We are going to manage to catch this. There are a number of programs on streaming tv regarding new finds of terra cotta courtiers, etc. Interesting stuff! Look up: Xian tombs.
Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit…
by CJ | Aug 10, 2017 | Journal | 76 comments
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I have moved from NH, and now live back home in southeastern Louisiana. My procedure involves dried grains and beans in sealed canning jars and a propane ring. Also helps to know what wild greens can be eaten.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall last night near Rockport, northeast of Corpus Christi, as a Cat. 4 hurricane. As of now, it’s still a Cat. 2 hurricane, more than 12 hours after making landfall, and is dumping hurricane-force wind and rain there, with tropical storm-force wind and rain as far as Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Galveston, and here in Houston. Where it has hit, it is as bad as Ike and in some ways like Tropical Storm Allison, in staying so stationary. It’s expected to retain tropical storm rainfall and flooding until Wednesday, so about a solid week of this. I don’t yet know when they expect it to drop below hurricane strength or below tropical storm level. However, it’s highly unusual for it to last like this, and is being kept in parking gear by weather cells to the north.
Here in town, we had tropical storm winds peaking at 35 to 75 mph overnight and heavy rain and flash floods. It only sounded really bad at one point. But this is on the very edge of the storm, not like when Ike passed over. We’re still expected to get heavy rains and flooding. through Wednesday, maybe even Thursday. People in Houston have been advised to stay put and not get out on the road, and take precautions as they would for a tropical storm.
My power hasn’t gone out, but it still could. The apartment complex hasn’t flooded (yet).
I will need to do a grocery trip Tuesday or Wednesday. I’m low on drinks (milk, juice, Cokes, etc.) and a few other things. But the fridge is good and the pantry has enough canned and dry goods. — However, I don’t have a grill or a camp stove or even Sterno. Should’ve taken care of that. Tommie’s suggestion there is a good one, and I’ll need to get that done later, for general preparedness.
All in all, neighbors and friends and myself and my two cats are doing better than I wold’ve expected so far. I’d thought we’d be without power this morning. This could be the worst of it today. I’ll cook again tomorrow. 🙂
I really feel for the folks directly hit by the hurricane, because I went through that during and after Ike. They are going to be in for as much as a month and a half of real hardship, loss of electricity, possibly clean water, and phone and internet (and cable/video) service, and problems with emergency services. I really hope they get a better result than what happened after Ike. That’s my yardstick for it.
So I feel very, very fortunate. I’m OK, despite tropical storm conditions, and expect to be OK through the remainder of the storm into the end of next week. The folks southwest of me, as far inland as almost to San Antonio, are going to have a very bad time for at least a month and a half.
The area affected is a triangular or semi-circular area roughly bounded by Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Galveston, and Houston. Understand that this encompasses much of the Texas Gulf Coast and inland along the coastal plains. This is a massive area, much like Ike’s disaster range. But Ike moved through more quickly. Harvey is acting more like Allison, in staying parked and moving only very, very slowly, dumping so much rain.
So — Doing OK where I am, this first day after. — Hoping y’all are all right, and feeling greatly for folks who were and are in the hurricane’s path.
I’ll be following the news for the next day or so, in case, but likely, I’m through the worst of it for now.
BKS, thanks for updating on how the storm is affecting you. Glad that so far it is manageable.
I hope Tommie is in a positive position to update too.
North of New Orleans, with no problems here!
Y’all be safe! BCS: Tuesday–for now–looks safer.
I’m unsure of the reliability of these predictions, but here they are:
NWS Advanced Hydrology Prediction page:
https://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=hgx
Some locations are projected to get an additional ten feet of flooding.
Still doing fine where I am. Other parts of the city (Houston) are faring badly. It varies widely.
Still nothing like the folks around Rockport and Victoria, where the hurricane landed. The center of rotation for Harvey is _still_ a tropical storm at 40+ mph, and it is still wobbling almost stationary there. They are getting clobbered with rain and wind still.
Here in Houston, we’ve had over 21 inches of rainfall, around 6 to 8 inches last night alone. Word is, we could get another 2 feet tomorrow and the next day. (Some places in the wide region affected by the storm have had up to 50 inches of rainfall already.) Here in town, we’re getting the rain rotating in, in bands, so we get a lull, then heavy rains, then almost none, then more rain. Bayous in town have been flooded over their banks and at least one major feeder road into I-10 has been broken apart horizontally and fallen into a sinkhole.
So it depends on where you are in town, and what the drainage and rainfall are. They are running rescue boats and high water vehicles to help stranded people, and there are shelters across town. — KHOU 11, the CBS TV affiliate here, has had their building flooded out and their service is down, being covered (I hear) by an affiliate northward; Austin or Dallas, I think. A reporter for Channel 11 is credited with keeping the studio running for over an hour, then she rescued a trucker before his cab flooded, saving his life. It’s been going like that. — Reports are that this flooding is worse than we had in Allison or Ike. — So I feel very fortunate that, so far, my apartment complex is doing all right.
This is expected to last through Thursday now, and they predict the same or more rainfall before we’re done, at least the next two days. The eye of the storm and the rotation are still pulling rain in from the Gulf in those rain bands. Until the storm breaks apart or moves sufficiently and until other weather cells nearby allow it to move, we’ll stay like this.
I am very, very thankful I’m OK and people around me are safe. But they’re talking 2 or 3 feet high flooding in other parts of the city. And yet it’s worse around where the storm center hit. The entire area from Corpus Christi to Victoria to Houston to Galveston is still being hit.
Note: Yes, Tommie, over in Louisiana is still fine. She and other Louisiana neighbors may luck out if the storm will break up before it moves.
