August 29, 2017 – CONTINUED
POSTED 2:41 AM AUGUST 30.


ALL OTHER NEWS STORIES OF DIFFERENT SUBJECTS WILL BE COVERED WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30.

TWO MORE SHELTERS ARE OPENING. I HOPE THAT WHEN THIS IS OVER AND THE FLOOD WATERS GO DOWN THAT THERE WON’T BE DOZENS MORE BODIES HIDDEN IN HOUSES OR OTHER PLACES, BUT THERE WILL UNDOUBTEDLY BE SOME. ONE REPORT SAID THAT THE PREDICTION FOR THE STORM IS TO GO BACK TO THE GULF OF MEXICO, SOAK UP MORE WATER, AND THEN COME BACK THROUGH THIS SAME AREA. THAT IS HEARTBREAKING NEWS. THE FOLLOWING AUGUST 29 ARTICLE IS LONG, BUT EVERY AREA INVOLVED IS MENTIONED WITH SPECIFIC RELEVANT INFORMATION.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harvey-flooding-houston-adds-more-shelters-evacuees-greg-abbott/
CBS NEWS August 29, 2017, 8:50 PM
Houston to open more shelters as evacuees pour in, governor says

Two more shelters were cleared to open Tuesday in Houston as the George R. Brown Convention Center reached nearly double its maximum capacity, Gov. Greg Abbott told CBS News.

Abbott said the Toyota Center -- located just one block from the George R. Brown Convention Center -- and the NRG Center, also known as the Astrodome, was given clearance to open.

"We don't know how large it will grow, but we are prepared to provide all of the accommodation that is needed," Abbott told CBS News' Elaine Quijano.

RELATED:
Amid Harvey flooding, Texas gov. calls insurance concerns "bogus"
RAINFALL IN 1 TEXAS SPOT SETS CONTINENTAL U.S. RECORD
Worst may be yet to come from Harvey, officials fear

Abbott said the accommodations were not open right away because he "would assume" the need was not anticipated, as the storm grew faster than they though.

The official capacity of the George R. Brown Convention Center is 5,000, but more than 9,000 evacuees are currently there.

Houston shelters overcrowded
Play VIDEO
Houston shelters overcrowded
The number of evacuees is expected to rise with the town of Dickinson issuing a mandatory evacuation order Monday afternoon. Officials from Brazoria County, to the south and southwest of Houston city center, also told residents near Columbia Lakes to leave immediately on Tuesday morning because a levee had been breached.

As for relief from the federal government, Abbott said he hopes to work with Congress.

"We've seen the help that has come after Katrina, after Sandy, after other, immense tragedies like that -- and so, there is the hope that we will see similar relief because we need to understand the magnitude of what has happened," Abbott said.

Abbott defended the elected officials from Texas who voted against relief for Superstorm Sandy, saying their state delegation will be "very strongly supportive" in voting for relief, but said they would avoid any "pork-barrel spending."

In a press conference Tuesday, Texas Sen. John Cornyn defended his vote against the Superstom Sandy relief, saying "the reason I voted against larger bill is because it included things that weren't Sandy-related. Supplemental appropriations are exception."

Cornyn also said President Trump called him and offered "whatever you need, whatever state of Texas needs, we're here."

Catastrophic flooding in Texas from Harvey
75 Photos
Catastrophic flooding in Texas from Harvey



ONE OF THESE ARTICLES MENTIONS THAT THE HOUSTON FLOOD DEPTH IS 52 FEET. ANOTHER SAYS THAT THE DEPTH WAS 52 inches, WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE. THAT WAS PROBABLY REFERRING TO THE AMOUNT OF RAIN FALLING, OR A LITTLE OVER 4 FEET. I SAW THAT CORROBORATED AT ANOTHER PLACE AS A RAINFALL FIGURE. First, the 52 feet measurement is NECESSARILY in an existing body of water with a fairly deep bottom, or PERHAPS IN A PLACE WITH a considerable dip in the land.

THE FLOOD FIGURES I SAW IN OTHER ARTICLES ON HISTORIC FLOOD DEPTHS IN GENERAL WERE ALWAYS MEASURING RIVERS OR BAYOUS FROM THEIR BOTTOMS AT FLOOD STAGE, SO A RIVER COULD EASILY BE 30 FEET DEEP UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THAT STILL LEAVES ROOM FOR A HUGE AMOUNT OF WATER FLOWING WILDLY ACROSS THE LAND, TRAPPING CARS. THIS DOESN’T EVEN TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE WATER SPEEDS AND CURRENTS IN RUSHING WATER LIKE THIS. SEVERAL PEOPLE ARE ON VIDEO WALKING THROUGH THE WATER. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY DEADLY.

