Hurricane Harvey Live Thread Part II

Various ^ | 8/26/2017 | Various

[Daffynition]

You are very lucky.

**Stranded with a sprained ankle on a snow-covered mountain, Eagle Scout Scott Mason put his survival skills to work by sleeping in the crevice of a boulder and jump-starting evergreen fires with hand sanitizer gel.

He put plastic bags inside his boots to keep his feet dry as he sloshed through mountain runoff hidden beneath waist-deep snow. After three cold days last April, rescue crews spotted him hiking toward the summit of Mount Washington, the Northeast’s highest mountain.

New Hampshire officials praised his resourcefulness. So grateful was he for his rescuers that Mason, 17, sent $1,000 to the state.

Sometime later, New Hampshire sent him a bill: $25,734.65 for the cost of rescuing him.

New Hampshire is one of eight states with laws allowing billing for rescue costs, but only New Hampshire has made frequent attempts to do so — even strengthening its law last year to allow the suspension of hiking, fishing and driver’s licenses of those who don’t pay.**

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nh-bills-lost-hikers-for-cost-of-rescue/

[jeffers]

(That’s to drain what’s in it now... or, more accurately, what was in it 2 days and 2.5 hours ago. It’s filled a bit since. And...there’s still a huge flow into it, ongoing, even though levels have “crested.”)

[jeffers]

(Minus evaporation.)

[jeffers]

(Plus Irma.)

[topher]

Good weather news: Cold front to come in Thursday/Friday next week.

I believe that will also bring drier air to Texas.

Highs in the High 70's, Lows in the Low 60's.

This could drive Irma North or South of Texas/Louisiana

[novemberslady]

Irma info bkmk

[caww]

Hind sight isn’t helpful ...I think the call not to evacuate was the right one....nobody would have imagined the destruction these waters brought to be as severe even though the meterologists warned about up to 51 inches.....

I would have left simply because of Houstons history of constant flooding since it’s waterways run throughout the area....so common sense would say flooding would be severe. I suspect people there were simply accustomed to the flooding as a normal way of life there.

Having watched the event and people there in Houston I can understand why a friend of mine moved there and within a year moved back to the east. You really have to like all the many foreigners (diversity) that is represented there.....which wouldn’t be to my taste either. I’m not for mixing up cultures in one area side by side no matter how they present it.

No doubt people will rebuild....even with the dangers of flooding again....they’ll get bailed out regardless.

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

Bookmark

[Paul R.]

I understand that a Mayor (Houston?) has been criticized for not declaring a mandatory evacuation. What I have read is that there had been terrible problems with the last evacuation with people dying on the roads (flooding?).

The Rita evacuation was handled badly. Pre-Harvey's non-evac (essentially) is a black eye too. We have the technology (communications) and knowledge (forecasting, hydrology, experience) to do much better, it's just that no one has really put it together, yet. Some of us discussed this, upthread.

In my line of work, one learns from experience / history, and uses all tools appropriate, with creativity, or doesn't last long. That should apply here, too. Two quotes come to mind, one famous, one not so famous:

"Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it."

and, from Babylon 5, after a major cluster****:

"Now that we know that, we can make sure it doesn't happen any more. We learn. It's what humans do."

Ideally, anyway... :-)

[Paul R.]

Good post / info. Although I must say, in most of my area (parts of which flood fairly often), new development in areas subject to flooding is severely curtailed, with no new residential development there at all. More or less “grandfathered” farming, yes, older homes & a few (might not even be very old) businesses, yes, maybe a marina or 2... but entire nice new neighborhoods going into a floodway or detention area would be unthinkable.

Granted, we do not have the population growth of Houston.

[jeffers]

New Voluntary Evac, south of Addicks, east of Barker. Mayor “strongly urges” people to leave, additional releases and tough conditions “for 10 to 15 days”:

https://youtu.be/BNdgY0nPyjU

[jeffers]

Mayor threatens Mandatory Evac if people don’t leave voluntarily, drones monitoring activity, firemen knocking and looking in windows but not knocking down doors (if no signs habitation), affects “15,000 to 20,000 homes.”

[gleeaikin]

I’m not sure how it is you think I was lucky unless it was to have father who had survival skills. The kids with shorts and cherry red knees were from a camp. The wind was blowing around 40 mph, and the temperature between 38 and 40 degrees and it was drizzling. Good hypothermia conditions. Even though it was mid July, Mt. Washington gave us nasty weather. Pop had us dressed in three layers of tops and bottoms and socks, warm jackets and rain gear. If he had not been able to see the next cairn using our leap frog system, we would have gone back the way we came which was below the fog (cloud cover) and returned to our starting point, car and parking lot. As it was we made the top, we sent the boys down in the railcars, and Pop and I walked back down an easier trail.

[gleeaikin]

I heard an interesting April conference replayed on radio of a group of water and flood engineers, etc. They spoke of the problem of overbuilding in known flood plains, building homes high enough, and speeding up the national flood danger mapping project that is supposed to help municipalities make appropriate laws on where and how to build given the flood issue.

[Daffynition]

In the sense that you were *fortunate* to have your father guiding you to summit.

