Hurricane Harvey
 

Hoping all OSO Texas people are safe. It looks like a very nasty storm.

Padraig

Bolivar Beach / High Island on Thursday. Buddy was down, said he saw six total.

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AvVe5f9nr0w5gf0wigLqI0l3xTJu2w

Damn I hate a hurricane .
I really feel for the folks in Texas with Harvey. Forecasts are showing it to still be a viable system right over them as far off as 5 days from now . I can't recall ever seeing something like that before with a storm that actually makes landfall in the US . Normally they become extratropical and dissipate after making landfall .
There's going to be people who loose everything .
People who will be hard pressed to figure out if they can even afford their cleanup and salvage .
And the 'lucky ones' will still suffer loss from being without power for maybe even weeks.

They're going to need a lot of help after this one is over and my heart goes out to all of them .

I was called in to work at the hospital and to bring 3 days clothes. I may be soon blocked off from Houston by the rapidly rising Brazos River. My 35 is hoisted up as high as possible in the sling and tied at 4 corners but if the storm surge breaks 6 feet it'll float. The 42 is in the shed. The 23 is behind the house. It's raining incredible hard. Traffic on the Interstate is going about 10 mph and the cars all have flashers on.

Be safe. Hoping your boats and home are OK.

Padraig

The good news is Harvey went into a fairly low population density part of Texas only one confirmed death from a house fire. The people down there in Cotton and Rice country are very self sufficient. It could have been so much worse.

Looks like there is severe flooding in the Houston area and getting worse.

Also saw pics of one marina with severely damaged rack storage.

Padraig

That was Rockport, nothing but center console fishing boats from the look of it. Houston is sinking

All the rivers and lakes are on track to set record levels. Hard to comprehend how much damage we have already seen and it's going to get worse.

Our nearest county flood gauge shows 28.16" of rain in the last few days

The more I watch this coverage (starting 3 days before landfall) the more I feel officials were reckless in not evacuating inland flood prone areas. Some residents don't need to be told to leave but like the TX officials others were overly optimistic only the best will happen. Now they're all in a very sad situation that may have been avoided with pre-planning, unfortunately efforts are only made after the fact now a days.

I hear Houston area residents calling radio talk show's stating friends houses were just rebuilt from the "tax day" flood and 8 years before that they flooded too. All know the issues, saw forecasts of 5"-36"+ of rain, yet all officials keep whining about the difficulties of pre-storm evacuation. So......this post-storm evacuation in chest deep water is the easy way out huh?

Here I thought our civil servants learned from Katrina, sadly they did not. Think for yourselves in these situations folks as you cannot rely on those supposedly in the know to provide you with potentially life saving information.

And yes I did do something to support the recovery effort.

Keith

I"m sure part of their hesitation to call for a mandatory evacuation is that fact that the last time they called one the storm didn't hit them yet over 100 people died in the mandatory evacuation, including a group of senior citizens who burned to death in a bus.

While I agree with both of you on the argument over evacuations I can only say that I wouldn't need someone to tell me to leave if I thought for a minute that my family was at risk.

It may sound heartless, though I worked in fire and ems for years, but if your house keeps getting flooded and you keep rebuilding and you get flooded again.....

Thoughts and prayers to all those impacted by this catastrophe......

I have friends all over the Houston area. Some are ok and inland/high enough they are dry so far. Other friends I've contacted homes/cars are under water. Not good, really sucks to hear. My buddies vaca. home in Rockport is OK but they are unsure about their boats at this point. Reports of looting, as well as some firing off rounds at rescuers I'm told are 100% true. Insane that people would do such a thing

was wondering about the shooting at rescuers. A lot of Louisiana boats and people aka Cajun navy posted that had happened and either stole or attempted to steal some boats. POS's if its true!!!

I agree when its a common occurrence. In BC and WA too there is a few rivers/creeks that don't have flood control. So they flood pretty much yearly. Some years are worse over others. I.e.: the water doesn't reach peoples homes. But some years its like Texas. I see the ones that get flooded out every other year, like people who move out here and then complain about farm noise, or airports and complain about planes, etc..