A FRIEND, WHEN I MENTIONED THE 52 FEET FIGURE, WAS AGHAST AND DISBELIEVING. I WAS TOO, BUT THE QUESTION HAS TO BE WHERE WAS THAT MEASURED? MY LITTLE SOLAR CALCULATOR SAYS THAT 52 INCHES IS ONLY A LITTLE OVER FOUR FEET, SO THE 52 FOOT DEPTH HAS TO BE THE CORRECT ONE, AND IT HAS TO HAVE BEEN MEASURED IN A LAKE OR RIVER. SOME EVIDENCE OF HOW DEEP THE WATER IS ON LAND COMES FROM A PICTURED HIGHWAY ROAD SIGN (IN THE ARTICLE MADE UP OF 77 PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE FLOODING), WHICH SHOWS THE WATER EXTENDING UP TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SIGN, WHICH WOULD PROBABLY BE IN THE 12 TO 15 FOOT RANGE. PLUS, THERE IS A PHOTO OF A FLOOD GAUGE UNDER A BRIDGE MEASURING 12 FEET AT THAT LOCATION.

TO MAKE IT ALL WORSE, THOUGH, THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE PREDICTS EVEN MORE WATER – PERHAPS AS HIGH AS 59 FEET! THIS 59 FOOT LEVEL COMES FROM: HTTPS: //WWW.CBSNEWS.COM/NEWS/HOUSTON-FLOODING-WEATHER-RECOVERY-LATEST-HURRICANE-HARVEY-LIVE-UPDATES/CBS/AP, AUGUST 28, 2017, 9:39 AM. THAT STATES: “COUNTY JUDGE ROBERT HERBERT SAID AT A NEWS CONFERENCE THAT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICIALS WERE PREDICTING THAT THE WATER COULD RISE TO 59 FEET, THREE FEET ABOVE 2016 RECORDS AND WHAT HERBERT CALLED AN "800-YEAR FLOOD LEVEL." HERBERT SAID THAT AMOUNT OF WATER WOULD TOP THE LEVEES AND CARRIES A THREAT OF LEVEE FAILURE.”

SO, YES, THIS FLOOD, IF IT DOES ITS’ WORST, WILL BE THE NUMBER ONE FLOOD IN ALMOST A CENTURY AT LEAST IN THE NATION. SEE THE INTERESTING ARTICLES ON MAJOR FLOODS BELOW. WHATEVER THE DEPTH, THOUGH, THE MEASURE OF THIS FLOOD IS SHOWN IN THE NUMEROUS PHOTOS AND THE VIDEOS SHOWING FATIGUE, HORROR AND DISBELIEF ON THE FACES OF PEOPLE WHO ARE BEING RESCUED AND SHELTERED. THERE ARE ALSO POOR BEDRAGGLED CATS AND DOGS. I DO HOPE THAT THE RAIN DOESN’T CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL MORE DAYS, AS ONE ARTICLE PREDICTED.



THE 1927 MISSISSIPPI RIVER EVENT IS DESCRIBED HERE, ALONG WITH OTHERS WELL BACK INTO PREHISTORY. SOME FLOODS HAVE APPARENTLY BEEN POWERFUL ENOUGH TO MOVE BOULDERS. A COMMON CAUSE OF FLOODS HAPPENS WHEN AN “ICE DAM” MELTS, RELEASING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF WATER AT ONCE. THESE ARE CALLED “MEGAFLOODS,” AND THIS HOUSTON DISASTER IS CERTAINLY GOING TO BE IN THAT CATEGORY.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/05/110524-biggest-floods-mississippi-river-usgs-list-freshwater-environment/
Biggest Floods in History—Does Mississippi Make the List?
See how current flood compares with epic deluges of past two million years.
By Ker Than, for National Geographic News
PUBLISHED MAY 26, 2011

Photograph -- A home sits surrounded by floodwater from the Yazoo River in May 2011 near Vicksburg, Mississippi.
PHOTOGRAPH BY SCOTT OLSON, GETTY IMAGES

This story is part of a special National Geographic News series on global water issues.

As the crest of the Mississippi River flood moves through New Orleans and out to sea this week, peak river levels recorded during the month-long deluge threaten to top even the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

The most destructive river flood in U.S. history, the 1927 event moved about 2 million cubic feet (65,000 cubic meters) of water—enough to fill about 26 Olympic-size swimming pools—every second. (See pictures: "Mississippi River at Its Worst.")

"The numbers are still provisional, but [the current flood's peak water discharge] looks to be about the same" as the 1927 flood, said James O'Connor, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Still, the 1927 and 2011 Mississippi River floods remain just drops in the bucket compared to other known freshwater "megafloods" around the world, according to O'Connor.

