Posted on 08/26/2017 4:39:50 AM PDT by NautiNurse
Evacuations now mandatory, per KHOU, power will be cut tomorrow morning, and firefighters going door to door, some with human sniffing canine units.
“Hundreds of people refusing to leave.”
Thanks so much for your post. I was trying to communicate something similar to a poster on another thread who has made up their mind that Texans are all jerks because they have had business dealings with a few bad apples. I really tried to get through to them that we are better than what they believe, but they are resolved to think the worst, unfortunately.
It’s understandable they don’t want to leave, but when the power gets cut tomorrow I expect most will have second thoughts.
Tough situation for the mayor and the citizens.
Sadly, some people don’t want to open their eyes or heart to see the real world and the people that live in it. I feel sorry for them, because they are missing out on an awesome life.
Anywhere there is large amounts of standing water should be evacuated until the water is away from the homes.
I know what just 3 days without electric is like and it grows old ‘very fast’ trying to work around that....and my building wasn’t flooded nor was it in the heat of a major crisis.
That standing flood water is dangerous. People will fall sick from all kinds of pathogens and exposure to toxins. They also risk their future rescuers’ lives even more at that point because they will likely be contagious.
The power has to be cut anyway due to risk of electrocution and fires, but, you are right, living without electricity in a residence that is not designed to be off grid reduces you to a third world state pretty quickly. I went only 4 days with down power lines a few winters ago and I still can’t believe the state my house got into in that short time.
BTW, thank you for all your contributions to this thread. The photos are excellent.
Cutting power is a valid government role in this case, as is asking them to leave, as is telling them they’re on their own if they stay.
Forcing them to leave, or preventing return, IMO, is a purchase agreement, at prevailing rates, under eminent domain type seizure. Exceptions would be those obviously unable to fend for themselves, or any other situation where continued occupancy puts others, involuntarily, at risk. You can construct logic where sanitary sewer concerns make it permissible to force everyone out.
That applies to just about everyone not used to throwing on a backpack and heading off the grid on a regular basis. Probably inclusive of just about every there, who’s home is wet now, and you don’t spell details like that out in evac orders. But those executing the orders won’t exercise that judgement either, and you’ll have people who ould manage it, caught in the cracks.
Government COULD have seized those properties, along with those to the west of normal flood retention levels, but chose not to, and happily enjoyed proceeds from the increased tax base. Different entities, overlapping responsibility, it’s all a mess.
A local area I’m familiar with, crossed a few lines in the process of creating a reservoir and exercising eminent domain. They cleared the area AROUND the reservoir by threatening to flood it, when such was never their intention. They then sold the “lakefront property” at premium prices and pocketed the difference. Business as usual. Good thing for them that their victims were complacent sheep.
Actually, I was pretty fit. My family moved when I was 16 from a place where we had lived 12 year, and we were pack rats. In addition my father had salvaged 4 tons of lumber which we subsequently used to add a large addition to the small home we bought then. My father and I did most of the labor on moving house goods and lumber. I was the most fit girl in my new school’s gym class of 150. When I was 14 we climbed Mt. Marcy in New York in the summer. While not as high or cold as Mt. Washington, it was 10 miles each way. At the summit there were no facilities or people. We ran out of light 3 miles into the trip back, so stayed at the park lean-to shelter. There was some stale farina we boiled for our dinner, and some old blankets. For the 7 miles return, we found some berries for breakfast. I think we had carried enough water, and there were little streams along the way. My father treated me like a boy, when I had trouble lifting the kayak on top of the car he would scream, “higher you weakling.” I think I was 9 or 10 then. So far as performance clothing was concerned, I was 18 in the later 1950s. Don’t think they had much besides wool and silk and we couldn’t afford silk.
“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.”
In May 2006 I drove along the Gulf coast from Florida to New Orleans. In Mississippi you could see debris from the storm surge well up on the bushes and trees, but almost all the debris that had been removed from homes had been taken away. As soon as I crossed the line into Louisiana, there were stacks of debris everywhere—ruined drywall, furniture, appliances, etc. On the LA radio were pleas urging action because the year to use clean up funds was almost running out. I suspect Texas will be like MI, not like LA.
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