Up to 18 inches of rain forecast for Houston

[CMStPnP]

Well, that should knock out some Oil Refining capacity for a little while and boost Oil Prices.     Wonder if it will cause congestion on the rails.

[tree68]

Maybe Houston Ed will chime in once he gets his water wings out of the closet...

[Paul of Covington]

   Just about everyone here is watching Harvey.   We expect to get a lot of rain, but as Harvey is expected to hang out around Corpus Christi for 2 or 3 days, the last I heard Houston, being on the "bad" side of the storm may get over 20 inches of rain.  Ed Blysard, I don't think we've heard from you in a while.  Hope you're ready, and stay safe.

[edblysard]

Alison was a surprise, but the refineries did just fine, they have emergency plans in place for this kind of thing…the issue was not the fear of flooding, but the lack of people being able to get in to work.

Back in 2001, the member lines into Houston decided to tie everything down before the surge hit, expect the same tomorrow or Saturday.

We will again be on the back or dirty side of the storm, so water and wind are the issues.

Most of the bayous have been widened and deepened since Alison, but I expect them to again come out of their banks if the storm stalls like predicted.

 

No real reason to get all worked up until the storm gets here, and we see what it decides to do…hatches battened down and sails all furled!

[edblysard]

Well,     

My wife’s office, The Office of the Attorney General, State of Texas, just called to tell us their offices state wide, and my wife’s office, a child support office, would be closed tomorrow…and Houston Independent School District, which was to start classes Monday, has canceled school for Monday, due to weather concerns.

So, the largest school district in Texas has decided to take this seriously, and the States Attorney General has also decided to take caution…not quite to the “hold my beer” stage yet!

 

 

[mudchicken]

.....The ACME Jack-EM-Up (TM, reg pat off)house and foundation raisers are at the ready for when the street turns into a canal?

[Firelock76]

Ed, you stay safe down there!

[lenzfamily]

Firelock76

Ed, you stay safe down there!

 

+1 

Charlie

[edblysard]

Muddy One,

I am lucky in that respect, my house is built on the overspill from a clay pit that served, of all things, an Acme Brick factory!

When this neighborhood was built, we were way out in the boonies, in a town called Aldine…the Acme Brick factory was located on the FW&D, (now BNSF) and shipped brick state wide.

My house is built from brick fired less than 300 yards away!

We were annexed into Houston proper in 1959.

As they excavated the clay pit, they bulldozed the overburden into terraces away from the factory and pit, so my whole block is several feet higher than most of the surrounding area, the grade stair steps away so the next block south is lower, then again on the next street, so forth and so on.

The most water has come up is about halfway up my front yard.

But all the low lying areas in the city like Meyerland, Sharpstown and Bellaire are at or just slightly above sea level, and of course the Barker Cypress area, the “new” part of the city, is built on a flood plain so….

Even with Addicks reservoir, the west side will get hammered, and the east side, near the ship channel, will flood first.

 

Keep in mind we are really built on a swamp…if the bayous are given the time, they drain the area pretty well, it will all depend on how much and how fast…slow and steady we can handle, it’s the hard, extended stuff that overwhelms it system.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

The National Hurricane Center is predicting 15-25 inches of rain with isolated maximums of 35 inches.  That's an awful lot of water with no place to go.  Some pretty nasty storm surges are predicted, suggesting that most of Galveston Island and the other barrier islands will be submerged.

[CMStPnP]

They are evacuating Corpus Christi.     My prediction is San Antonio will also flood as typically it has a climate that leans to the dry side and I don't think it can handle 6 inches of rain in a short period either.

[BaltACD]

CMStPnP

They are evacuating Corpus Christi.     My prediction is San Antonio will also flood as typically it has a climate that leans to the dry side and I don't think it can handle 6 inches of rain in a short period either.

A old HS friend of mine lives in Corpus Christi

[mudchicken]

Truck drivers are trying to make sure the locals don't use the Houston East Belt:

http://abc13.com/traffic/east-loop-sign-crashes-to-ground-after-truck-strike/2338786/ 

[edblysard]

That’s twice in a few years some numb skull has done that, left their dump up and driven on to the freeway!

He did this last afternoon, it’s been cleared since then but still…like we don’t have enough issues today!

http://abc13.com/politics/abbott-says-harvey-going-to-be-major-disaster/2341371/

http://abc13.com/weather/watch-live-cameras-as-hurricane-harvey-hits-texas-gulf-coast/2341718/

 

The closest camera to my house it the one at G W Bush airport….the best view of the sea shore is South Padre Island, and for a great shot at the Houston Ship Channel  see the San Jacinto Monument camera, it shows the area where the bay turns into Buffalo Bayou and the ship channel.

And the Battleship Texas!

[ChuckCobleigh]

edblysard

I am lucky in that respect, my house is built on the overspill from a clay pit that served, of all things, an Acme Brick factory!

Sorry, Ed, but all I can see is Wile E. Coyote ordering a house from them and having something go horribly wrong at the hands of that pesky bird!

[edblysard]

I know!