The scientist co-authored a 2004 USGS report that ranked all freshwater floods known to have occurred during the past two million years. The list, which remains largely unchanged since its release, includes only floods that had peak discharges of 3.5 million cubic feet (100,000 cubic meters) a second or more.

Ice-Age Deluge

As of 2010, the number one flood on the USGS list swept through what are now Oregon and Washington State (map) about 25,000 to 15,000 years ago, during the last ice age.

Scientists think this so-called Missoula flood was caused by a natural ice-dam failure, which occurs when a glacier slides into a river valley—in this case the Clark Fork River—and blocks the flow of water.

Water builds up in a glacial lake behind the blockage, but "because ice is less dense than water, once the water reaches a certain height, the ice dam actually floats up," O'Connor explained.

Once this point was reached in the Missoula flood, water rushed out of the breached dam at a rate of more than 600 million cubic feet (17 million cubic meters) a second.

"Several decades were probably required to fill the lake, but once the ice dam became unstable, breaking up of the ice dam and emptying the lake probably took only a few days," O'Connor said.

The terrible deluge tore away everything in its path and moved huge boulders several miles, stacking them into heaps hundreds of feet high—one of the signs scientists look for when searching for evidence of ancient floods.

Floods and Climate

The second biggest flood on the list is now the Kuray flood, which ravaged what's now the Altay Republic of Russia (map), according to the USGS.

Scientists think the Kuray flood occurred sometime during the last ice age and was also caused by an ice-dam failure. The torrent released an estimated 350 million cubic feet (10 million cubic meters) of water a second.

Russia's Altay region is thought to be the site of several other megafloods caused by ice-dam failures during the last ice age, each one releasing about 70 million cubic feet (2 million cubic meters) of water a second.

"Some of these Ice Age floods may have tremendously affected global climate for several decades or hundreds of years," O'Connor said. (Related pictures: "2010 a Watershed Year for Floods, Droughts?")

"Two notable cooling events as the world was warming up at the end of the last ice age seem to have been triggered by outbursts of large ice-margin lakes surrounding the present Great Lakes" in Michigan, he said.

These outbursts apparently put so much freshwater into the northern oceans that they disrupted ocean circulation, causing global climate patterns to revert back to ice age-like conditions for significant periods.

Alaska's Volcanic Flood

Sometimes it's fire and not ice that sets off megafloods: Coming in as the eighth biggest flood on the USGS list is the Aniakchak flood in what's now Alaska (map), which was triggered by a volcano eruption about 10,000 years ago.

"You don't really think of a volcano producing floods, but they can in different ways," O'Connor said. In the case of the Aniakchak flood, the volcanic eruption crated a large crater, or caldera, that subsequently filled with rainwater.

"Once overtopped, the water eroded the [caldera] rim and all the water came pouring out pretty quickly," O'Connor said. (Also see "Iceland Volcano Erupts Under Glacier, Triggers Floods.")

Scientists think the Aniakchak flood had a peak discharge of about 35 million cubic feet (1 million cubic meters) of water a second.

Amazonian Overflow

In addition to ice-dam failures and volcanism, other causes of historic megafloods include landslides and "ice jams," which occur when dislodged river ice accumulates at river bends and other constricted areas.

The largest known meteorological flood—one caused by rainfall, as in the current Mississippi River flood—happened in 1953, when the Amazon River overflowed.

The 13th largest flood on the USGS list, that Amazon deluge pumped water at a rate of about 13 million cubic feet (370,000 cubic meters) a second.

"These large meteorological floods on very large rivers can cause lots of damage, because of the concentrated infrastructure along river corridors," O'Connor said.

Not Listed: Noah's Flood

Perhaps the most famous of all floods, the historic deluge that inspired the story of Noah in the Bible didn't make the USGS list. That's because, if it happened, it was likely an ocean-based flood and not a freshwater event, O'Connor said.

Some scientists think the story of Noah's flood may have been based on a known flood that happened 8,000 years ago, when sea level rise caused waters from the Mediterranean Sea to breach the Bosporus Strait and overflow the Black Sea.

Some previous estimates claimed the Black Sea could have risen by more than 195 feet (60 meters) during this event, but that estimate was recently revised to no more than 30 feet (10 meters). (See "'Noah's Flood' Not Rooted in Reality, After All?")

Even though a real flood may have inspired the story, O'Connor thinks there's a simple reason it couldn't have been a days-long meteorological event like the one suggested by the Bible.

"There's just not that much water in the atmosphere," he said.