I’m getting my news sources from local TV and online from The Weather Channel, and I’ve seen a few reports from elsewhere that are behind the information flow and are not so aware of what is typical for hurricanes or recent history, other than what will grab viewers’ attention. So they’re getting what shocks them the most, essentially. Local reporting tends to get experienced storm veterans, and so tends to be a bit more balanced. — But dang, this is still just as unprecedented and record-breaking and dangerous as they’re saying. — It still impresses me as like both Ike and Allison. But we in Houston, on the edge of it, mind you, have already gotten worse flooding and rain than during Allison, which stalled similarly.The hurricane is also very comparable to Ike, Rita, and Katrina, and Sandy up north was an amateur by comparison.
Folks, I’m ine. It did not hit over me like Ike or Allison did. Houston has been getting ongoing tropical storm strength weather, rain and wind, since Friday night. So the duration for Houston and for much of the Texas Gulf Coast, is unusually long and severe. Therefore, this is a strange beast of a storm. — Anyone along the Gulf Coast and Atlantic and out in the Caribbean with hurricane experience should understand, this thing is among the worst we’ve ever seen, possibly the worst ever. And therefore, folks along the Coast and Caribbean need to be wary of similar hurricanes in the future.
Houston’s authorities have said there has been incredibly good cooperation among the various city and county agencies, faith-based and volunteer efforts, and FEMA and other federal programs. They also made a point to thank local media (TV, etc.) and ordinary citizens, for reporting problems quickly and efficiently, and businesses like HEB and Walmart, for shipping in emergency relief supplies fast. They said they’re coordinating on needed supplies to provide for the Houston area, but financing and federal help and so on are still needed, as are supplies and skilled respondents.
So that’s where it stands as of now. I anticipate another report tomorrow, at least, before things have calmed down enough. — Local schools, universities, the library system, and the county and city courts are closed Monday and will determine later for Tuesday and forward. — And I see the poor, intrepid and/or foolhardy postal carrier delivered mail both Friday and Saturday, and possibly tomorrow. In this weather? Are y’all kidding me? I hope they’ll be safe.
Wishing everyone a good weekend and into Monday. Still going well here. I’m very surprised and grateful. And wow, others in town and across the disaster area really, really need help. They are going to be bad off for another month and a half or so.
The Cajun Navy is coming in, with their boats, to help rescue people.
Latest word is that Harvey may gain a little strength – everyone is hoping that it doesn’t go out a little and then come back in, because that would mean Houston gets it again and harder.
And, unfortunately, Himself is supposed to show up on Tuesday for photos and yelling about how great he is.
Cajun Navy? I’m guessing that’s civilians, fishing boats and pleasure craft, coming up the coast to help where they can, bless their hearts (and not in the usual Southern sense!)
Don’t remember running across that term before; closest thing I can think of would be the Hooligan Navy, a civilian operation that worked with the CG off the eastern seaboard during WWII. They were mostly spotters in sailboats and fishers, although a few had antiquated deck guns. There’s a tale about one having a German U-Boat surface a short distance away and having the sub’s captain harangue them to go back to port, ‘don’t you know it’s dangerous out here?’ A gent who used to come into our library was in the Hooligan Navy for a while; Mr. Ross was full of stories, the taller the better, although most had some truth to them 😉
One wishes Himself would have more sense than to get in the way and take resources away from rescue operations, but as one person said, ‘he doesn’t have the sense God gave him.’
Ah, additional word: The Houston Ship Channel and Hobby Airport and Bush Intercontinental Airport are all three shut down through tomorrow, meaning essentially, all air and sea port activity is closed until Tuesday. That is a very big deal for here, and gives an idea of how major the storm is.
Glad to hear you are still doing all right personally, BCS! My spouse has been giving me periodic updates on the storm and saying Houston is getting hit hard. I was getting worried for you. Do keep with the updates when and as you are able.
Ditto!
BCS, thanks for keeping us updated on how you’re doing. The pictures of flooding that are being shown are worrysome, especially when you know someone who is stuck in the affected area. It’s good to hear you’re doing OK, and your new appartment is apparently not in the lowest parts of town.
Keep safe.
On the topic of how major it is (real incident, my words)…
A boat rescuer approached a man standing waist deep in the water, “Want a ride out?”
“Please.”
Rescuer looks around a little puzzled, “What are you standing on?”
“My truck.”
Making conversation, “What kind of truck do you have?”
“An 18-wheeler.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEMA_Urban_Search_and_Rescue_Task_Force
My local CA-TF5 deployed to San Antonio ahead of the storm and followed it toward the coast. On the 25th, CA-TF1, CA-TF4, and CA-TF8 activated. On the 26th, the water rescue components of CA-TF2, CA-TF3, CA-TF6 and CA-TF7 activated. If all CA forces are active, I presume all 28 FEMA task forces nationwide are active now.
Thanks, everyone. Today has had its ups and downs. I’ve had near constant medium to heavy rain with a few gaps, since 11am today. Around noon, power went on and off for a few seconds, twice, before staying on again. So I still have electricity. The apartment complex is still doing all right. I’ve heard a very few people around the apartments and cars a few times. I’m fairly sure most people here have work shifts all hours of the day and night, health care and other jobs, both skilled and unskilled. However, schools and both airports and the ship channel and most businesses are closed, and most package deliveries are closed, due to flooding and rainfall.
I’d tried to post around noon, and the power went out briefly, which cancelled the reply. Heh.
