We're good here, my road is clear although I cant get anywhere because not many other roads are! My neighborhood organized a collection of clothes for shelters so dh delivered 8 garbage sacks of clothes (waiting for a hurricane is great closet clearance time) a few blocks away.
Some facts about Houston (thanks to Facebook) for anyone who wants more information:
- The streets and many of the public parks here are designed to flood. We sit just 35 feet above sea level, and most of the city is as flat as a pool table. We average about 50 inches of rain a year. The streets and parks serve as temporary retention ponds, accommodating slow, steady drainage through our bayous.
- We average about 50 inches of rain a year, but in the last 48 hours, many areas of greater Houston received 25 to 30 inches of rain. That's six to nine month's worth of rain, in two days. The drainage system, which works well in normal conditions, was overwhelmed. Officials are calling this an "800 year flood": that means there was a one in 800 chance of its occurrence. Even with advance notice, there was little means of preparing for this.
- It is impossible to evacuate a city the size of Houston. Harris County is 1700+ square miles, with a population of 6.5 million people. How do you evacuate 6.5 million people? During the hours leading to Hurricane Rita's landfall, tens of thousands of Houstonians attempted evacuation. The traffic jams lasted for days. One hundred people died. So far, six Houstonians have died in Hurricane Harvey, all of them (as far as I have heard) drowned in their automobiles. For more than a decade, the local mantra has been "shelter in place and hunker down." That's hard, but it's the right approach.
- Some outsiders are treating this disaster with schadenfreude: Texans helped elect an anti-big government president, and now we're going to need big government help. Houston is the bluest spot in Texas, and voted Clinton in 2016. Suggesting this is karmic payback for backing Trump is as inaccurate (and offensive) as Pat Robertson's suggestion that Hurricane Katrina was God smiting sinners. We really aren't thinking Red or Blue right now. We are taking a royal beating, all of us. Disasters don't care about ideology.
- You are going to feel this. Gas prices are going to skyrocket. Oil refined products, everything from PVC pipe to dry cleaning fluid, will rise in price. The stock market will take a hit. New Orleans is a fantastic city, but it's not a major economic force. Houston is the center of the nation's energy industry. It's home to dozens of Fortune 500 companies. And 85% of it is under water. It may be this way for weeks. The aftermath of Katrina captured the world's attention. The aftermath of Harvey is going to grab you by the lapels, and shake you 'til you're cross eyed.
The next issues? Dams are old and their structural integrity is due an upgrade about now. Water is being released slowly into the bayous that have thankfully dropped a bit. However, it's difficult to do it fast enough because its still raining. It's a delicate balancing act. Many of my friends who live near the reservoirs are under voluntary evacuation orders so have managed to get out and stay with friends a little further away. Many more are sheltering upstairs at home.
We aren't really due a huge amount more rain, about 5" a day til Wednesday, but there's nowhere for that to go and we have enough issues with reservoir water. The water on the ground is full of feces, rotting matter (floating up from storm drains), fire ants, potentially snakes and gators too. This is not a swimming pool in my yard.... it will start to smell and harbor disease.
The Mayor of Houston also spoke today about keeping calm. Houstonians love their guns and I'm aware already of one incident where being cooped up got too much and someone resorted to a firearm to settle an argument. It may not be right but the attitude that has been held here for generations means that in some cases, guns are used when they shouldn't be. This could also be an issue.
Expat, I'm sorry to hear about your friends and family, so difficult with sketchy information so far away. I'm close to Meyerland and they get hit without exception in annual spring floods but I hope your parents are comfortable and fingers crossed, their car and house are not damaged.
I'm slightly sceptical about people on here making comparisons between 2 foreign cities half a world away. Houston is a very resilient city, communities are pitching in as much as they can already, donations are being made, we have very strong city leadership and the right decisions are being made.