THIS EXCELLENT ARTICLE IS COMPOSED ENTIRELY OF PHOTOS AND SHOWS 28 OF THE TOTAL 77 AT THIS WEBSITE, WITH A BUTTON TO CLICK TO GET THEM ALL. IF YOU’RE LIKE ME, PHOTOGRAPHS GIVE SUCH DEPTH TO A STORY THAT I SUGGEST YOU DO LOOK AT THESE.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/24/hurricane-harvey-threatens-texas-pictures/flood-gauge-shows-depth-water-12-feet-underpass-interstate-10/
29 Aug 2017
Hurricane Harvey floods Houston, in pictures



LOVE THY BROTHER AS THYSELF.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/%E2%80%98cajun-navy%E2%80%99-races-from-louisiana-to-texas-using-boats-to-pay-it-forward/ar-AAqRZDi?OCID=ansmsnnews11
‘Cajun Navy’ races from Louisiana to Texas, using boats to pay it forward
Washington Post
Emily Wax-Thibodeau
August 29, 2017 3:22 PM Sixteen hours ago

85 slides -- President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump prior to their Marine One departure from the White House on Aug. 29, 2017 in Washington, D.C. President Trump was traveling to Texas to observe the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

Cajun Navy member Benji Terro, 36, and his cousin Todd Gaspard drove for more than four hours through flooded areas of Katy on Monday, helping people who were floating on air mattresses and in canoes, some of them carrying trash bags stuffed with changes of clothes and photo albums. He said they had rescued nearly 40 people so far.

“We’re burning a lot of gas trying to get boots on the ground,” Terro said. “But when we help people, well, that’s the point, the whole thing. This is familiar ground for us. We are from Louisiana, and we know floods.”

The Cajun Navy is part of an armada of private boats that have descended on the Houston area after authorities asked for help from those who could potentially navigate the treacherous floodwaters across a massive swath of Southeast Texas in search of residents. Many boaters from east Texas and west Louisiana streamed to the outskirts of the disaster until they could drive no more, switching over to boats to go door-to-door seeking out the stranded.

Painful and haunting memories of Hurricane Katrina run deep in what’s informally known as the “Cajun corridor,” between Texas and Louisiana. During Katrina, hundreds of Texans did just what Bloodsworth did, crossed the border and even the Sabine River to help rescue teams in New Orleans.

Many families in Houston housed relatives and friends who were Katrina’s victims, in some cases for months. Thousands have now made Houston home.

There are long-standing ethnic ties, and Cajun families often live across state lines and are connected by fishing and oil refinery jobs in both states. Many say these regions of Texas and Louisiana are mirror images, with the largely flat landscape dotted with oil refineries with their mazes of pipes and tanks and flare stacks burning high above them like giant torches.

“I vividly remember that many Texans came to Louisiana’s aid, which was incredible to me,” said Taylor Aucoin, who is in Baton Rouge working with an app, called Zello, that allows her and her husband to radio in rescue requests to volunteers on the ground in Texas. “I can’t really describe the heartbreak that I feel now for Texans. It’s a very small thing we can do from here to kind of repay the favor for the help we received last year and countless other times.”

The most terrifying call they got was from a young mom of an 8-week-old baby with breathing problems. The mother tweeted asking for help for a couple hours with no luck. She then posted that her newborn was turning blue and was not breathing. Her phone was at 2 percent.

“Someone shared the tweets and I immediately had my husband calling the Coast Guard over and over,” Aucoin said. Finally he got on the Texas Search and Rescue channel on Zello, and they were able to send out boats and the Coast Guard. Last she heard, they were rescued and the baby was recovering.

Toney Wade, commander of the volunteer Cajun Coast Search and Rescue Team, stayed up to 3 a.m. and was at it again on Monday morning.

“Tired, but rolling lol,” he texted. “It’s just what we do for each other.”

Dressed in full hunting camouflage slickers, Todd Gaspard, with the Cajun Navy, was racing into floodwaters in the Cinco Ranch neighborhood of Katy, ready to assist. He helped out during Rita and Katrina, at times assisting with the rescue of cows whose noses were just sticking out of the water.

On Monday, he was on his way to save a woman who had water “right at her front door fixing to come in.” Gaspard said helping people like her this week is just what he knows.

“Just the way we were brought up,” he said. “You help your neighbor.”



https://www.cbsnews.com/news/houston-flooding-convention-center-overcrowded-sleeping-on-floor/
CBS NEWS August 29, 2017, 3:01 PM
Houston flooding evacuees overwhelm main evacuation shelter

75 Photos

RELATED:
Here's how you can help victims of Hurricane Harvey
Harvey leaves countless pets abandoned or at risk in its aftermath

Houston's main shelter for flood evacuees is already drastically overcrowded, with more than 9,000 evacuees sleeping on cots and on the floor on Monday night -- almost double the official capacity of the shelter -- in the wake of Harvey. When "CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell went inside the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston, the city's main evacuation center, she met people who had grabbed sleep anywhere they could, on chairs, on cots, on heaps of baggage and on the floor due to a lack of beds.