Much of the city, places I’m familiar with, major highways, feeder roads, all the bayous, are having trouble with flooding, and KHOU TV, CBS in Houston, their studio was flooded out yesterday, so their coverage was picked up by a sister station to the north. Emergency shelters have been filling up. Local residents and folks from around Texas and Louisiana, along with city, county, state, and federal disaster relief workers have been busy ferrying people by boat to safety. This afternoon, I’d heard Gov. Abbott has mobilized the National Guard in Texas to cover the entire affected area, from Corpus Christi to Galveston and Houston.
I’ve seen the news that Harvey has gone offshore again, is still a tropical storm, and is moving northeast before it makes landfall again. The local projection I just saw says they think it may pass Houston by Wednesday night, and may make landfall around then. If so, it puts the wet side of the storm past us. — But that is a forecast and two days away.
The news reports say rainfall in Houston is at 40 to 45 inches total so far, and that this is more than the combined rain totals for Sandy, Andrew, and Katrina combined. Reports say we could still get another 2 feet of rain. (I’d also heard they were still projecting 51 inches of rain, but if we get 24 more inches, that puts us up to 64 to 69 inches of rain total.) Eek.
We’re now expected to get rain through Thursday or Friday, so a solid week.
I talked with my friends, and they’re OK also, though one said it was flooding badly near him, but his family home was OK. Another friend is nearer where I am and they were fine, as well as relatives near them.
FEMA and other federal agencies are apparently doing an average to good job responding. But the governor and the city mayor and the county judge have said Houston and the whole area need more response and financing, and are coordinating with grocery stores and other suppliers, and do need more help, as well as skilled people to work.
I am vastly underwhelmed with the folly, lack of empathy, and inattention of a certain high official, he-who-should-not-be-named. If he does show up, I don’t expect anything but more of the same, a great sound and fury and flashing of lights, signifying not much. “Good Luck!” is not the appropriate response.
It looks like most of the city will be anxious to get to the grocery store by the time that’s feasible. Friends and I will be keeping an eye out so I can go, but I’m not anxious to be in among a lot of people who may need things more than I do. So we’ll play it by ear. But it may be Thursday or Friday before I can go. — I’ve got electricity, I’ve got food in the pantry still, I have enough in the fridge and freezer, though I’m out of Cokes and nearly out of milk, and will need other fresh foods and meat when I go.
Note: I do have a gym bag packed for a couple of days, and the cat carriers are ready if need be. But I still think we’re going to ride this out all right. I feel very fortunate. — And I asked the friends who’d bought my former house so they could renovate and flip it, to go by and get dated pictures, showing the water was down as of when they do. The house had tree damage to the roof during Allison that was repaired then, but no flood waters from the yard. So it might have escaped flooding there too
So I’m still OK, friends are OK, but wow, much of the city has flooded. I know the areas I’ve seen covered in local and a few national reports. It is very serious and will take weeks or months here for people to rebuild and recover. — That said, it will be more like a month and half before folks around Victoria and Rockport have power again and begin to recover. Some coastal towns have been really devastated. As bad as Houston has it, those people are facing worse. And by comparison, I’m doing fine. A few more days, and the storm will have passed.
I’ll continue updating until it looks like we’re past the storm threat.
My understanding is that Himself (and his fashion-plate wife) are going to Corpus and to Austin. It’s all photo-ops, as far as I can tell. (Photos of them boarding Marine 1 to fly down show her in stilettos and and skinny pants, with a bomber jacket. It was raining in the DC area.)
I heard a bit of what was said. It was good for a laugh. Hey, we’ll shut down the government, cancel the flood insurance support program, leave the debt ceiling in place so we can borrow the money we’ll need, and rollback the “climate resilience” requirements on infrastructure projects ordered by the previous administration. That’ll fix it. “We’re going to get infrastructure built quickly, inexpensively, relatively speaking, and the permitting process will go very, very quickly.” Sure, let’s do that. Some of my ancestors knew “you get what you pay for”. They said, “I’m too poor to buy cheap.”
Meanwhile, DPRK fired a missle across Japan. “What we do now, Keemo Sabe?”
I’m also presuming the Cajun Navy are volunteers, something like a rag-tag fleet 😉 of regular folks ready to help. They and Walt’s friends (and Joe’s USN and CG buddies) and heck, the TAMU-Galveston sea cadets, are absolutely welcome to Houston and the rest of the coast. Louisiana folks are certainly our neighbors and a good many stayed in Houston after Katrina hit N’Orleans. I’ve see La. is prepping in case Harvey keeps heading their way.
One news report went on about this being an only once in a thousand years flood plain event. But the problem with that is, Houston has seen Allison, Rita, and Ike in the last 20 years, and Carla in the 60’s was major. The Gulf Coast and Atlantic (and Caribbean) see major hurricanes every year, though Harvey is the worst on record. So saying it’s a thousand year event seems to miss the point of how often major hurricanes hit somewhere, and it misses the point that more destructive storms are more common lately. In other words, we all of us need to be careful, because we could have another major storm like any of those, somewhere along the coast, any given year. That we’ve had such big storms so often in the past 20 years is telling.
Hmm. The Weather Channel’s app has been playing Chicken Little since Saturday, with multiple emergency alerts for Houston. Well, yeah, but that can get to be too much too often. Still, having such messages could be essential if it’s right in one’s own immediate area.
Just last week I saw a report about an analysis of (about 800, if I remember the number correctly) internal and external communications from Exxon Mobil. They concluded that in 80% of the internal communications, Exxon admitted that man-made climate change is real and would have bad consequences – the earliest of these internal acknowledgements about climate change being real was from 1979!
80% of their external communications, infomercials etc.during the same time however were critical of the idea of climate change.