I’ve hiked most of the AT. Lived in its shadow for over a decade pretty familiar with the stories of those who got in trouble; skied the Tuck in June.

**Generally, fitness and ability to do the hike are not the concern. There are trails that are not that hard to do. However, this would also be a contributing factor to the reason why more people die on Mt. Washington than anywhere else in the country. (Sounds like fun, huh.)

If none of you or members of your party are experienced hikers, I would question your choice of a first time hike.

Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Essentials and actually carry all of the items. Have clothing for very cold conditions. Do not wear anything made from cotton, performance clothing is necessary. Have extra food. Pay attention to the weather and avoid any day where rain or lightning is in the forecast.

The way people get in trouble is that they start out on a warm day, sweat up their shirts, get to altitude where wind comes up, temps drop, and in 50 degrees and high wind, you’re freezing. When fog rolls in (a common condition near the summit), you get lost and lose the trail. And this is when you will need those warm dry clothes.

On the plus side — it’s one of the great hikes, and if you have your act together and can be sure you are comfortable in the bad weather, it’s pretty darn fun to be in a snow squall and 60-70 mph winds on an August day.**

Just think; now you can scratch that off your bucket-list. :)

[alfa6]

bfl

[Paul R.]

That matches up with your calculation.

[CedarDave]

After further review (and a nights sleep) ...

Indeed the it looks like the material west of the cofferdam at Addicks is a temporary spoils pile as you say.

Also, what looks like water draining into the spillway outlet may indeed be the water released from the reservoir. What we are observing is a rough looking “hydraulic jump” where water exiting at a high velocity results in a lower level than the receiving water. That explains the water from the sides draining into the spillway channel. I’m unclear though from just this video as to whether at the end of the video we are looking at the Addicks or Barker video.

As for the two guys, they appear to be employees, maybe just doing an observation.

[girlscout]

Someone shared this on my wall and I wanted to pass it on.

"I’m not a Texan. I don’t adore the Lone Star State. I’m a transplant who’s lived in Austin for the last four years. I can’t name the state fish, I don’t understand the thing with mums at Homecoming, and I think chicken fried steak sucks. I don’t care about Friday Night Lights.

But I married into a Texas family. A Texas family with crazy deep roots. My wife is a direct descendant from the Texas Revolution. Through my marriage, I get a front row seat to all things that filter through the Texas lens. I’ve learned a lot about bluebonnets and Whataburger. I know the difference between casual allegiance with Texas colleges, what it really means to be a Longhorn, and the difference between good salsa and crap that came out of a jar.

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned as an outsider looking in, it’s that there’s a sense of purpose to these people like I’ve never seen. A central passion runs through Texans unlike any other American identity. Pride percolates here. It’s something people who aren’t from Texas just can’t grasp. We may have a docile sense of civic pride for our hometowns, but nothing like this state demands of its residents.

The Texas flag flies as high as the American flag, while the state Capitol is just a smidge taller than the U.S. Capitol, because – Texas. There are Texas flags on everything. And folks all over this huge collection of miles expect a reverential obsession from those who choose to take up this address, if only for a while. That sense of purpose and absolute unwillingness to bend in their pride is why Texas will only become stronger in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Before Texas, I spent seven years in New Orleans, a place that knows about heartbreak and flooding. To love New Orleans is to love the city. But a New Orleanian ain’t much of a Louisianan, despite them being hand in hand. They’re two different cultures. But here, even if you’re from the Panhandle or live along the Gulf of Mexico, you still adore this state and will bond together under that flag, that symbol

Typically, cities talk smack on one another, and the outlying country towns don’t want anything to do with the big cities and their completely different personalities. There are liberals and conservatives, cowboys and city slickers, white folks, brown folks, black folks and every shade in between wearing cowboy boots. This place has many stories, many sides to the dice.

Harvey took many lives. It dumped acres of water onto the streets of Houston, decimated Rockport, and flooded Galveston and cities and towns across southeast Texas. But Texas will lick its wounds. Texas will come back bigger and better, and brighter and with more Texas-ness than you can imagine. Texans cannot allow for their diamonds to go unpolished. The thought of a place in Texas where local culture dies just doesn’t feel right. There are no places where the roads are unfinished, or the buildings lie in ruins – that would go against everything these people have known their whole lives: This land is precious and it is our birthright.

........ H-E-B and Buc-ee’s, two Texas brand giants, came to the rescue, offering shelter, food, showers, and support. Mattress Mack, a Houston mattress maven, opened his warehouses so folks could get a good night’s rest. The people here know a love that moves deeper than their sense of pride – it’s a calling of purpose.

You cannot count Texas out. There’s no other state in our union that could handle this hurricane. New York has taken its lumps. New Orleans knows what loss feels like, but this is a monster named Harvey that we’ve never seen before. Who better to challenge Harvey head-on than Texas? They’ll do it wearing an Astros cap and with a twisted smile, daring that water to take a piece of the land they love so much."

Robert Dean is a writer and journalist living in Austin.

[jeffers]

Thanks for the hydraulic jump info. I think it’s Addicks there at the end.

The two guys look to be sweeping downward, side by side, with metal detectors. Maybe a bolt fell out of the dam, hmm?