The official capacity of the venue is 5,000 people, but officials told CBS News that 9,021 people stayed there Monday night, many of them without beds. There were 1,200 beds when CBS News visited the convention center Sunday, reports O'Donnell. The Red Cross was trying to obtain 5,000 sleeping cots -- a significant number, but still far short of what is required. The number of evacuees is certain to rise further, with the town of Dickinson issuing a mandatory evacuation order on Monday afternoon. Officials from Brazoria County, to the south and south-west of Houston city center, also told residents near Columbia Lakes to leave immediately on Tuesday morning because a levee had been breached.

Worst may be yet to come from Harvey, officials fear – live updates
Many of the evacuees already in the convention center are grateful that they are in a dry place with some food, but shared their frustration with the level of accommodation and the preparations made.

"I slept in a chair," one evacuee named Michelle told O'Donnell. Her three children slept on cardboard on the floor, she said.

ctm-0829-norah-odonnell-inside-houston-convention-center.jpg
Norah O'Donnell spoke with Houston flooding evacuees inside the George R. Brown Convention Center. CBS NEWS

"This is disturbing. Why didn't they have enough cots? They've not opened up more shelters to put cots. No blankets. They didn't even have enough blankets," Michelle said, adding that she was given one blanket for her and the three kids. Some of her family members used towels as blankets.

"Our city is better than this," Michelle said. "Way better -- we can take in the houses of people from other disaster areas, we should be treated the same way. We live here. This is our home."

Michelle said she doesn't think the city was prepared. "And they still not," she said. Even a "little baby" was on the floor next to them, she described.

Rescue crews are working virtually nonstop in the area, pulling out stranded people and taking them to safety. The confirmed death toll from the hurricane is three, but that is likely to rise. The official rainfall totals are staggering: 48 inches in Friendswood, southeast of Houston; 42 inches in Baytown; 36 inches in Kinwood; and nearly 33 inches in downtown Houston.

Catastrophic flooding in Texas from Harvey


THIS FORBES ARTICLE IS THE SOURCE OF THE 51 FEET COMMENT. THE RECORD FROM 1935 IS 51 FEET, AND THE PREDICTION IS THAT IN THIS STORM IT MAY GET DEEPER (IN SPOTS, I ASSUME) THAN THAT. ANOTHER STORY SAID 51 INCHES, THOUGH, WHICH SOUNDS MORE BELIEVABLE AS A RAINFALL FIGURE. AS AN ACCUMULATION FIGURE, THOUGH, THAT WOULD BE ONLY 4.25 FEET, WHICH ISN’T NEARLY AS MUCH AS I CAN SEE ALREADY FROM THE NEWS FOOTAGE. FROM THE HIGHWAY SIGNS THAT ARE BARELY A FOOT OVER THE WATER, I ASSUME THAT IT IS AT LEAST 6 FEET OR MORE ALREADY. ANOTHER ARTICLE SAID THAT A GREAT DEAL MORE IS EXPECTED TO COME BEFORE THE STORM IS GONE. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THIS STORM ISN’T MOVING FORWARD NEARLY AS FAST AS THEY USUALLY DO. ONE STATEMENT ON A VIDEO SAID THE FORWARD SPEED IS ONLY ABOUT 5 MILES AN HOUR. THAT’S ALMOST STANDING STILL, AND THE RAIN IS COMING DOWN FOR THE WHOLE TIME THAT THE STORM SITS OVER ONE AREA, HENCE, TRUE “INUNDATION.” SEE THE CNN ARTICLE BELOW SAYING SOMETHING SIMILAR.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2017/08/28/after-harvey-why-didnt-we-evacuate-houston/#e0a3c82e553c
AUG 28, 2017 @ 09:42 AM 10,628 12 Stocks to Buy Now
After Harvey: Why Didn't We Evacuate Houston?
Christopher Helman , FORBES STAFF
From Texas, I cover the energy sector and the tycoons who control it.

Photograph -- Houston, flooded. August 27, 2017. (THOMAS B. SHEA/AFP/Getty Images)

Texas sees plenty of big storms on the gulf. They just usually don't stick around

It became evident, late Saturday, to anyone with the habit of checking their radar app, that Houston was set to be on the receiving end of God’s own firehose. As the undercards of the Mayweather-MacGregor fight did their thing, Harvey’s ferocious rain bands set up to lash the Bayou City with 15 inches of rain.

