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Rod Sheridan
08-25-2017, 9:58 PM
Hi, reading the news reports regarding hurricane Harvey.

Hoping all my virtual forum friends in the path of the storm stay safe.

It's hard for me to imagine a storm like that, we don't get severe storms where I live normally..............Regards, Rod.

lowell holmes
08-26-2017, 8:34 AM
In Galveston county at 7:30 AM there has been no flooding ay this time. The wind is gusty.
There is rain. My son in Hitchcock lives near the water. They have no issues either. You can see the
Inter-coastal waterway from his balcony.

Malcolm McLeod
08-26-2017, 9:21 AM
I saw the Galveston mayor's press conference yesterday (...seems like this ain't his first rodeo!); very impressive knowledge and planning effort. I hope it bears fruit.

He commented on an old adage, "hunker down for wind, run from water." I'm seeing predictions of as much as 40" of rain by Thursday, so I hope this doesn't get worse before it gets better.

Be careful out there!

Jim Becker
08-26-2017, 9:37 AM
I'm hoping for the best for all the folks who live in that very large, affected area. The challenge with this storm isn't going to be the initial push, it's going to be the many days of rain that in some places may get close to as much as 3 feet of precipitation. That doesn't bode well if it holds true.

lowell holmes
08-26-2017, 9:59 AM
This is not the first rodeo for any of us in Galveston County. We live about 20 miles inland.
We are experiencing occasional rain, but no wind. I really don't expect much out of this.
The real danger is that tornado's can crop up in an instant. We have never experienced one.

Bert Kemp
08-26-2017, 10:51 AM
I hope everybody is safe and dry. Thoughts a prayers to everybody in the path of this storm.

Pat Barry
08-27-2017, 8:21 AM
Galveston must have been hit hard Lowell. I hope you and your family are safe.

Erik Loza
08-27-2017, 11:02 AM
One of my colleagues has a family house in the dunes of Port Aransas. They boarded it up last week but I think he will not actually know if it's still there for several days. The areas may still be inaccessible.

Erik

mark kosse
08-27-2017, 11:54 AM
Not flooded, but power is out. It was 23 days wo power last time... Hope not this time.

Paul McGaha
08-27-2017, 12:29 PM
Thoughts and prayers to the people in Texas.

It must be extremely difficult.

PHM

Mike Henderson
08-27-2017, 1:58 PM
I hope everyone is safe. If you're in the area and have Internet access, please report on what the situation is.

Mike

Jim Becker
08-27-2017, 7:07 PM
One of my colleagues has a family house in the dunes of Port Aransas. They boarded it up last week but I think he will not actually know if it's still there for several days. The areas may still be inaccessible.

That seems to be one of the hardest hit towns, based on news stories I've seen. Terrible destruction...

Matt Day
08-27-2017, 11:13 PM
Anyone heard from Lowell?

Malcolm McLeod
08-28-2017, 8:44 AM
Anyone heard from Lowell? ...He is probably without power, but hopefully not flooded. In this case, his proximity to the beach may be a good thing, as the water has somewhere to go close-by.


Houston area missed the wind's 'bull's-eye' by about 200 miles (eye hit ~Rockport/Port Aransas), but reports are accurate that they caught biblical rain amounts. (This morning, I heard 11 trillion gallons of rain in Texas so far; >400 billion in Harris county (Houston).) And now Corps of Engineers has had to open flood gates upstream of Houston to relieve pressure on dams.

I spent yesterday trying to remotely shepherd my brother and his family out of west Houston and up to the north. FYI - Life360 is a really nice cell phone app to have in such situations.

Update: News now report Dickinson under evac order; clearly I was wrong about flooding. Lowell, I hope you and your's are safe.

Jim Laumann
08-29-2017, 3:29 PM
My younger brother lives in Corpus Christi - he called Sunday night to indicate that he and his wife are fine (they got out in advance), but that their house had taken a hit - part of the roof got tore off, and their living room had been exposed to all the rain. He had tarp-ed the roof, but didn't know how long the tarp would stand up to the wind. The connection we had was poor, so I wasn't able to understand much more than that.

Frederick Skelly
08-29-2017, 10:32 PM
We're all thinking of you Sir.
Fred

Mike Henderson
08-30-2017, 12:42 AM
One somewhat sad thought is that many people moved from New Orleans to Houston after Katrina. They got jobs, bought a house, put their kids in school, etc. And now, those people have been flooded out again and lost everything for a second time.

