Radio feed:
23rd and broadway mobil in Galveston has gas.
Yale at 4th(Heigths?): Orange juice factory amonia leak. Close windows and shut off AC if in this area.
Ps: From what I can tell the rain totals were not that great above the Lake Livingston area, the 80k cfs is mostly due to the emergency release at the dam to draw it down for repairs. Its a good time to see clear skies and a falling lake level. I notice on your link the release will come up just short of major flood stage.
Radio feed:
Huntsville and Conroe..traffic getting thick.
Ice $2:50 a bag Kroger somewhere.
Barge free at trinity river bridge at 59, expect a detour there.
300,000 Centerpoint customers still without power.
Willis w/o power.
Traffic expected to get worse as the day goes on.
You are correct. The draw down is to inspect damage due to displaced rip rap, and to add rip rap as required. The Lake is not "too high" by any stretch, and there wasn't enough rainfall to cause trouble.
The media likes to keep it simple though, so they can understand it themselves. In their minds, Rita caused rain, so the dam has to be opened to let the rain out. Idiots, they are.
That link is fun - one can go to upstream and downstream monitoring points. There will be some flooding - the closer to the release, the higher the water.