Despite admonitions of “don’t be a baby,” a friend of mine left a Mayweather-MacGregor watch party before the main event. He needed to get home anyway: “We were supposed to go to early morning prayer at church.” Plenty of other boxing fans, unimpressed by Hurricane Harvey after a nearly rain-less Saturday afternoon, stayed to watch Mayweather prevail, then ended up crashing on couches after streets became impassable. Church was canceled, along with pretty much everything else around town.

Sunday a “Cajun Navy” of private boats joined with the Coast Guard and the first responders to rescue thousands trapped in flooded homes, especially around Scarsdale in southeast Houston. Statewide, 300,000 are without power. An old folks’ home got flooded waist high; rescue workers found wet and cold seniors who had been sitting in wheelchairs for hours. At least five have died across the region. Airports are closed; shelters filling.

My street in the Heights neighborhood near downtown is prone to flooding during big thunderstorms. From late Saturday into Sunday it was a river for 10 hours, the high water mark reached the steps of our front porch. We were lucky; our 110-year-old house has stayed dry. Thousands of other homes are ruined.

Like White Oak, most of Houston’s snaking tributaries empty into Buffalo Bayou, which passes downtown then opens up into the Houston Ship Channel. From there it’s on to Galveston Bay and on into the gulf. As of Sunday afternoon 10 Gulf Coast oil refineries that usually handle 2.2 million bpd were shut down, according to Platts, including ExxonMobil’s massive 560,500 bpd Baytown plant. It’s also bad scene along billionaires’ row in Houston’s tony River Oaks where Buffalo Bayou has spilled its banks to engulf Kirby Drive. “They’re all screwed. And yet not really,” says a banker. “They can wait it out in Aspen while they rebuild.”

Stranded on Dairy Ashford Road. (Photo by Erich Schlegel/Getty Images)

In the past century fewer than 10 storms have dumped more rain on Houston than Harvey. It really was a remarkable amount of rain, easily the most my wife and I have seen in 13 years here. Rain amounts in the region got as high as 27 inches over two days. Neighbors say Saturday night with Harvey was worse than the four days of 2001’s Tropical Storm Allison, which sat over Houston, dumping 20+ inches and causing widespread flooding. White Oak Bayou near the Heights started the day at 40 feet, the highest since 2008 with Hurricane Ike. With Sunday night’s rains it could very well break its 51 foot record from 1935. High water is everywhere; it’s impossible to get around.

Sunday night, with new bands of torrential rain descending on Houston, spokesman Jeff Lindner with the Harris County Flood Control District (encompassing Houston) announced that they would soon release water from the Barker and Addicks reservoirs about 15 miles west of downtown. Lindner explained the releases will flood hundreds of homes on the west side of the reservoirs, which have become filled to the brim after three days of Harvey. The released water will make its way to Buffalo Bayou, adding to the flooding around downtown.

Citizens around the reservoirs will have until midday Monday to get their homes ready for what could be two months of flooding, said Lindner. A friend whose house is in the effected area is angry. "I smell massive suits," she said. "We've never flooded, ever."

So. Why didn't Houston evacuate?

For the past week, forecasters had warned Houstonians that Harvey would inflict 30 inches of rain on southeast Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott, said “if I were in Houston I would head north.” But Houstonians didn’t listen to him.

Maybe the Houston-Dallas rivalry has something to do with it. But honestly, it was hard for Texans to believe that Harvey could really be “catastrophic.” We get a lot of storms off the gulf here, but we’re accustomed to them hitting and then moving on. Texas is a huge place after all. Rockport, where Harvey came ashore Friday, is 225 miles away. We barely had any rain Friday or Saturday. No one believes in a 500-year storm until after it's hit.

Finding dry land on an overpass to highway 610. (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

But there’s more to the stubborness. Civic memory. Back in 2005 Houston authorities urged citizens to evacuate as Hurricane Rita bore down on the Gulf Coast. It was just weeks after Katrina decimated New Orleans. Leaving town seemed like a good idea, so my wife and I boarded up the house and set out to stay with some friends in San Antonio. Along with millions of other evacuees, we spent 8 overnight hours in a gruelling crawl west on I-10. The shoulders were littered with cars that had run out of gas, their occupants sitting on the roofs, watching the scene. Fleeing turned out to have been a far worse option than hunkering down and enduring what turned out to be a lackluster storm.

After Rita, Houstonians mostly stuck around for Hurricane Ike in September 2008. Ike left us without power for more than a week but at least didn’t stick around. Since then the Bayou City has invested hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into engineering vast catchment basins throughout the Buffalo Bayou watershed to absorb storm waters. It wasn’t surprising Friday when Mayor Sylvester Turner told residents “Please think twice before trying to leave Houston en masse.” Harris County Judge Ed Emmett this morning recommended that those who can should shelter in place for what may be 20 more inches of rain.