Mike

Bert Kemp
08-30-2017, 1:09 AM
The Red Cross is taking donations to help the victims of Harvey Help if you can
https://www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-harvey?scode=RSG00000E017&utm_campaign=Harvey&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoZTNBRCWARIsAOMZHmHw8qSpUh3xeCXea9K6 lCZ8M5URTL6DoD3fX7FOdnxXKiePaPMbhu0aAtyNEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CIWrs6yW_tUCFVV6YgodLTsBNg

Jerome Stanek
08-30-2017, 9:23 AM
The Red Cross is taking donations to help the victims of Harvey Help if you can
https://www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-harvey?scode=RSG00000E017&utm_campaign=Harvey&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoZTNBRCWARIsAOMZHmHw8qSpUh3xeCXea9K6 lCZ8M5URTL6DoD3fX7FOdnxXKiePaPMbhu0aAtyNEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CIWrs6yW_tUCFVV6YgodLTsBNg


I have read many articles to say donate to a Huston local church or other charity. They people get help faster that way. When I was at Kent State riots the Salvation Army was the better charity they provided food and shelter along with news papers for free The Red Cross charged for everything.

michael langman
08-30-2017, 11:29 AM
I searched for ," Flooding Dickinson Texas," came up with many U tube videos of what Lowell is going through. It does not look good for the people of Dickinson.
Lowell, and the people of Houston area are in my thoughts and prayers.

Bill McNiel
08-30-2017, 11:35 AM
I have read many articles to say donate to a Huston local church or other charity. They people get help faster that way. When I was at Kent State riots the Salvation Army was the better charity they provided food and shelter along with news papers for free The Red Cross charged for everything.

PLEASE DONATE TO LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS!

I was in Haiti immediately following the earthquake and was appalled at the inefficiency, wastefulness and overall ineptitude of the Red Cross. I could elaborate for pages on how much money was wasted and how little actual help they provided.

Frederick Skelly
08-30-2017, 2:08 PM
PLEASE DONATE TO LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS!

I was in Haiti immediately following the earthquake and was appalled at the inefficiency, wastefulness and overall ineptitude of the Red Cross. I could elaborate for pages on how much money was wasted and how little actual help they provided.

We made a trip out of state to help with flooding a little while back. We were out working and the Red Cross was driving through giving sandwiches to THE WORKERS. I'm sorry to say this, but while I'm sure they truly meant well, I preferred them to help the victims. I took it to mean they had plenty of money and didn't need mine. YMMV.

The folks who really impressed me were several big Churches (incl Billie Graham's IIRC), who brought large mobile kitchens and were feeding victims who were without power, etc. The restorative power of a hot meal can be an amazing morale boost for people in trauma.

(We ate MREs to make sure there was plenty for the victims.)

Malcolm Schweizer
08-30-2017, 8:03 PM
I had a scary thought, so I googled "nuclear power plant Houston" and sure enough- there is one, and it's right by the water. It is apparently at 29 feet above sea level.

367001

Malcolm McLeod
08-31-2017, 10:39 AM
I had a scary thought, so I googled "nuclear power plant Houston" and sure enough- there is one, and it's right by the water. It is apparently at 29 feet above sea level.

367001

From the local paper: "The plant site is located 10 miles inland and at an elevation of 29 feet, well above the reach of even a Category 5 storm surge. The plant was designed with watertight buildings and doors to keep emergency electric power and cooling systems fully functional. All buildings housing safety equipment are flood-proof to an elevation of at least 41 feet above mean sea level."

They shut down at wind speeds >73 MPH. Also, fairly certain it is not like Fukushima in some significant ways: The spent/spare fuel rods are not stored on top of the reactor, and their back-up generators are not fueled from diesel tanks exposed to the sea.

Malcolm Schweizer
08-31-2017, 11:06 AM
From the local paper: "The plant site is located 10 miles inland and at an elevation of 29 feet, well above the reach of even a Category 5 storm surge. The plant was designed with watertight buildings and doors to keep emergency electric power and cooling systems fully functional. All buildings housing safety equipment are flood-proof to an elevation of at least 41 feet above mean sea level."

They shut down at wind speeds >73 MPH. Also, fairly certain it is not like Fukushima in some significant ways: The spent/spare fuel rods are not stored on top of the reactor, and their back-up generators are not fueled from diesel tanks exposed to the sea.