So it looks like the oil industry, like big tobacco, decided to hide the negative consequences of pushing their product for as long as they could, in order to continue to make as much money as possible. I really hope these Exxon documents will be the lever needed to break open this conspiracy, in the same way the Philip Morris documents broke the tobacco industry’s conspiracy of silence and casting doubt.
The stinger in this tail is that they have spent so much money for so long on campaigns to make people doubt scientific evidence, and getting media and the people in general used to the idea that “telling both sides” is the same as “telling the truth”, that being ‘balanced’ in giving as much weight to 3% as to 97% of scientists means that you cannot be sure enough to act… it’s made the American public very vulnerable to manipulation.
Fox News has been spreading propaganda and lies, cherry-picked talking points and distrust of other media for so long, that a whole generation who, coming from a moderate Republican background, looked to them as a trustworthy news source has been indoctrinated and duped by the big moneyed interests into believing their “alternative facts”, to the detriment of themselves as well as the world. A democracy needs a well-informed populace that can make sensible decisions based on facts and reality; if a lot of people believe lies instead, and/or believe no truth can be found and trustworthy sources cannot be believed, the voters cannot make informed decisions and become easily manipulated by populists. Since Trump became elected, I’ve wondered if that might not be the more dangerous consequence of the actions taken by big moneyed interests over the decades to protect their own (short-term) gains above all.
Climate change is going to be bad, but a breakdown of democracies will be very bad as well, and not make dealing with climate change any easier.
Now the oil refineries in Houston are being badly hit by the flooding, and the first signs are already visible that they will be applying for subsidies and loans to get back on their feet again – while they have for decades, knowing these sort of consequences were likely, kept America back from doing something to avoid the climate warming that is making the storms more severe and causing this level of flooding. They pocketed the profits, and laid the costs on the whole world – I don’t think they deserve getting more government money to go back to doing more damage.
Where “Big Oil” is concerned, we are in a “non-capitalistic” situation, all propaganda to the contrary notwithstanding. The basic capitalistic ideal is that when shortges occur and prices rise, then there is incentive for someone else to come into the market and satisfy the demand. “NIMBY”s have obstructed (half-hearted efforts of) building of refineries for decades and even if they hadn’t it takes years to build one. So when “incidents” cause scarcity, prices naturally rise and “Big Oil” still does OK.
OTOH, if lack of refinery capacity constricts our “burn rate”, perhaps there will be some fossil fuel left “unto the seventh generation”? We’re using it as if it were in unlimited supply for future generations too.
I too wish BCS had considered the famous words of our great philosopher Yogi Bera, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” There are months to come!
Yes, absolutely, it’s not over yet. Harvey is still active over Houston / Galveston and into New Orleans and a bit east of there, essentially everything from Galveston to all the Louisiana coast. And this hurricane season is not over yet. There’s at least one tropical depression out in the Atlantic. (That’s usual; any year sees multiple storms that reach T.S. or hurricane strength.) Every year sees somewhere along the coast get hit by a major storm. The concern is that in the last few years, temperatures year-round are increasing and storms during hurricane season have been worse: bigger and wider and stronger and longer-lasting, with Harvey now the worst on record.
I also take the point that federal response is still ongoing, and it’s a coordinated effort from all levels combined. “This ain’t my first rodeo, y’all.” — Responses this time seem to be going about as well as they could be, and given how massive this is compared even to Ike or Katrina, it’s impressive both that the team effort is going OK and that they’ve learned from past storm responses. That’s good, folks. Not perfect, but good.
Shelters here are seeing twice the number of people they’d expected. — I am very aware of what I’ve seen of coverage from around town. Many of those areas, I know personally, what they look like when they are not under many feet of water. And this includes neighborhoods near where I grew up and went to school, including one of our in-district high school friendly rivalries. (Their high school and mine are in the same district and so were both allies and rivals, sports-wise. I know that area. It’s been badly flooded.)
Several friends are like me, fine, but major roads are flooded. My apartment complex is still fine, which is remarkable by comparison. I don’t expect to be able to go out for groceries until Thursday or Friday now. Hah, package deliveries and mail are stalled: I’d ordered some things, expecting delivery later this week after the storm had passed. Well, that was an underestimate. They’re stuck north of town or in town, until they can be delivered. — I’m now out of Cokes and chocolate, nearly out of milk, but I’ve got canned condensed milk, and there’s still food in the freezer and fridge and what I’ve cooked. I’ve got tea, crackers, I’m in good supply of most things. In other words, I am inconvenienced. I’m not hurting. My apartment is not flooded. Other people in town are in shelters and have lost everything. So by comparison, I don’t have room to complain. My apartment neighbors are fine too. (And the kids haven’t had school yesterday or today. Their parents have not yet raised flags of surrender….) — I will, however, need to check my storage space to see if it was affected. That won’t be until next week. Groceries will be the first priority, when that becomes doable.
—–
The press conference with the current office-holder went about like usual: Agency representatives, local through national, gave brief statements, he nodded and gave some thanks, and the conference concluded for private meetings. — The bulk of this is what the various agencies do, and they’re doing a pretty good job so far. I hope Himself will listen and do what he’s supposed to do so things proceed. I hope Congress gets funding and supplies going in a timely way, so this gets handled properly. This natural disaster is more grass-roots, down to earth, where everyday people live and are directly affected. How this administration deals with that and how they show support for ordinary people is one of the most important challenges the administration faces. There have been other major crises that are also crucial. — So I really hope we the people are served well by our elected officials. Please, I hope they do what they ought to. That’s why they were voted in. — I don’t always agree with ’em, I voted for the other candidate in many cases, but they’re the ones doing the job right now. So I’d prefer they do it well; excellently or at least competently. — And if Himself does get impeached, well, I’ll hope the next in line does a better job. But as someone in the affected area, I’m not overly impressed by the current head of office. And he’s still the one elected, until and unless he’s impeached. So that’s my take on that issue.