A childhood friend and off/on sometimes girlfriend ended up in Houston and now lives in San Antonio. I like it there. Its tough watching any place go thru something like this or any tragedy......................

Rough times ahead
 

going thru Andrew, which was more of a wind event, it is hard not to feel sorry for those poor people loosing everything. The worse is yet to happen when the realization kicks in and you have that lost and alone feeling that hits even if you have help. Then the carpet bagger construction crews show up and the thieves pop out of the wood work. Be careful out there if you live in that devastated area. Good wishes and lots of prayers.

AutoNation (nationwide car dealer) had their CEO on CNBC this morning and said they have 17 dealerships in Houston and all of their flooded inventory is going to the scrap yard. They feel once a car is sitting in 2 ft of water for days that they can't be salvaged. They are going to fill those dealerships lost inventory with stuff from other out of area dealerships since lots of people will need new cars. Just thinking about lost cars in the area, that is going to be insane for insurance companies/repair shops etc. Add in flooded homes/businesses it is probably a lot worse than Katrina.

Can't help but think about Kenny Mungle (owner of Gone Again), who lives just southeast of Houston, where some of the heaviest rain fell (and is still falling). Nicest guy you'd ever meet.

Wind/loss of power is one thing......Flooding is a totally different animal. Andrew was devastating but there was never any significant flooding like what Houston is having. Hopefully having large unaffected areas nearby (Austin, Dallas) should help with a speedy recovery as far as food/supplies and construction labor.

He posted a bunch of pics on FB showing the water damage.

been talking few guys from texas. a lot of them have flooded. had to open the dams on the big lakes above the city. i plan to go this weekend if the water is out to help them gut house.

I see how the lawyers could have spooked them over that; however, outside the courtroom an evacuation didn't cause the bus to catch on fire.




Glad all are well!

While I was 100 mi. North of Andrew's landfall a co worker took the direct hit in Homestead and lost everything. I asked his first hand experience on staying on anything above at CAT 3, which I've ridden out. He exclaimed, get the hell out and don't look back, take everthing you care for as the storm and looters will leave nothing to come back to.

I hope to never have to deal with any of it , especially a flood. I'm about 50 mi. North of you and have taken 11.5" of rain in an hour without a blink from our stormwater system. If I saw 30+ inches like NWS was calling for I'd still leave.

Unfortunately I'm beyond thinking the masses have common sense anymore and feel that's where/why TX officials failed the herd. Which now puts a tremendous strain on first responders, resources and makes for a much more dangerous operation etc. Bumbling Houston Mayor initially said "it's too hard to move that many people" and when that wasn't enough of an excuse he brought up the last evacuation. I saw 100 dead quoted above (also heard 25) due to the last evacuation during Rita which isn't an excuse for not getting it done this time. You simply apply your "lesson's learned" from the past, evacuate in waves and start sooner etc. He (and other officials) would have been hero's! Instead we have a quitting before it ever started attitude and admission of ineptitude.

I don't know about the rest of you but I'd be unable to sleep knowing I'm putting the public in harm's way.

TL,
Totally unrelated to the topic, but from your location description, and the boat type in your signature, did you buy Dail's Baja from Eddie?

I too have friends in the Houston area, and so far they are dry....

Shooting at first responders should be considered an instant death sentence and a hate crime.

They have not verified that story, there are a bunch of BS items that originated on facebook or fakebook as I call it.

Everyone has worked their asses off helping their neighbours in need, we have had up to 50" of rain just east of here and the rivers are still rising. There are many in this area, Crosby/ Highlands Texas that lost their homes so we will see what happens. So far I couldn't be more impressed with what I have seen and heard from the locals and the people that have driven here to help.

First my thoughts go out to all my OSO family hit by Harvey along with all of the others in and around Texas. After personally seeing the destruction caused by Ivan in 04 and Katrina in 05, I would never try to ride out one of these storms. Hopefully things start to get better for you guys soon. I know there are a lot of assets in the area trying to help. I just spoke with my command personnel here on my PD today about the possibility of our Flood Response Unit being activated and heading down to help. Unfortunately I do not think they will give us the green light.

