Dear Texas and Louisiana Kossacks (and those who have family and friends in Texas and Louisiana):
Nightfall is over, and now it’s time to see how bad it's gotten for another day. In addition to its devastation of the small towns of Port Aransas, Aransas Pass, Rockport, Fulton and Port O’Connor on Friday night, and the severe damage to beautiful Corpus Christi, Tropical Storm Harvey has dumped feet of water on Houston and the surrounding cities and towns. The damage is catastrophic.
There are reports that some areas of Houston are already under 20 feet of water.
All major interstates are closed. There is no freeway in Houston that is not under water. 911 lines are jammed.
Heavy rain will continue through at least Tuesday. As a reminder, the forecast on Friday (when the evac decision was made) was for 20-30 inches of rain. As of midday Sunday, the forecast was for 40-50 inches. Yes, that means over four FEET of water dropping in the space of as many days.
We are here for you.
Please check-in and let us know that you are OK. Please let us know if we can help. Please post your check-in under the CHECK-IN link below.
Amidst it all, monumental acts of courage and kindness. Because we’re Americans and that’s what we do.
Here is a facebook page, for those who use it — it’s a chance for everyone to post and see what all is going on.
KHOU is the local station that had to quit broadcasting as their studio flooded — but have stayed on the job however they could. It’s looking like the worst case: a trip back to the Gulf to strengthen, then straight over Houston, is less likely now. However, it means Louisiana’s next.
Evacuations
This tweet is part of a thread made in reply to those (far away and in no danger) who think Houston should have somehow evacuated:
The last time they evacuated Houston for a hurricane was in 2005, for Rita. One hundred died on the evacuation route, as cars ran out of gas and people were stranded. Houston has roughly 7 MILLION people now — MUCH more than 12 hrs ago. The airports were closed. There are effectively no trains. The roads simply can’t handle the people, and were already full from coastal evacuees. Oh, and ICE kept up their checkpoints. There was NO GOOD CHOICE for Mayor Turner. What’s terrifying is that there are now surrounding areas that are encouraging evacuation. Fort Bend County. Conroe. Some of Katy. But the roads are closed, in many cases, and 911 is getting hundreds of calls A SECOND.
By the numbers: so far, there has been 11 TRILLION gallons of water that have fallen on Houston. The end total based on forecasts? Somewhere around 23 TRILLION. Water rescues as of last night were up to 2,000: that means we’ve seen roughly 1,000 rescues a day. The emergency system is tapped out: there were 5,000 waiting for rescue as of last night.
The city’s emergency services tweeted that they were at capacity and asked residents to only call if they faced imminent danger. The mayor advised people to give preference to life-threatening situations when calling 911.
Both Addicks and Barkers reservoirs were at capacity, and the Army Corps of Engineers had to release some water into the already tapped out bayous, to make sure the dams didn’t fail entirely. For those not from the area, this is out in Katy (West Houston), one of the few areas in Greater Houston that wasn’t under water. These dams were built in the 40’s, so the Corps has to do what they need to keep them from failing entirely. They are HUGE - a catastrophic failure would dump enough water to put half of Houston under, if it wasn't already. In these conditions, losing either dam would be unimaginable. Most of this will wind up down Buffalo Bayou (which runs through Houston, and cause it to rise 4-6 inches per hour.
Conroe, TX (N of the city) has had to do the same.
What’s the problem with that? How bad are the roads? Here’s a link to high-water locations. 610 was gone on Friday. As of yesterday, EVERYTHING inside the Beltway (8) was high-water. Now, it’s everything inside 99. THERE IS NO WAY TO EVACUATE MOST OF HOUSTON. THERE IS NO INFRASTRUCTURE LEFT.
For those who want to help:
Culled from a Twitter thread local to Houston — some local relief organizations:
Galveston County Food Bank
Corpus Christi Food Bank
Houston Food Bank
Texas Diaper Bank
SPCA of Texas
Portlight (services specifically for the disabled)
Houston Coalition for the Homeless
Added by DK commenters:
UMCOR (Methodist relief org, church absorbs admin costs so 100% of donations used for aid. Completely non-denominational/non-religious in providing aid.)
Shelterbox (No mention on their site yet, but DK commenters advise they’re staging now to provide Harvey relief.)
Additionally, Charity Navigator lists and rates organizations (usually larger ones, e.g. Red Cross) that have specifically indicated they’ll be participating in Harvey relief efforts.
Others who have helped: The Cajun Navy, thousands of locals (and not-so-locals) with fishing boats who are also doing rescues, and heroes everywhere. Mexican President Peno Nieta has offered to assist, as the country did with Katrina.
Other Dangers
And as if the high water wasn’t enough:
This is not a drill — or a joke. These fire ant flotillas can get to as large as 6 FEET in diameter. It’s colonies that are staying alive by constant walking...no ant stays under water too long. But they are NOT happy, and WILL strike out. Other dangers? Alligators and Water Moccasins (cottonmouths), beyond the ‘known’ ones of contaminated water.