Major takeaway point: This has affected the 4th largest US city again and the entire Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast and coastal plains. How we handle this and how we learn from it and prepare for future events like it shows something of who we are personally and as a nation. Therefore, please, let’s get it as well as we can, and make sure we do better going forward.
Hoping things will improve. Our rainfall locally has finally decreased from projections, but the backlog is still to deal with over the next days and weeks, before it recedes. Not over by far, but the most immediate increase may have abated.
I’ll continue reporting personal impressions for another day or two, and (hah) likely a dad and amazed report when I do get out for groceries. 😉 Take care, everyone.
Tommie, please stay safe and as dry as you can over there. Y’all are now getting what we’ve been getting; so, sympathies.
(Man, a lot of people could use a pirogue to row down the bayou at this point; and jambalaya would not be remiss; quite welcome. The song just crossed my mind. Now I’m gonna have that stuck in my head.)
A slightly soggy hug to all of y’all out there.
Oh my gosh, it’s stopped raining! At least for now. Yippee!
Related: Amazon says, “Your package is still on its way, but there has been an unexpected delay.” — Nnooo, rreeaallyy? Hahaha. It wouldn’t be all that water in the way, would it? Heh. At least it’s not floating downstream. :O
However, a helicopter just flew over, the first I’ve heard in a long time. News or emergency or what, I don’t know. However, that’s OK. It should mean someone’s assessing the situation, which is a positive step.
I’ve been watching ABC13’s stream, and I’ve seen no sign of a news helicopter. Given all the USCG and Nat’l Guard choppers–and the weather until recently–I suppose that’s understandable. Also, all the local airports are closed.
It ain’t over until the water drains from inland, though, and the flood catchments are over-full.
Houston curfew 10-5 (delayed until midnight tonight); other jurisdictions to 6 or 7am.
Unconfirmed reports of limited power outages for repairs, at least in outlying areas. If you freeze ice in your freezer, it should help keep things cool for a fairly long outage. Remember ice expands.
Walt, thanks. I just checked weather.com || the Weather Channel, and saw news of the curfew, 10pm to 5am, as you said. This is not surprising; they declared a curfew after Ike and for a while, they had martial law. But _most_ people behaved themselves. (There were no problems when I was in line after Ike for food and water and ice. People cooperated and were civil, for the most part.) So I’d expect the same now. (Yes, after Ike, there was some looting and so on. It wasn’t perfect. Constables or police officers were stationed at grocery stores, checked your receipts, and their sidearms were holstered but they could use them if needed. This being Texas, people tend to respect that anyway, thanks to that cowboy pioneer legacy.)
Kids and teens and a few adults are out around the apartments tonight, which is more normal. It’s the first time we haven’t had rain going. This is fine. 🙂 Should help prevent cabin fever, haha.
It looks like we’re out of most danger for further rainfall in town. (Guardedly optimistic, there.) — The tropical storm is now east of Galveston and heading towards New Orleans or somewhere between here and there. They’re bracing for more rain, wind, and flooding. The blasted thing just doesn’t want to quit yet. Still predicting 24 inches for New Orleans.
Flooding’s still ongoing in town. — I haven’t heard if schools and so on will be closed tomorrow too, but I’d be surprised if they’re able to be open yet. So…we maintain, keep on keepin’ on.
Power’s still fine here, water that was accumulating has drained some. I have noticed some video streaming sputters or hangs, so cable and likely cellular are having problems due to water.
News is a little better today overall for Houston. However, flood waters have not yet peaked, and two major reservoirs upstream have both overfilled as well as had controlled releases (man-made) in order to forestall damage (rupture) of the dams themselves. Points east, Beaumont / Port Arthur and to New Orleans are seeing the worst rains, flooding, and damage today and into at least Friday. So it’s not over.
Reports say Houston has received a total of 51 inches of rain so far, breaking all known records for North America, and more than Houston’s usual annual rainfall in less than one week. Understand this is truly unprecedented.
I’d like to give credit where it’s due: Texas Gov. Abbott and Louisiana’s Governor have been doing a great job informing people and coordinating relief efforts. They have prior experience and have handled this very well. I have been very impressed with Houston’s Mayor Sylvester Turner. I do not always agree with him, but in this, he has shown practical common sense and compassion in dealing with problems on a vast scale. He has admitted his own (and the city’s) shortcomings, needs for improvements by the city, county, state, and federal, to prevent future problems, and he’s pointed out projects that were already planned or in need of funding (including federal funding) to complete. I’ve appreciated his tact too. (He rose from an activist in Houston to eventually mayor. He’s sometimes been a firebrand and outspoken, but he’s also more careful lately. I think he’s maturing.) So I’m glad of the job he’s been doing. Houston’s Police Chief Acevedo has also been in recent news over speaking out for anti-racist issues, along with other mayors and police chiefs in Texas, opposing some recent bad legislation. He deserves thanks for this. And I’ve seen a really good report by Rachel Maddow, covering fairly both the good and the bad about Houston and the area. She packed in a lot of information, kept it concise, and covered both the positive and the negative, things that needed work, and things that work well about our city and area. I was impressed at how comprehensive this was, and unexpected. My opinion of Ms. Maddow as a person and a journalist went up a few notches, though, hey, I thought she was pretty good already. And the news folks at Channel 11, KHOU-TV, CBS Houston, have been working out of a temporary base for the last few days, since their studio building was flooded out a few days ago. (Dan Rather used to work there, and sent his well-wishes.) Their current “studio” reports are from folding tables and desks, printouts and coffee cups in front of them, a nice enough backdrop, basically camping out at a nearby facility. Seeing that is very surreal. They’re to be commended. (And, ahem, at least two of them have been wearing the same clothes for two days or so.) They don’t yet know how bad the damage to the studio is, built in the 60’s or 70’s before Mr. Rathre was there. It may not be salvageable, on at least the ground floor if not the second floor.
