Weather Chat Megathread

[cubinator]

37 minutes ago, DarkOwl57 said:

From what I've seen on FOX, Rockport is just gone. 

Gone, as in, doesn't exist anymore?

[DarkOwl57]

5 minutes ago, cubinator said:

Gone, as in, doesn't exist anymore?

As in like "Every house is rubble." levels of "gone"

[qzgy]

This looks like what Irene was for us. Except that our house was luckily on a bit of a hill and the water was not into houses, as far as I can remember.

In any case, Stay safe and good luck.

[cubinator]

31 minutes ago, DarkOwl57 said:

As in like "Every house is rubble." levels of "gone"

That's really not good.

[Guest]

(Deleted)

Edited January 22, 2020 by Guest
(Deleted)

[razark]

I'm at my mother-in-law's now.  She's in the same neighborhood, but higher up.  It's where we rode out Ike nine years ago.

Water was into the garage, but not the house when we left.  From what we saw/heard, we were one of only a couple houses without water.  Walked a block or so, when someone with a boat picked us (me, wife, 13yo, and 11yo) up and dropped us off here.  So glad we stocked up on water and canned food beforehand...

 

Data shows the creek has reached a record flood, the sort that shows up every 500 years.  However, it seems to be falling now.  We'll see if more rain shows up before it can go down.

[Cydonian Monk]

As for Rockport: I loved that little town, but even before the storm it was in bad shape. I was rather surprised the first timd I was down there because so much of the construction just didn't look like the type you'd see in Hurricane-land. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if the entire town was wiped clean.

Waco is wet and full of refugees from Austin. 

[0111narwhalz]

Thanks, Alaska, for sending your cold water down the West Coast! 

[razark]

Weather: Rain.  More $#&*$ rain.

[qzgy]

Today - Surprisingly cool. First time I got a bit chilly in a while.

Actually not. Apparently seasons are a thing and its the end of summer or something....

Edited August 29, 2017 by qzgy

[razark]

And now we're looking at higher water levels than on Sunday.  If it wasn't yet, my house is certainly trashed.  The only question is how deep.

[tater]

1 hour ago, razark said:

And now we're looking at higher water levels than on Sunday.  If it wasn't yet, my house is certainly trashed.  The only question is how deep.

I'm so sorry.

I think from a post above I saw that our kids are the same age, and I can't imagine having your issues right now. Ugh.

Do you have flood insurance?

 

[DarkOwl57]

We just got a letter from the school; there's a trailer leaving for the Houston area this weekend that'll have a ton of stuff. If anyone needs anything, let me know and there's a chance you'll be able to get something from me! (Note: If anyone wants a shirt, all you're getting is a Texas Tech shirt instead of A&M >:) )

[Cydonian Monk]

Did at least get a notice that we're not "required" to come in to work today..... At this point I might be able to make it, though TXDOT is still reporting that US290 is flooded at Cypress. Of course I'm not even going to attempt it. Will probably have to tomorrow, though, as this extra week in hotels is getting expensive, especially since most of it will be without pay.

Planning to go grocery shopping first here in Waco. Any of you H-town peeps need something?

[razark]

2 hours ago, tater said:

Do you have flood insurance?

Unfortunately, no.  Dumb decision, but that's the way it is.

My family is safe, though.  All my friends and extended family are safe as well.

 

Other than just wanting an actual bed to sleep in, I'm just numb.

After Ike, we were able to get to our (previous) house within a couple of days.  (It was fine.)  At this point, it's going to be days before we can get there.

[tater]

12 minutes ago, razark said:

Unfortunately, no.  Dumb decision, but that's the way it is.

My family is safe, though.  All my friends and extended family are safe as well.

 

Other than just wanting an actual bed to sleep in, I'm just numb.

After Ike, we were able to get to our (previous) house within a couple of days.  (It was fine.)  At this point, it's going to be days before we can get there.

Ugh. We know a few people in Houston, and my wife was showing FB pics of one in a raft helping out neighbors... think his 1st floor is wet at this point. I know flood insurance is expensive---as I recall we had to convince someone that we didn't need it (we're 1500 ft above the river). Should we ever need it, that will suck (maybe a mudslide?).

 

[LordFerret]

I have family in Austin and Houston. They're all fine. It's unfortunate, but we've been here many many times before... and this won't be the last.

The only thing that's really irking me is how the media is presenting it... "unprecedented". Bull. Maybe people should be reminded of how Galveston got hit in 1900 (or so many other places / events of the past); There was no news or forewarning, no NWS or satellites, no FEMA, no nothing. Over 5000 people died (closer to 10,000). Still Galveston rebuilt, and, excepting some help from the Army with temporary shelters, they did it without federal funds and insurance payouts.

[DarkOwl57]

2 hours ago, Cydonian Monk said:

Did at least get a notice that we're not "required" to come in to work today..... At this point I might be able to make it, though TXDOT is still reporting that US290 is flooded at Cypress. Of course I'm not even going to attempt it. Will probably have to tomorrow, though, as this extra week in hotels is getting expensive, especially since most of it will be without pay.

Planning to go grocery shopping first here in Waco. Any of you H-town peeps need something?

