Houston suffers 'devastating' flooding from Harvey as residents brace for more days of rain

By Ruthy Munoz and Gary McWilliams

 

Texas National Guard soldiers aid stranded residents in heavily flooded areas from the storms of Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas, U.S., August 27, 2017. Lt. Zachary West, 100th MPAD/Texas Military Department/Handout via REUTERS

 

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Catastrophic flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Harvey inundated Houston on Sunday, forcing residents of the fourth most populous U.S. city to flee their homes in boats or hunker down in anticipation of more days of "unprecedented" rainfall.

 

Harvey came ashore late on Friday as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years and has killed at least two people. The death toll is expected to rise as the storm triggers additional tidal surges and tornadoes, with parts of the region expected to see a year's worth of rainfall in the space of a week.

 

The storm caused chest-deep flooding on some streets in Houston as rivers and channels overflowed their banks. More than 30 inches (76 cm) of rain had fallen in parts of Houston in the past 48 hours, the National Weather Service said on Sunday, adding that more was on the way.

 

“What we’re seeing is the most devastating flood event in Houston’s recorded history. We’re seeing levels of rainfall that are unprecedented," said Steve Bowen, chief meteorologist at reinsurance firm Aon Benfield.

 

Total precipitation could reach 50 inches (127 cm) in some coastal areas of Texas by the end of the week, or the average rainfall for an entire year.

 

The centre of Harvey was still about 125 miles (200 km) from Houston and was forecast to arc slowly toward the city through Wednesday. Harvey was downgraded to a tropical storm on Saturday because its winds had slowed, but days of torrential rain are forecast. Texas Governor Greg Abbott told a news conference that new tornado warnings were expected later on Sunday.

 

President Donald Trump plans to go to Texas on Tuesday to survey damage from the storm, a White House spokeswoman said on Sunday.

 

REFINERIES, OFFSHORE PLATFORMS CLOSED

 

The storm struck at the heart of the country's oil and gas industry, forcing operators to close several refineries and evacuate and close offshore platforms.

 

The Gulf is home to about nearly half of the nation's refining capacity, and the reduced supply could affect gasoline supplies across the U.S. Southeast and other parts of the country. Shutdowns extended from Corpus Christi to the refining hub of Houston, including Exxon's Baytown refinery, the second largest U.S. refinery.

 

Gasoline futures rose as much as 7 percent in early trading on Sunday evening, and heating oil futures, a proxy for distillates like diesel fuel, were up as much as 3 percent, as supplies are expected to be curtailed.

 

The swift rise of floodwaters surprised authorities, and Houston residents with boats were asked to help with rescues. Emergency services told the city's 2.3 million inhabitants to climb onto the roofs of houses, if necessary, to escape the water. People in Houston and other areas of Texas were asked not to leave their homes, even if they flooded, as roads were impassable.

 

"The water was right at our door," said Jasmine Melendez, a 23-year-old Houston mother of three, including a week-old infant. "We were also worried about the kids, especially the baby."

 

Melendez was sheltering at the downtown George Brown Convention Centre, which was filled with hundreds of people who showed up for water, food and baby supplies. Some people were being brought to the centre in city dump trucks.

 

'BEYOND ANYTHING EXPERIENCED BEFORE'

 

The Harris County Flood Control District said Harvey's impact rivalled that of Tropical Storm Allison, which dropped more than 40 inches (102 cm) of rain in Texas in June 2001, flooded 70,000 homes and caused $9 billion in damage.

 

"The breadth and intensity of this rainfall are beyond anything experienced before. Catastrophic flooding is now underway and expected to continue for days," the National Weather Service said on Twitter.

 

Harvey slammed into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 130 miles per hour (210 kph), making it the strongest storm to hit the state since 1961. Harvey ripped off roofs, destroyed buildings, flooded coastal towns and had cut off power to about 280,000 people in Texas as of Sunday.

 

Many people were stuck in vehicles on raised highway sections with dips in the roads ahead of them flooded.

The Twitter account of the sheriff of Harris County, which includes most of Houston, was inundated with rescue requests and his team was unable to respond quickly to all of them. The Twitter account for Harris County 911 said people should not call if their lives were not threatened.

 

Two deaths had been confirmed so far - one in Rockport, 30 miles (48 km) north of Corpus Christi, and in west Houston on Saturday.

 

Houston's George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby airports cancelled all commercial flights on Sunday. The Ben Taub Hospital in Houston's Medical Centre was being evacuated on Sunday. An American Red Cross emergency shelter was forced to shut due to flooding and the group opened two more.

 

Houston's schools were scheduled to close for the week, the school district said on Twitter. ConocoPhillips <COP.N> will close on Monday and Tuesday, the company said.