Abbott, in comments Sunday afternoon, didn’t play any told-you-so: “Now is not the time to second-guess the decisions that were made." Rather, he said, the state was deploying all available equipment to assist in water rescues. Not waiting for an invitation, scores of shallow draft boats have already descended on Houston and surrounding towns. Says Abbott, “They now know the cavalry is coming.” Monday morning the rescues continue.

Escape via dump truck. (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Senior Editor Chris Helman is based in Houston, Texas. Contact him on Twitter @chrishelman.

THE END OF A VERY DIFFICULT DAY

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/28/us/harvey-houston-texas-louisiana/index.html
Thousands rescued as Harvey's waters rise
By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
Updated 4:13 AM ET, Tue August 29, 2017

(CNN)Even as darkness fell and the waters kept rising, emergency officials in Houston continued fielding calls overnight from flood-stranded Texans. Thousands have been rescued so far, many are still waiting to picked up.

"The Coast Guard is continuing to receive upwards of 1,000 calls per hour," US Coast Guard Lt. Mike Hart said Monday. "Today alone, the Coast Guard has rescued over 3,000 people. That includes both air rescues and rescues using boats."

Since midnight Sunday, more than 2,300 calls have poured in to the Houston Fire Department, including 400 calls for rescue Monday afternoon, Houston officials said. Four people have died as a result of the catastrophic storm.

Houston police had rescued 1,000 people since Monday morning, bringing the total number rescued to more than 3,000 since the storm flooded the city, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters Monday night.

Live video from Houston showed rescuers in small boats on one flooded street carrying people to higher ground.

'They're panicking'

As Harvey dumped rain on East Texas and the waters rose, people started to panic, rushing rescue boats and even shooting at them if they didn't stop, said one volunteer rescuer.

Clyde Cain, of the Cajun Navy, a Louisiana-based rescue force that gained fame during Hurricane Katrina, said in one instance, a boat broke down, and while the crew sought shelter in a delivery truck, people tried to steal the inoperable boat.

"They're making it difficult for us to rescue them," he said. "You have people rushing the boat. Everyone wants to get in at the same time. They're panicking. Water is rising."

Because of the hostile responses, the Cajun Navy has been forced to halt some rescue attempts, Cain said.

Keep track of Harvey

"We have boats being shot at if we're not picking everybody up. We're having to pull out for a minute. We're dropping an airboat right now to go rescue a couple of our boats that broke, and they're kind of under attack," he said.

There is no indication the water will stop rising anytime soon. Swollen rivers in east Texas aren't expected to crest until later this week, and federal officials are already predicting the deadly Tropical Storm Harvey will drive 30,000 people into shelters and spur 450,000 victims to seek some sort of disaster assistance.

And yet, forecasters say, more rain is coming. Lots more.

President pledges 'rapid action from Congress'

President Trump said Monday the recovery from Hurricane Harvey will be "a long and difficult road," but predicted the country would emerge "bigger, better, stronger than ever before." Trump is scheduled to visit Texas on Tuesday.

Calling the storm a catastrophe in Southeast Texas, the President said, "We see neighbor helping neighbor, friend helping friend and stranger helping stranger. We are one American family. We hurt together, we struggle together and believe me, we endure together."

The President also said he believes Congress will act fast to provide disaster relief funding to the areas affected by Harvey.

"You're going to see very rapid action from Congress -- certainly from the President," Trump said.

Addressing Texans, he added: "We're going to get your funding."
Trump on Harvey funding: 'You're going to see very rapid action'