"Congratulations! You don't have to swim to work today! Expect to have a full Wednesday though. Even if your job doesn't exist, you're still working. Have fun!"

Weather out west is pretty mundane. Around 80-85º, cloudy, a bit windy (*Flagpole rips out of the ground* Ah west Texas...); in other words, perfect weather.

[tater]

12 minutes ago, LordFerret said:

I have family in Austin and Houston. They're all fine. It's unfortunate, but we've been here many many times before... and this won't be the last.

The only thing that's really irking me is how the media is presenting it... "unprecedented". Bull. Maybe people should be reminded of how Galveston got hit in 1900 (or so many other places / events of the past); There was no news or forewarning, no NWS or satellites, no FEMA, no nothing. Over 5000 people died (closer to 10,000). Still Galveston rebuilt, and, excepting some help from the Army with temporary shelters, they did it without federal funds and insurance payouts.

It's also important to realize that as cities expand, particularly into low-lying areas where they previously would not have bothered, the areas at risk increase. Dams hold drinking water for the increased population, which then require releases that worsen conditions downstream in areas that would have been creeks/rivers, but are now full of houses.

Sandy (which was certainly not a hurricane at impact, and maybe not even a tropical storm, I'd have to check) did huge damage not because of any unprecedented nature of the storm, but because it hit someplace wall to wall with people. The exact storms 100 years ago would have likely killed more people (almost all due to lack of warning), and simultaneously done less damage, since there would be less TO damage.

[DarkOwl57]

4 minutes ago, tater said:

It's also important to realize that as cities expand, particularly into low-lying areas where they previously would not have bothered, the areas at risk increase. Dams hold drinking water for the increased population, which then require releases that worsen conditions downstream in areas that would have been creeks/rivers, but are now full of houses.

Sandy (which was certainly not a hurricane at impact, and maybe not even a tropical storm, I'd have to check) did huge damage not because of any unprecedented nature of the storm, but because it hit someplace wall to wall with people. The exact storms 100 years ago would have likely killed more people (almost all due to lack of warning), and simultaneously done less damage, since there would be less TO damage.

Also, remember back to Katrina; The worst of the damage came not from Katrina herself, but the levee's breaking. I mean the fact New Orleans is below sea level isn't helpful either...

[tater]

Houston I think is getting Katrina levels of flooding at this point, right? I've seen images of water above highway overpasses with nearly 17' clearance. Of course I think Houston in particular, and TX in general are perhaps better run than NOLA  (at least according to a friend from there).

My wife's PhD advisor is now someplace in Houston that is 50' above sea level---which is apparently quite high---and the neighborhood is an island right now.

The would-be urban planner in me wonders why they would zone residential in hurricane zones that are even approaching 500, or even 1000 year flood levels, particularly someplace like TX where there is enough space to just build far enough inland to have the min altitude well above flood/surge levels. Obviously I say this from over a mile up where I have no such issues, so it's easy for me to be detached about it. Of course waterside property is more, not less valuable everywhere, even though it is at far higher risk.

 

 

[Cydonian Monk]

6 minutes ago, DarkOwl57 said:

"Congratulations! You don't have to swim to work today! Expect to have a full Wednesday though. Even if your job doesn't exist, you're still working. Have fun!"

My route from where I live to where I work is dry, and mostly runs along the ridge south/west of WhiteOak Bayou. Now if Addick's Resevoir keeps spilling out into WhiteOak and it KEEPS raining (it's STILL raining....) that's going to change. It'd be hard for our office to flood (I think the lobby is some seven or eight feet above street level, and street level is a good five feet above WhiteOak flood stage), but it's a safe bet all the streets around it might.

And our parking garage sits about an inch above the usual water table... it's most likely flooded right now. (Nobody will give us the actual rundown on the situation at the office, they just keep saying we have to come in if it's safe, but we're not required to if it's not. Well, is it safe or not? I can see which streets and streams are flooded on the web, and I know many of them around the office are impassible. There might only be one route in or out, and that goes over a WhiteOak feeder ditch.)

 

Flood-wise and rainfall-wise, where I live has fared much better than it did during the TaxDay flood last year. Certainly has received less rain per hour. At peak rainfall it was roughly half: 2.2" in an hour (Saturday Night) vs 4.12" per hour last year, based on the gages. The difference being it only rained at that rate for 4 hours in 2016 (those four hours averaged a little over 3.3"/hr, entire event total was a bit over 16"), where as this year it's been raining at about a third of an inch per hour for the last two days, and a half inch per hour the two days before that. The only reprieve was yesterday afternoon.

Guess I'll find out how bad it really is tomorrow.

[tater]

 

That's a new storm being forecast. 

[Cydonian Monk]

57 minutes ago, tater said:

That's a new storm being forecast. 

Important to keep in mind this "new" storm is still on the other side of the Atlantic. 

[tater]

6 minutes ago, Cydonian Monk said:

Important to keep in mind this "new" storm is still on the other side of the Atlantic. 

No, this one is organizing (as he says) in the Wrn (western) Gulf of Mexico, this upcoming weekend. So Harvey leaves, there's a few days of break, then another few days of pretty heavy rain (dunno what is heavy to you guys, I live someplace where 12" in a year is a lot).