 

The size and strength of Harvey dredged up memories of Katrina, the 2005 hurricane that killed 1,800 people in a disaster made worse by a slow government emergency response.

 

Trump, facing the first big U.S. natural disaster since he took office in January, signed a disaster proclamation on Friday, triggering federal relief efforts. Abbott said 50 counties had been declared state disaster areas.

 

Abbott said 1,800 members of the military would help with the statewide cleanup. A further 1,000 people were conducting search-and-rescue operations, and several other states were sending emergency personnel.

 

Jose Rengel, a 47-year-old construction worker who lives in Galveston, was helping with rescue efforts in Dickinson, Texas, southeast of Houston, where he saw water cresting the tops of cars.

 

“I am blessed that not much has happened to me, but these people lost everything. And it keeps raining," he said.

 

(Additional reporting by Brian Thevenot in Corpus Christi, Texas, Sophia Kunthara, Dion Rabouin and Chris Michaud in New York, Timothy Gardner, Lisa Lambert, Jeff Mason and Mike Stone in Washington and Erwin Seba, Marianna Parraga, Nick Oxford and Ernest Scheyder in Houston; Writing by Simon Webb and David Gaffen; Editing by Andrew Hay and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-28

it's really terrible for the folks involved.  it happens and no matter what you do after it has already begun... no one and nothing can stop it. it was 2011 here, right?
 

but this better not be related to the "science theory" about Co2 and infrared radiation that is so basic we knew about it 200 years ago.  

or that July 2017 was the hottest July ever recorded in 137 years.

if it is, it all ends. 

now enjoy your next airplane flight. but how? you'd have to be a total sociopath..... or total idiot.... to do that.
 

I think we can dispense with the discussion of Climate Change for the time being.   This is an on-going disaster situation and for the time being, let's limit the scope of the discussion to that.  

 

 

They should have named it Hillary in stead of Harvey.

17 minutes ago, BuaBS said:

They should have named it Hillary in stead of Harvey.

Go back to Mordor.

there's a reason why you can still drive a car right into lower Manhattan....  BECAUSE almost everyone uses the subway.... 

and that when you take a cruise around the island... or out to the Liberty Statue... it looks as if NYC was floating just above the salt water line....

because it is.  if this is Houston and anything at all makes it through the narrows..........

"no one could have predicated it" ... no, only 10,000 times and lots of examples that we MIGHT be risking something that will make you crawl back into bed every morning until you ain't pulling the sheets over your own head. 

 

Edited August 28, 20178 yr by maewang99

I have experience working in Texas, the Gulf Hurricanes are bad in unlike Pacific Typhoons they don't just pass through. This one hit with CAT 4 winds went inland hit high pressure,  moved very slowly or stalled. Houston is very flood prone and under torrential continuing rain from the outer bands. Texas Hurricanes can then go back out on the Gulf gather more strength and loop back in to hit again like Allison in 2001.

I just can't believe this didn't work.

 

Evangelicals Try To Pray Hurricane Harvey Away

 

Quote

Despite the sincere (and insincere) prayers and pleas, Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas, on Friday evening.

 

3 hours ago, BuaBS said:

They should have named it Hillary in stead of Harvey.

Or Higgins (apologies to our American cousins).

I see that the POTUS is paying a visit tomorrow. Credit where credit is due.

15 minutes ago, champers said:

Or Higgins (apologies to our American cousins).

I see that the POTUS is paying a visit tomorrow. Credit where credit is due.

Yes, after spending the weekend at the Maryland retreat. The General who Bush brought in to deal with Katrina stated today that the army should be on the scene. Fort Hood has 50,000 sitting on their asses while Trump takes the weekend off. That is inexcusable. All the resources available should be on hand to deal with this. 

4 minutes ago, pegman said:

Yes, after spending the weekend at the Maryland retreat. The General who Bush brought in to deal with Katrina stated today that the army should be on the scene. Fort Hood has 50,000 sitting on their asses while Trump takes the weekend off. That is inexcusable. All the resources available should be on hand to deal with this. 

Saw a report today stating 3000 troops were en route. 

Luckily Trump's wall isn't there yet , because they're gonna need a lot of Mexicans to clean it up and rebuild it.

Why don't they just put some boats in the river to push the water out?

True to form, if there is going to be any disparaging of Trump, it's going to be done by the man himself.  So far, we have a tweet that says "wow"!  Trump is impressed by the YUUUGE storm, but there are few words about the devastation and human suffering it has caused.

 

 

 

9 hours ago, pegman said:

Yes, after spending the weekend at the Maryland retreat. The General who Bush brought in to deal with Katrina stated today that the army should be on the scene. Fort Hood has 50,000 sitting on their asses while Trump takes the weekend off. That is inexcusable. All the resources available should be on hand to deal with this. 