Curiously, news services in India have taken notice, comparing Houston and the Gulf Coast to recent monsoon flooding in Mumbai and elsewhere. This makes very good sense, because the weather processes (hurricanes, typhoons, monsoons, maybe tsunami) are similar for the two regions. I want to watch some of their coverage to see what ideas they have. Note also, many Indian and Pakistani folks live and work in the Houston area, either as first and further back generation citizens or as immigrants seeking citizenship or temporary or midterm workers. So the back-and-forth of experience could be very useful. Many Indians here are in engineering, computers, and medicine, besides middle class folks. In other words, there are good resources available for cross-fertilizing ideas between two regions affected by flooding and ocean storms.
Locally: Hah, the concrete is wet, the grass is saturated, but this is better than it was. We’re getting a chance for water to recede around the apartment complex and (much more urgently needed) around town. People are still seeking shelter and being evacuated from flooded areas all through the city. (Two large towns have been ordered entirely evacuated and are reported entirely flooded, to give you a further idea.) — Where I am, we even have a little bit of sunshine, no rain since late yesterday afternoon / early evening. Kids and adults were outside briefly last night, normal stuff. I went to my mailbox this morning, and the complex looks good. I exchanged hello’s with a couple getting their mail.
I see the President is due back on Saturday to look things over here and coordinate. OK. I saw coverage from the other day, and I was more impressed by the federal agencies and state and local agencies, who are cooperating well. Congress urgently needs to fund and allocate federal help for the Texas and Louisiana coast and plains. This is going to take months of recovery, and needs a lot of support for people who’ve lost everything.
Hah, Amazon tells me there’s been an “unexpected delay,” and they’re sorry, “It doesn’t usually take this long for packages to reach their destination.” — At least two packages have been waiting north of the city for a couple of days now. It occurred to me, it’ll be a minor miracle if something wasn’t lost or damaged in the flooding. — I am honestly not so bothered by that. There are bigger problems. I do wonder when I’ll get mail again, though, or packages. No idea yet when.
That helicopter I heard yesterday evening could have been assessing damage or could have been emergency services or law enforcement flyovers or even national guard / coast guard. The same was done at night (county constables, national guard patrols) to protect against looting after Ike while under martial law. So likely more of the same. — This was before sundown, and to be clear, we are not under martial law yet, so far as I have heard, but we are under curfew, 10pm to 5am, for the duration. This is fine. Given the scope of the disaster and flooding, the need of people for services like food and medicine, it’s understandable and fair, to prevent disorder. That said, everything I’ve seen has shown ordinary people helping out other people in desperate need. The governor went to some lengths to thank local people for helping out and keeping calm and orderly, so we all get through this. So did the mayor. Er, it was more than the president said. — After Ike, most people worked together instead of panicking or being selfish. People here do have experience with hurricanes. So we know to help each other. It’s the only way to get through it.
(Another helicopter flyover just now, just flying, nothing close in.)
My thoughts now are with folks in Beaumont Port Arthur and into New Orleans. They’re now getting what we were getting a couple of days ago, and are in for the same level of damage Houston has now.
I’m again curious what Indian news services are saying, comparing the two areas.
Be safe and dry everyone. It looks like I’m personally past the worst of it. Also looks like Friday or Saturday, a delay, before I can get groceries. Going to cook again, but still have meat in the freezer and canned food, not in real need yet, just need to restock. Other people in town have lost everything. My neighbors and friends are doing OK.
I’ll likely have another report before I end these, then something when I go out for groceries and supplies. — I will need to go by my storage space and see if or how badly it was affected. Nothing I can do about it either way, so I am not going to worry about it or feel too bad about it. I would like to think I won’t feel too bad if some was lost.
Best Wishes, everyone. I’m OK. Other people are in urgent need of help.
CJ and Jane are now back home after eclipse viewing, adventures on the road, and a very successful Bubonicon in Albuquerque. ReadyGuy and I and BGrandrath and his lady met up and had a great time at this 49th edition of the con. CJ was co-guest of honor with Sherwood Smith.
@BCS – CJ watched the news and was distressed by the Houston flooding and fretted about all her salads.
@ Members of the Wavy Navy – during our time together we discussed possibilities for the next ShejiCon. At CJ’s request in the weeks to come I will be polling for preferred dates, places, and activities. Any and all US and Canadian locations can be proposed, and dates to allow teachers, etc. will be considered. Tell all your salads to be on the lookout here, on CJ’s FaceBook page, or on Shejidan.com for more info.
This needs its own thread as it is too important to be buried in terracotta warriors.
Awhile back I had offered to host a gathering in my neck of the woods (suburban Vancouver BC) My city is home to a Parker carousel which is housed in a pavilion with attached meeting room. They rent it out for corporate events etc. with option of a carousel operator. We don’t have a big cat sanctuary but the local aquarium is world-class. Most of our wildlife rehab facilities aren’t big on tours as they want to keep the wildlife wild, although I understand O.W.L., which concentrates on raptors, does. We do have wineries but the area is large and it would be a lot of driving, a beer tour would be a better bet.