I read another article that said it was built to withstand a 41 foot surge, but it also said that localized flooding of 12 feet would be damaging. In the end we have to trust the engineers and the builders!

Nathan Johnson
08-31-2017, 11:59 AM
Hopefully a non-issue, but seems silly to locate something like this in that area.

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/08/30/worries-about-a-galveston-bio-lab/

Pat Barry
08-31-2017, 12:48 PM
Hopefully a non-issue, but seems silly to locate something like this in that area.

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/08/30/worries-about-a-galveston-bio-lab/
That's much worse than the chemical plant exploding.

Keith Outten
08-31-2017, 12:52 PM
Nathan,

A nuclear power plant has to be in the vicinity of a major water source. They require massive amounts of water per minute to provide secondary cooling.

Nathan Johnson
08-31-2017, 12:59 PM
Nathan,

A nuclear power plant has to be in the vicinity of a major water source. They require massive amounts of water per minute to provide secondary cooling.

Sorry, my post included a link to a bio-lab in Galveston. I wasn't referencing a nuclear plant.

Malcolm McLeod
08-31-2017, 1:22 PM
Reassuring that y'all have the nuclear-biological-chemical dangers well worried about. I'll focus on my terror that somebody needs to legislatively restrain the unremitting, rampant, socially irresponsible, explosive growth in the the size of my Big Gulp!:eek: I - - simply - - - can't - - - - resist!;)


Lowell, I hope this finds you safe and dry.

Nathan Johnson
08-31-2017, 2:00 PM
Reassuring that y'all have the nuclear-biological-chemical dangers well worried about. I'll focus on my terror that somebody needs to legislatively restrain the unremitting, rampant, socially irresponsible, explosive growth in the the size of my Big Gulp!:eek: I - - simply - - - can't - - - - resist!;)


Lowell, I hope this finds you safe and dry.

Not quite sure how to take this post, but.... these are all facets of the same story. No single post can touch everything, but it seems preferable that people pay attention at all.

Matt Day
08-31-2017, 3:17 PM
Not quite sure how to take this post, but.... these are all facets of the same story. No single post can touch everything, but it seems preferable that people pay attention at all.

I'm pretty sure he's making a joke about how big the Big Gulp (soft drink cup at 7-Eleven I think?) is. He's making light of it.

Bob Burk
09-01-2017, 2:54 PM
I believe the chemical that is being referred to is a peroxide plant. The cooling system is off and the chemicals start to explode as they heat up. They nothing too toxic is being given off, no worse than standing over a camp fire. Mild eye errant (least ways that is what the news is stating around here.

Pat Barry
09-03-2017, 9:07 PM
Where's Lowell? More than 1 week since he last checked in that I'm aware of.

Nathan Niemeyer
09-03-2017, 9:57 PM
My family and I moved from Dickinson last year and have gone down to help former neighbors, over the last 4-5 days. It is very devastating to see the damage that was done in the area. More than 50% of the town's residences and business were inundated with several feet of water. It is horrible to see people's entire lives on the front lawns, attempting to dry their stuff, or simply having to throw it out with all the carpet and Sheetrock.

I sure hope Lowell and his family are safe!

Todd Willhoit
09-06-2017, 10:22 PM
The water finally receded from my street yesterday. It had been about four feet deep. Twelve of sixteen houses were flooded. Mine was spared by three inches. Further back in the neighborhood is worse and water is still standing. Flood debris was everywhere, but has now been eclipsed by piles of flooring, drywall, sheetrock, and appliances.

Streets are muddy or dusty and crowded with vehicles. Groups from local Christian churches are everywhere doing demo, providing supplies, and serving thousands of meals. If you are inclined to donate, the local church is the way to go. They are the "boots on the ground".

Oddly, I've been so focused on my street that I don't really know the status of the rest of the area.

Matt Day
09-07-2017, 7:01 AM
I see lowell's been active here! I hope he updates us on "I really don't expect much out of this". Hope he, his family, and homes are okay.

Pat Barry
09-10-2017, 8:36 AM
It's been over two weeks since Harvey hit and no word yet from Lowell! I hope that he and his family are safe and sound.

Matt Day
09-10-2017, 11:08 AM
He may not have checked in on this thread but he was at least online here a few days ago.

Matt Day
09-25-2017, 7:39 PM
It's been another 2 weeks since Lowell has been active here on SMC. Anybody know if he's okay?