[Electroliner 1935]

Glad to hear your dwelling is in a good place. But what about the RR's equipment. Was it sent to a secure site? I have memories of railcars floating when the Ohio flooded.

[Randy Stahl]

edblysard

That’s twice in a few years some numb skull has done that, left their dump up and driven on to the freeway!

He did this last afternoon, it’s been cleared since then but still…like we don’t have enough issues today!

http://abc13.com/politics/abbott-says-harvey-going-to-be-major-disaster/2341371/

http://abc13.com/weather/watch-live-cameras-as-hurricane-harvey-hits-texas-gulf-coast/2341718/

 

The closest camera to my house it the one at G W Bush airport….the best view of the sea shore is South Padre Island, and for a great shot at the Houston Ship Channel  see the San Jacinto Monument camera, it shows the area where the bay turns into Buffalo Bayou and the ship channel.

And the Battleship Texas!

 

With some fast planning they could beach the Texas !!

[mudchicken]

Naw! - This  is Texas, remember? That little canoe will probably  be up some bayou that hasn't seen commercial traffic in years. (I got to see what happened to Cedar Bayou near Mont Belview / Baytown after Hurricane Charlie)

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Saw something similar - a small freighter, though - after Hurricane Camille in New Orleans in 1969.  When we went by several tugboats were trying to pull it out. 

From that experience - fortunately, 2 - 3 days afterward, not during (which is insane) - came my following 'rule of thumb': 

Whatever the maximum wind speed of the hurricane is - in miles per hour - that's how many miles you want to be away from it. 

- PDN. 

[K. P. Harrier]

Just got done watching my TiVo taped broadcast of the eastern edition of NBC Nightly News.  So much of Houston is under water!  Cars and houses wiped out everywhere!

It has been noted that little posting of late has taken place on the subject.  Are the tracks everywhere in Houston under water?  Or, was the news program just showing a few dramatic spots?

The news program said NOT 18 inches, but 50 inches of rain!  And, the super bad weather will linger for days, and re-hit Houston midweek.

Hope everybody at the forum that resides in Texas is OK … and dry.

[Norm48327]

I'm seriously concerned for "Houston Ed" and his family. Praying for their safety while still knowing the coming days will not be easy for them.

[SFbrkmn]

Spring dispatching office has been temporarly closed and functions moved to Ft.Worth until things get back to a sense of normal down there. 

[blue streak 1]

Will the UP bridge over the Brazos survive the flood this time ?

[Norm48327]

Who gives a rat's about a bridge? Human life is at stake. Bridges can be replaced.

[tree68]

Norm48327

Who gives a rat's about a bridge? Human life is at stake. Bridges can be replaced.

I think that comment was intended to be tongue-in-cheek...

[K. P. Harrier]

blue streak 1 (8-28):

blue streak 1

Will the UP bridge over the Brazos survive the flood this time ?

 

I was thinking the same thing as you, blue streak 1, and was wondering about the Sunset Route’s recently revamped Brazos River Bridge.  For those that think this forum or even this thread should be renamed “9-1-1” and that should guide the discussions, somehow I don’t think those at Kalmback would concur with them …

 

While Houston is under water, the High Desert of Southern California is dry and hot, at 110 decrees.  What a contrast is in this great nation!

 

Take care,

 

K.P.

[BaltACD]

K. P. Harrier

blue streak 1 (8-28): 

blue streak 1

Will the UP bridge over the Brazos survive the flood this time ? 

I was thinking the same thing as you, blue streak 1, and was wondering about the Sunset Route’s recently revamped Brazos River Bridge.  For those that think this forum or even this thread should be renamed “9-1-1” and that should guide the discussions, somehow I don’t think those at Kalmback would concur with them …

 

While Houston is under water, the High Desert of Southern California is dry and hot, at 110 decrees.  What a contrast is in this great nation!

 

Take care,

 

K.P.

I suspect there are still areas of Texas that are still in drought conditions.

[edblysard]

Electroliner 1935

Glad to hear your dwelling is in a good place. But what about the RR's equipment. Was it sent to a secure site? I have memories of railcars floating when the Ohio flooded.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.8377908,-95.4659633,768m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

Really, Acme brick…the big area in the center was the old clay pit, it is filled in now and a used as a  golf driving range, I live two block down on Verdome in the middle block, we are several feet higher than the rest of the hood….

[edblysard]

All rail traffic in the Harris count and surrounding areas is stopped, BNSF started holding trains in Ft Worth Saturday…the PTRA, Port Terminal Railroad Association is closed until further notice….we went past 18 Friday night, it has not stopped raining since then…IH 10, which is in essence a big ditch through much of Houston, it gone, downtown where Buffalo Bayou and White Oak bayou meet is under water, most of the buildings near any water way are flooded, our local NBC station KHOU, abandoned their studio, it flooded yesterday….something like 50 to 60 inches of water so far, and we are not though by a long shot.

All bayous are out of their banks by several feet.

If you had people down here, and can’t reach them, the Coast Guard, and the National Guard are doing search and rescue…call either one respectively and ask, the will get to you, it just takes time.

https://www.facebook.com/PinupKing/videos/10155616971982200/

 

This was earlier today..it is worse that this now.