I would pay for the carousel rental for a pizza party and CJ and Jane’s hotel. Our best weather is usually August. We are currently in drought mode and haven’t had serious rain since the end of June, but we can’t count on this for next year.
Pluses: proximity to the amenities of a scenic, major city. Minuses: kind of at the edge of the world for the majority of the salads. I don’t know if we have anyone else in the neighbourhood. Even though the US$ is running about 1.20 Canadian, who knows what it will be next summer and Canada ain’t cheap. My place is not large but I can evict Teasel to my bedroom and put up one or two. The general size of the metropolitan area also works against us; the best local museum, the UBC Museum of Anthropology, is at least a 45 min. drive away from my place in off peak hours.
Although Spokane is a burden for our hostesses, the principle attraction is the opportunity to see the Author in Her Natural Habitat. What we do isn’t as important as the opportunity to chew the fat and catch up. (Inspect the new kitchen?) As somebody who gets most of their info on the US from US network TV news, its a miracle I’ll cross the border at all, but I would strongly prefer a location within a day’s drive of the line. As for time of year, I need to reserve holiday time back about February so the most lead time I get, the better. The third weekend in August is the Princeton Traditional Music Festival and I expect I’ll sing there again, but otherwise the schedule is clear at this point.
So in summation: do I need to start doing some research and put together a proposed itinerary, costs, hotels etc. for BC or is it “thanks, but no thanks, you live in the boondocks and nobody will go there”.
Houston gets a lot of its air and sea port trade from Mexico and other Latin American countries and the Caribbean, besides further international points. Most of Houston (including editorials from the Houston Chronicle) do not want a wall. Landowners along the border mostly do not want the wall, as it would mean losing some or all of their lands for pennies on the dollar. Understand, those people own anything from small homesteads to large farms and ranches, and some of them go back to land grants from [I]Spain[/I] and from [I]Mexico[/I] before Texas became independent and then became a US state. In fact, that’s true throughout Texas. That is the extent of Latino, black, white, Asian, and Native American folks having a stake in Texas. And in Houston, our current population is something like 49 to 51% white, around 1/8 to 1/6 each black and Hispanic, then Asians (the number I saw seemed under-reported), and then other groups and multi-racial folks. On any given day, I see very many people whose skin color is not so white or whose ethnic / racial background is not easy to tell, because it’s from multiple sources. This is true for most other major US cities, especially still in NY, CA, FL, and TX. — If Mr. Trump wants a wall, he can build it with his own two hands, thanks. (Just my two cents.)
This wee, I’d seen a news report claiming that Mexico had offered aid, civilian and military and emergency services, to help Texas after Harvey, but the current administration had allegedly not yet accepted the offer. Note that America DID accept Mexico’s offer previously for Ike and (I think) for Katrina. Mexico’s coast also gets regularly hit like the American coast, and they are, again, our neighbors and acting as friendly trading partners. This promotes good will, trade, friendly relations, and a strong economy for both nations. [I]That[/I] is, in my opinion, the best way to ensure people don’t want or need to seek greener pastures in the USA. If Mexico and other countries in Central America and South America have stable, growing economies, then their people will naturally want to stay there. — I really hope the current US administration will not delay in accepting Mexico’s offer. To delay, or worse, to refuse, risks a serious insult that could harm relations. Besides, it would be the wrong thing to do. Mexico doesn’t have to help us; they’re offering to do so for good humanitarian reasons. It’s a bad idea to delay or refuse to accept help. And frankly, we need the help, and in the future, we can return the favor. It would be win-win for everyone.
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Report for Thursday, 08-31:
There was this big bright strange thing in the sky yesterday late afternoon and all day today. The sky was this strange color and not filled with clouds. Rain was not falling from the sky in buckets. (The only buckets are on the ground. Or, er, in the water.) Likewise with cats and dogs. None falling from the skies.
Kids have been playing some outside as usual when they’re out of school, probably to save the adults’ sanity from being cooped up inside. It’s been nice enough they [I]can[/I] play outside. This is great! But this is where I live, not elsewhere in town.
The sidewalks are drying out. The ground is still soaked where I am, but elsewhere, floodwaters still have not peaked.
I was up most of last night; just couldn’t sleep. This happens to me periodically. I went back to sleep today instead of staying up, a rarity lately. No need to be up; I could afford to rest.
Haha, one of the moms around here, I heard asking another mom if she had any milk left. The answer was no, she was out too. A very few cars have gone in and out. I haven’t been to the store yet, and I’d guess those moms have not either. — But hey, apparently, the US mail got through. (Brave, brave soul.)
However, the items I’d ordered prior to the storm are still delayed, and Amazon is quite sorry, it usually doesn’t take so long. Haha, I don’t yet know if they will arrive or got lost or damaged in transit, i.e., flooded out. But possibly this weekend or Monday might see their errant and tardy, but much anticipated arrival. I’m fine with this, but the supplies are needed now. Not yet desperate, though. — Hoping to get to the store, well, we’ll see when friends can do this, when (1) the roads are passable and (2) the stores are stocked again. (Likely my grocery store will be mostly OK, but it could have had water damage, and they may be low on stock with everyone needing to resupply after a solid week.) So we’ll see.
I see that Harvey is [I]still[/I] a tropical storm but has rather quickly passed through Louisiana up into Mississippi and headed for Ohio, and still dumping lots of rain and risk of tornadoes. — One of our local weathermen pointed out Harvey originated as a tropical wave near Sierra Leone in west Africa, where it caused severe flooding and mudslides there, before crossing the Atlantic into the Gulf of Mexico to mess with us. This marks a huge path of weather. (Yet that is also a typical path for Atlantic storm systems.) That bit of news was very interesting, from a weather and geography point of view.