Obviously you have not been staying up with the situation.  First off while I respect the retired General, as far as I know he is not in the know of exactly what is going on. For the most part local, state and federal assets have been in place and declarations made for federal assistance prior to the storm.  There is not a lot of action anyone can take during the height of the storm and until it is known where the worst of the problems have occurred.  Texas governor gave a briefing yesterday and they talked about the assets in place and what was occurring, i.e Coast Guard helicopters and boats, National and State guard called up or on standby. As someone who spent time in disaster operations centers after the Northridge Earthquake as a Disaster Preparedness Officer in the Air Force Reserve, it is well known that it is best to keep assets in safe places so they can respond. One does not put them just anywhere in  the middle of a flood zone. The idea is they must be in areas where they can be mobilized.  In far too many cases it is the people that just don't listen that cause their own problems like getting stuck in their cars when they are told to stay home. From my perspective and what has been reported on the news, loss of life has been minimal and for the most part it will be a very big clean up operation with lots of homes and businesses having been damaged.  They are just trying to get people to stay put knowing the greatest danger to people is when they are in their cars.  

"White House photos released over the weekend show President Donald Trump sitting quietly alone at Camp David as Vice President Mike Pence and other cabinet members gathered in the Situation Room to deal with the devastation of Hurricane Harvey"

 

https://twitter.com/christinawilkie/status/901918218239049728/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2F2017%2F08%2Fwhite-house-photos-show-trump-sitting-alone-at-camp-david-while-pence-runs-hurricane-situation-room%2F

A number of posts have been removed and some posters put on suspension.   This is not a political thread.   This is a disaster thread and please stay on the topic.   Gratuitous posts making political jabs will earn suspensions.  

 

I am sure once the immediate crisis is over there will be a close inspection of everything that went right and things that went wrong.  

 

 

Houston, Before and After Harvey

Video Houston before & after Harvey

Edited August 28, 20178 yr by JLCrab

Lots of flat land in the Houston area, and with the storm going out to sea and back again there will be even more flooding In the whole area. I drove through Texas from the East to Houston and down to Brownsville, the whole area is mostly flat. Good luck to the people who are flooded out as they will be in shelters for a long time. It will take weeks for the water to slowly drain to the sea. Boats in a river will not help speed the draining at all, just look at

a satellite picture to see the vast area of flooding.

Geezer

You r correct. Houston mayor told people to stay put. While the governor was urging people to run for safety. So many died who listened to the mayor.

 

Edited August 30, 20178 yr by dkmit1941

On August 28, 2017 at 10:35 AM, Opl said:

"White House photos released over the weekend show President Donald Trump sitting quietly alone at Camp David as Vice President Mike Pence and other cabinet members gathered in the Situation Room to deal with the devastation of Hurricane Harvey"

 

https://twitter.com/christinawilkie/status/901918218239049728/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2F2017%2F08%2Fwhite-house-photos-show-trump-sitting-alone-at-camp-david-while-pence-runs-hurricane-situation-room%2F

Good to see these people take their responsibilities seriously. Pence looks like he belongs in that chair. As bad as it is in Texas right now it is worse in South Asia with hundreds dead and at least 16m displaced. Same with west africa with hundreds drowned.

Edited August 30, 20178 yr by pegman
Delete portions

"Ann Coulter says storm Harvey is more likely God’s punishment for Houston’s lesbian mayor than a result of climate change"

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ann-coulter-harvey-climate-change-god-punishment-more-credible-tweet-a7919301.html

 

Yes, we can understand the fear of this pious person that Hurricane Harvey could be interpreted as a direct punishment for Trump's positions on global warming....  that would be pure superstition

Edited August 30, 20178 yr by Opl

On 8/28/2017 at 10:35 PM, Opl said:

"White House photos released over the weekend show President Donald Trump sitting quietly alone at Camp David as Vice President Mike Pence and other cabinet members gathered in the Situation Room to deal with the devastation of Hurricane Harvey"

 

https://twitter.com/christinawilkie/status/901918218239049728/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2F2017%2F08%2Fwhite-house-photos-show-trump-sitting-alone-at-camp-david-while-pence-runs-hurricane-situation-room%2F

That is a fake picture. Blue Vs. brown chairs.

6 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

That is a fake picture. Blue Vs. brown chairs.

Different locations, dude. 

Just now, Jingthing said:

Different locations, dude. 

Different time?

1 minute ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Different time?

I don't know but you seemed to think the pictures were suggesting they were in the same location when the description claimed they were not. 

 

7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I don't know but you seemed to think the pictures were suggesting they were in the same location when the description claimed they were not. 

 

Trump decided he was in need of some vacation time to relax from his vacation in New Jersey so he headed to the Camp David, Maryland retreat. His  cabinet, lead by Pence stayed on the job and were meeting about the Texas disaster responce in the White House Situation Room.