NEW DIARY HERE.
As everyone may know, it looks like Harvey is headed East toward Louisiana...though much weakened from what it has been. Houston and the SE coast of the state can only see this as a positive — original models were that it would ricochet straight north, directly over the flooded city. Current forecasts are for ‘only’ 10-15 inches more rain, which would still result in more than 50 inches in some areas (monsoon in Mumbai produces 80 inches in 4 months), and more water than that part of Texas usually sees in a year. In other words, this hasn’t become a 100-year flood, or a 500-year flood (both of which Houston has seen in the last 5 years), but a 1,000-year flood event.
The Houston PD, Fire Department, TX National Guard, Coast Guard, neighbors with boats and the Cajun Navy have been fantastic — HPD has rescued well over 3,000, the Fire Department rescued 3,000, the Coast Guard 4,000...and there is no record for how many people found ways to help each other. The owner of Gallery Furniture said ‘I have mattresses...and blankets...and a restaurant’ and turned two of his showrooms into shelters. The George R. Brown Convention Center has expanded to 9,000 — and is at capacity. If you need shelter, search for one that has space still. Dallas has one open, and is working on a mega-shelter. Austin has shelters. Communities look after each other.
If you are in the affected area…
STAY SAFE! Also, please use the second comment in the thread to hang check-in notices, so we know you’re doing well. For everyone else who wants to add information, please DO NOT REPLY to the second comment, but hold it until the third. That way, it’s easier for us to know people are safe.
Evacuation Notices
The flooding hasn’t stopped. Many areas are underwater, and more than that the rivers still haven’t crested. Levees in Brazoria County, south of Houston, have been breeched. The Addicks Reservoir is over its flood level, and water is now pouring down the spillway. Lake Conroe has been releasing water. Barker’s Reservoir has been releasing, and may hit the point of uncontrolled release as well. Most of the levee system is made up of earthen dams — which are wonderful until the waterlogged soil has too much pressure for too long, and then they breech. Here is a list of evacuation orders throughout Greater Houston.
Two or three hospitals, including Ben Taub, evacuated all patients. If you get an evac notice, FOLLOW IT.
Why didn’t they come out earlier? On Friday, the prediction was for 20-30 inches: something the city could ride out fairly easily. The last time they evacuated Houston (phased evacuation) was Rita in 2005 — and 100 people died on the evac route. Houston has a million more people now than it did then, no more roads, and everything headed West was already clogged with evacuees from the coast. THERE WAS NO WAY TO EVACUATE 7 MILLION PEOPLE. The airports were closed. There are no trains. And by Fri night and Sat morning, the freeways were all under water and the forecast changed from 20-30 inches, to 40-50 inches.
The End...is NOT in sight
Houston is only 50 or so feet above sea level, and effectively flat. The highest point (the Heights) is 53 feet above sea level, to give you an idea. The ground was already saturated before Harvey — some of these areas, especially near the Addick’s and Barker Reservoirs, may retain water for weeks...or longer. Infrastructure is destroyed, with sinkholes, lost guardrails and more throughout the area. All of this is also true for Corpus Christi and the rest of the flooded regions. This means mosquitos, with all their diseases, including lyme, west nile and zika. This means rafts of fire ants. This means gators, and feral animals, and mold. This also means shelters, and the sort of disease epidemics that run through dense populations.
In addition, Texas changed the law in effect 1 September, that makes the claim process much more friendly to the insurer — because we all know insurers are put-upon and powerless when dealing with scary, ordinary people. They can delay claim payouts AND even if people win against them in court, don’t have to pay legal fees.
Helpful Links
Useful things culled from earlier diaries
List of useful Twitter accounts with accurate and timely information
Info for people needing to get into a shelter in Dallas
Lake Forest Utility District tells residents to boil water before using
Brazoria County asks that cellphone use be for emergencies only, because eergency calls are being dropped. Others, use text-only (SMS) messages
IMPORTANT info for Texans who’ll need to file insurance claims
Related: FREE LEGAL ADVICE from Texas Bar Association — toll-free hotline (800) 504-7030 is answered in English, Spanish, Vietnamese.
Collected local relief orgs that’ll welcome donations at this link.
Diary w/ link to ActBlue page for a group of TX relief orgs to facilitate donating to more than one at a time.
Help Google not be evil — they’ll match the first $1M given to the Red Cross through that link.
Plus, these recommended by Kossacks:
ShelterBox — TexMex’s latest diary
UMCOR — Methodist relief org uses 100% of donations to help victims (church covers overhead). One way to help: assemble and ship relief supply kits
TWRC Wildlife Center — the wildlife rescue that took in TaxiHawk
Austin Pets Alive! — No-kill shelter now evacuating Houston animals
Operation BBQ Relief — Volunteers provide hot meals (of BBQ!) both to storm victims and to first responders. Here’s their Facebook.
CathyM is donating all sales at her Etsy site through 9/6 to Houston Food Bank
What now?
This storm isn’t over — it’s headed for the LA coast, still along the shore, still full of moisture. Rain from Harvey is stretching all the way to Florida! In addition, ANOTHER potential tropical storm is forming on the Atlantic coast, and may swing up from Florida...through the rest of the coastline. For the areas hit by Harvey when it was a hurricane, some cities are almost gone. For the rest that have been devastated — and will continue to be devastated — by Tropical Storm Harvey, we don’t know how bad it’s going to be. The entire region will be years recovering — and that ‘region’ may be the entire Gulf coastline. We’ve heard of flooding along the LA coastline, and some of New Orleans’ pumps are currently not operational. This isn’t over yet.