Hurricane Irma is out in the Atlantic near Africa, and it’s too early to say where it will go. It’s now at Cat. 2 and expected to reach Cat. 4 before landfall. The same weather forecaster said it would be about two weeks before it reaches near Houston, or wherever it goes, in the Caribbean, up the Atlantic coast, or elsewhere in the Gulf. Hurricane season is not over. He said it could reach Cat. 5 like Harvey before landfall. It is highly unlikely it would hit near us. — But it will hit somewhere, and two Cat. 5 hurricanes in one season? I don’t know if that’s ever happened before. One huge storm is beyond bad. Two? It doesn’t matter where it hits, that’s very bad.
Word is the President is supposed to be around here on Saturday to meet with people, see what’s going on, and move further on things.
[ sarcasm ] One would recommend the First Lady should wear some sensible shoes this time. Broghans or sneakers would not be remiss. Flats at least. As this is fashionable at the golf course and tennis court, one really does recommend it when there may be mud and water. [ /sarcasm ]
[ opinion ] One would please recommend the President should actually attempt to meet real citizens, not just supporters, and essay some positive remarks that evince some consideration of people’s difficulties. This [I]is[/I] part of the job as a good or effective leader. One wishes he would do so. It would not be remiss. It would be the right thing to do. One holds out no great expectation of it. [ /opinion ]
For examples of how to do this properly, one need only look to the Texas and Louisiana governors, the Houston mayor, the Harris County judge, Houston’s police chief, and various federal, state, and county / city agency representatives, who have all been doing a good to outstanding job, both in plan and action, and in showing humane compassion and empathy. — I have not seen enough of my state congressional representatives speaking to know, but Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee has been very active in Houston / Harris County, along with other officials, meeting real people, being on the scene to assess, and coordinating efforts. I should also mention the Red Cross, National Guard, and Coast Guard, and a whole heckuva lot of ordinary local people from Texas and Louisiana who have been helping on scene with evacuations and cleanup.
Note: A huge amount of infrastructure and homes and businesses will need to be rebuilt. As someone directly affected and living here, I would much prefer that those are built to high standards. Dropping, the very week the storm hit, a good plan put in place by the previous administration, is not a sound judgment. — People like me will have to live with the consequences the next time a major event strikes. We can see right now what will happen next time. That is the strongest practical, common sense argument for that which I know of.
Houston has now had 24 hours for our water levels to begin to reabsorb, but floodwaters are projected to continue to be a problem for weeks or more down, er, stream. (Sorry, couldn’t help that pun slipping out.)
I hope folks will be all right. I have no idea how many in Houston are in shelters now, but it was over 7,000 at the George R. Brown Convention Center alone, about double its capacity, as of yesterday. That’s only one large shelter. Even 10 times that amount might be under-guessing the number of people displaced and in evacuation shelters, public or faith-based or otherwise. — Please take care, folks. People all along the Texas and Louisiana coast and plains will need help for months to come. — Of Note: It was nearly a month and a half after Ike before we had electricity again, and longer before we had cable / internet back. I personally am fine, but for people throughout the area, I’d say a month and a half would be a conservative estimate. Ike was not nearly as severe as Harvey, and yet Ike was as bad as Katrina. This for a comparison. — And yes, the news footage you’ve seen is pretty accurate. I know many of those areas here in town. (I grew up near one area severely affected.) — So donations to the Red Cross or other agencies / charities would be a great help. Letters to your congressional representatives would be a good idea too. I put more faith in the various agencies at each level of government, and local and regional people’s efforts, to do what’s needed.
@CJ, @Jane, @Lynn, and @ready4more — Thank y’all very much. I knew CJ and Jane must have been busy, but it had slipped my mind y’all were going to the con. Thanks for your kind thoughts and concern. It does mean a lot.
@Tommie — Hey, dear salad, I hope you’re doing OK after Harvey went through your neck of the woods. I know power may be out there and high water and such may be causing you trouble. Very much understood. Please do take care. Your comments here are always appreciated. — Others in Texas and Louisiana, I’m not aware of who’s where, so please also be careful and be welcome.
Other than a celebratory report when I at last get to the store again and have things like milk, fresh food, ahem, chocolate, Cokes / Dr. Pepper, haha — This should be the last report needed. The immediate danger has passed or is lessened for me, and my area can begin to put itself back together.
I have no idea what condition my storage space is in. It may be OK, it may be partly flooded, it might be all ruined. But I am going to count that as all right, if very disheartening. It’s still better than people in town who’ve lost everything, including their homes, or loved ones or pets.
I do want to see how my former house fared. The guys had just completed renovating it a week or two before the hurricane, and were getting pictures ready to put it on the market. (They own it and will reap the profit from the sale. We (surprisingly) became friends.) But I’d like to know how my former house made it. It had damage repaired after Allison, but it did fine during Ike. At neither time did it get flooding in the home or garage from the ground. The trees that hit during Allison, however, let in rain from the roof, and that damage was cleaned up during repairs. But after they purchased the house, the guys did a needed full renovation. So, as of a couple of weeks before the hurricane, it was brand-new except the brick of the outer structure. So…I want to see how it looks now. Chances are, that’ll be next week, along with a trip by the storage space, which, well, we’ll see.
Happy BirthDay, Dear CJ! thanks for all the books!
Ditto, CJ. I sent you an electronic card, it might have hit your spam bucket, though.