This was the worst storm I have ever seen. So glad to see the sun for the first time in 5 days.

God bless you guys down there. Wish I wasn't so far away.

The mayor of Houston, the county judge of Harris County and any other emergency official should be removed from office for the unbelievable decision to "shelter in place". Houston has flooded many times in the past and will continue to flood.

The National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center were not only projecting a major nurricane, they were warning about about record and catastropic flooding. These projections were made and published several days prior to landfall of Hurricane Harvey.

The argument that the prior evacuation had gone poorly has little to do with this storm. The last evacuation was a poorly planned disaster and should have served as a template for what not to do.There was ample time for an orderly evacuation if officials had started the process when the initial warnings were issued.

The governor of Texas should be applauded for telling everyone to get out of the path of the storm. It was obvious that this was a cataclysmic disaster that would cause unprecedented suffering for millions of people.

If the Mayor had not downplayed the damage potential of this storm, many people would have left Greater Houston and avoided the trauma of helicopter or boat rescue.

I wish a speedy recovery to all the victims of this storm. RIP to the unfortunate souls who lost their lives. And prayers to all who have suffered from this storm.

Perhaps those in-the-know closer to the storm can suggest how to help or donate, considering that some organizations aren't as charitable as one might expect and some items are better to donate than others. Would love to hear some suggestions.

FWIW, a friend of mine from Texas is collecting some items and flying them down Friday in his Mooney. He said the following:

"Update: It sounds like hygiene supplies, baby wipes, diapers, formula and similar are higher priorities than clothing and soft goods right now. Cleaning supplies like bleach, household cleaner, gloves, trash bags, etc are very much needed as well. Bug spray & sunscreen are also useful. Thanks for the response so far!"

Consistently over my life time the AMERICAN RED CROSS has always been the most trustworthy and most beneficial route to donate to people in need.

that's funny after what I saw first hand here in louisisna last year I will never give a dime to red cross. that's been across the board here from most people. but to each their own.

I thought Red Cross would be okay.

How about JJ Watts Houston Flood Relief Fund ?

https://www.youcaring.com/victimsofh...eharvey-915053

I cant say, from what I have read these pop up efforts often end up funneling the money to established relief efforts as they dont have the infrastructure to actually help people. Nothing wrong with raising cash for he good cause as long as it ends up where it's needed and not spent trying to duplicate whats already out there.

They rely on volunteers so you cant expect excellence at every turn. They are still the top rated large human relief organization on charity watch

Red Cross Exec Doesn't Know What Portion Of Donations Go To Harvey Relief : The Two-Way : NPR
As Americans are opening their wallets and donating to relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, one of the most prominent charities is the American Red Cross. But donors might be surprised to learn the Red Cross won't, or can't say, what percentage of their dollars will go directly to helping the victims of the storm.

Dating back to 2014, NPR and Pro Publica have reported that the Red Cross misstated how donor dollars are spent.

A study released by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, concluded that the Red Cross had spent $124 million — one-quarter of the money donors gave for earthquake relief in Haiti in 2010 — on internal expenses.

Hurricane Harvey: How American Red Cross Donations Are Used | Money
Reports obtained by the New York Times detailed at length how the organization had failed to help victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Examples include volunteers arriving with only bleach when people had no food or water, and donations that were of little use. "A truck load of Danish pastries and cinnamon rolls...arrived moldy because they were shipped without refrigeration."

Internal changes after Katrina did little to help the organization's performance. In the wake of a devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, the Red Cross raised almost half a billion dollars to help in relief efforts in the country. Five years later, a damning exposé by NPR and ProPublica showed that the organization had done little with the money except squander it. One example: According to the story, the organization had at that point claimed that it had built enough homes to provide shelter for 130,000 people—but it had actually only built six.

same deal here in the greater Baton Rouge area. Told churches they could put their Bibles out and their food so it was too chicken nuggets and a scoop of green beans or two. Will have to see if I can dig that picture up. If people brought food cooked they cannot give it out per their protocol it all got dumped in dumpsters. Was very eye opening.