flood watch

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 30 Aug 2017, 13:21

When New Orleans flooded some years back there was high (>1000) loss of life but that was not widely reported because (1) it was a result of failed flood defences and (2) they were mostly poor and/or black.

This flood event is not likely to be on this magnitude because the depth of flood waters is lower, even if over a far wider area. Economic damage could well be higher.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 30 Aug 2017, 16:02

PS_RalphW wrote:When New Orleans flooded some years back there was high (>1000) loss of life but that was not widely reported because (1) it was a result of failed flood defences and (2) they were mostly poor and/or black.

This flood event is not likely to be on this magnitude because the depth of flood waters is lower, even if over a far wider area. Economic damage could well be higher.

Rebuilding will not be a priority in the poorer areas, just as in Katrina & Sandy. There'll be a Shock Doctrine response. After all, taking advantage of disasters is what America is good at.

The Washington Post states that there was no way of forecasting this. True, this individual event is a black swan, but it's the type you can prepare for, even if you deny the causes.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 30 Aug 2017, 17:15

Large areas of New Orleans are below sea level wich makes them so vulnerable whereas this newly flooded area is above although I do believe that coastal areas of Texas are very prone to sea level rise and storm surges.

Post by **adam2** » 31 Aug 2017, 08:40

A huge fire and/or explosion now seems inevitable at a large chemical plant in the Houston area. The facility handles unstable compounds (organic peroxides) that have to be cooled to prevent decomposition and consequent fire.
The grid power supply used for cooling plant failed last Friday, and the standby generators are flooded.
Supplying large enough mobile generators is not an option due to the access roads being flooded.

As an accident seems unavoidable, the surrounding area has been evacuated. Significant loss of life is therefore unlikely, but large scale destruction of property seems likely.
I doubt that the plant will be rebuilt, safer to export the jobs to china.

Post by **adam2** » 31 Aug 2017, 11:39

Explosions now underway, various sources report. More explosions expected.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 31 Aug 2017, 11:40

Cool.

woodburner · Post by **woodburner** » 31 Aug 2017, 13:32

I think the explosions can't be termed an accident, incident is more apt. For it to be an accident they would have needed no way of knowing what might happen. Low lying land in a hurricane zone should have been a clue something could go wrong.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 31 Aug 2017, 14:43

When Houston was founded, it flooded.

Flooding was eventually contained (after 16 major floods) by army personnel in 1937.

The population has exploded since 1937 (from half a million to seven million). Infrastructure, meaning impermeable surfaces, has increased correspondingly.

Houston has suffered several '500-year' floods in this century, notably 2001, 2015 and 2016. Today, places in Houston have flooded that have never done so before.

They're calling the results of Harvey a '1000-year' flood. That's inflation for you.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 31 Aug 2017, 15:01

There was a piece on the BBC News Channel and a summary on the Weather last night about the continuing flooding in South Asia with the monsoon. It's not entirely US centric.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 31 Aug 2017, 17:00

kenneal - lagger wrote:There was a piece on the BBC News Channel and a summary on the Weather last night about the continuing flooding in South Asia with the monsoon. It's not entirely US centric.

Not entirely.

Still, those non-whites are used to monsoons, they should take it in their stride, they're probably worshipping the wrong gods or something.

Potemkin Villager · Post by **Potemkin Villager** » 31 Aug 2017, 20:37

emordnilap wrote:Cool.

Even cooler is the number of cars destroyed!

http://inhabitat.com/hurricane-harvey-m ... 0000-cars/

Less cool is the fact many will be replaced with newer models.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 01 Sep 2017, 08:25

Don't you realise, PV, that these disasters are good for our economies. All the sales of replacement goods will raise GDP no end!!

And how many of those stick built houses will have to be completely rebuilt after being in the water for a week or more?

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 01 Sep 2017, 10:27

kenneal - lagger wrote:Don't you realise, PV, that these disasters are good for our economies. All the sales of replacement goods will raise GDP no end!!

Not only that, if they're ordinary cars they'll comply with ultra-strict, modern, commie environmental laws too, meaning most (not all) might get, oooh, twenty-six, twenty-seven to the gallon?

But if they're those euphemistically-named conveniences 'trucks' (humungous private cars to you and I), at least they'll help sustain unsustainable jobs.

raspberry-blower · Post by **raspberry-blower** » 05 Sep 2017, 22:32

Lee Camp Redacted Tonight on Hurricane Harvey

BritDownUnder · Post by **BritDownUnder** » 06 Sep 2017, 03:46

I was in Houston a few months ago on a training course.
It was very green, far more so than Australia anyway. The people there said there had been a lot of rain recently.

A colleague from India on the same course said he had never seen so many trucks and couldn't see the reason why there were so many. He also thought the cars were much too large to be practical.

The bit about the impermeability has hit the nail on the head. My lawn would regularly flood from run off after heavy rains from the garage and driveway until i got a rainwater tank and put some 'ag pipe' (pipe with holes in it) and drilled a few holes in the lawn. Maybe Houston council should google "urban swales".