights, Buffalo Bayou is slowly receding at the rate of 9" per day.  It should be under flood stage at Beltway 8 by next Tuesday.  Until that happens, the below picture of Beltway 8 and Memorial Drive will stay as it is.

They started pumping out the water, yesterday afternoon.  It appears the northbound side (left side) has water remaining, but the walls on both sides are fully visible.  Repairs on a wall and a feeder road sinkhole will have to be assessed and executed prior to re-opening, which won't be too soon for drivers headed anywhere on the west side of Houston & the county.  Drive times have tripled because of Buffalo Bayou being in flood stage.  11 ways to cross Buffalo Bayou are reduced to 4.

We'll be fine.

Water levels in Buffalo Bayou are low enough that, I believe, all of the roads over the bayou are open.  At least 9 of them are, including the Beltway.  The Barker reservoir looks a ton better now than even 4 days ago.

A normal picture of the spillway before 2015 improvements behind the spillway:


A photo after harvey:


Today:

And the recovery begins...

Yeah, the recovery is ongoing.  It's amazing to see how the water outside of the banks of Buffalo Bayou pushed over 6'-8' cedar plank fences, even brick walls.  Water lines on the fences show 8' above street level a half mile away from the bayou.

Below are the Top 10 rain totals in the Houston Galveston reporting area of the NWS.  It shows the SE section of Harris County and its adjoining counties had the most rain.  The "Webster" amount is in the area of NASA's Johnson Space Center, where Mission Control is located.

Looking at the full list, 30+" was widespread over all of Harris and surrounding counties.

I keep hearing people say, "Why doesn't the County and City really make substantial improvements to remove the flooding risk?"  My response is, There's not much that can be done when you have a year's worth of rainfall in 4 days.

C. STORM TOTAL RAINFALL FROM 1200 UTC AUG 25 UNTIL 1200 UTC AUG 31
---------------------------------------------------------------------
CITY/TOWN COUNTY ID RAINFALL
LAT LON (IN)
DEG DECIMAL
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2 NNW FRIENDSWOOD BRAZORIA 105 50.04
29.54 -95.22

0.2 E DAYTON LIBERTY TX-LR-14 49.31
30.04 -94.89

2 S WEBSTER GALVESTON 110 48.20
29.50 -95.12

2 E FRIENDSWOOD HARRIS 110 47.40
29.50 -95.16

4.40 WNW PASADENA HARRIS TX-HRR-9 45.74
29.68 -95.22

2 SSE HIGHLANDS HARRIS BATT2 45.10
29.79 -95.04

4.0 SSW SOUTH HOUSTON HARRIS TX-HRR-3 44.91
29.60 -95.25

1 NW SOUTH HOUSTON HARRIS 320 44.88
29.67 -95.24

3 NNW NASSAU BAY HARRIS 250 44.70
29.58 -95.10

1 NW SOUTH HOUSTON HARRIS 320 44.40
29.67 -95.24

(Just seeing how many posts this thread will take)

On Tuesday the 19th, Houston broke it's all time yearly rainfall record, previously set in 2001.  Bush IAH airport received 0.42" of rain to break it, then we received another half inch, 2 days later.