Latest developments
-- About 8,000 people were estimated to be in Houston shelters Monday night, said Houston's mayor. About 5,000 were expected to be in the Houston Convention Center, he said.
-- The Galveston County Office of Emergency Management on Monday issued a mandatory evacuation order for Dickinson, Texas, according to spokeswoman Brittany Viegas. Dickinson is about 172 miles northeast of coastal Rockport. A dramatic photo circulating on the Internet showed residents of an assisted living facility in Dickinson being rescued on Sunday.
-- There have been four confirmed storm-related deaths, according to officials. Five other Harris County fatalities are suspected of being storm-related, according to Tricia Bentley, spokeswoman for the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. The manners of death will be confirmed this week, she said.
-- The average annual rainfall in Houston is 50 inches. The city has seen 25 inches of rain in two days. Another 25 could fall by Saturday.
-- Several cities, including Katy, Alvin, Friendswood, League City, Pasadena, Pearland, Seabrook and Webster, have instituted curfews.
-- The Houston Independent School District has canceled school for the week for the district's 215,000 students.
-- Dallas is opening a "mega-shelter" at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, but Mayor Mike Rawlings said, "We may have thousands upon thousands upon thousands of more individuals that will get bigger than this convention center."
-- President Trump approved Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards' request for an emergency declaration. The governor said in his request that he believes Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermilion parishes will face the brunt of Harvey's winds and rain. The President said he will also visit Louisiana on Saturday.
-- Energy provider CenterPoint says 96% of its Houston customers have power, but more than 104,000 are without electricity as crews experience difficulty reaching affected areas.
-- The NFL said the Houston Texans' preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, scheduled for Thursday in Houston, has been moved to the Cowboys' home stadium in Arlington, Texas. The MLB's Astros and the University of Houston and University of Texas football teams -- as well as Louisiana State University, which has a game scheduled Saturday in Houston -- all have practices or games this week and were monitoring the storm before deciding if they will play.

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After checking the rain gauge, a new daily rainfall record was set at the NWS Office of 16.08" beating yesterday's record of 14.40" #houwx
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'Landmark event'

Several locales have received 2 feet or more of rain, and forecasters say a reprieve won't arrive until week's end at the earliest. By then, rain totals could reach another 2 feet -- with isolated instances of 40 to 50 more inches -- along the upper Texas coast.

"This is a landmark event for Texas," FEMA Administrator Brock Long said. "Texas has never seen an event like this."

Long said earlier that FEMA will likely be in Texas for years, and that Harvey will require one of the largest recovery housing efforts the nation has ever seen.

Harvey will likely surpass 2008's Hurricane Ike and 2001's Tropical Storm Allison, two of the most destructive storms to hit the Gulf Coast in recent memory, he said. Millions of people from Corpus Christi to New Orleans were under flood watches and warnings Monday as Harvey's storm bands repeatedly pummeled the same areas.

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#Harvey is expected to retreat back to the Gulf of Mexico before heading back toward #Houston Wednesday. #txwx #TropicalStormHarvey
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For state and federal officials working to mitigate Harvey's devastation, one of the more frustrating aspects of the storm is uncertainty.

"The word catastrophic does not appropriately describe what we're facing," said US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas. "We just don't know when it's going to end."

Early Monday, Harvey was barely clinging to tropical storm status, but the danger is far from over. The storm is forecast to head southeast toward the Matagorda Bay and Gulf of Mexico, where it will pick up additional moisture before sliding back over Galveston and Houston, cities it has already hammered.

The slow-moving nature of the storm -- it has traveled about 3 mph, human walking speed, since Friday's landfall -- has fueled the rain and flooding. Houston's William P. Hobby Airport recorded more than a foot of rain Saturday and 11 inches of rain Sunday, the two wettest days recorded since 1930.

Even when the rain is gone, dangers will persist, said National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini, because "the flooding will be very slow to recede."

Finding a 'new normal'

Reporter: We almost left, but heard your voice 05:28

Citizens with boats assisted authorities in search and rescue efforts on Sunday, and at a Monday news conference, Long encouraged more citizens to come forward, saying the recovery efforts would require community involvement. He said the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster website would direct folks to religious and nongovernmental agencies through which residents can help victims, who, so far, span 30 to 50 counties.

Nursing home residents rescued
"Donate your money. Figure out how you can get involved as we help Texas find a new normal." said Long, who was scheduled to arrive Monday in Corpus Christi.

One citizen answering the call is Jim McIngvale, who owns furniture stores in Houston and Richmond. He opened his doors to evacuees on Sunday and provided 600 people a place to sleep.

"We have tons of mattresses in our warehouse and we can provide them with a blanket," he told CNN. "We have a restaurant inside the stores, and we are and we are feeding them for free."

Aaron Mitchell of Aransas Pass, appeared shell-shocked as he recounted riding out the storm in his mobile home, which he said "felt like 'The Wizard of Oz,' man." He had walked 12 miles to find his father in Rockport, to no avail.

Though he has no intention of leaving the place he calls home, he second-guessed his decision not to evacuate, he said.

Why didn't Houston evacuate?

"I just lost everything I worked for. Everything," he said. "I don't know. Maybe I should've left."

(After his interview, Mitchell reached his father via telephone and, in tears, told him, "OK, Dad, I'm going to jump on a bus. I'll be there.")

Houston resident Louise Walker also chose to brave Harvey's wrath, leaving her trapped in a neighbor's apartment.

Recovery could take years

"Our bottom level is waist-deep in water," she said. "We have people who are living in these first-floor apartments, like I have. They have been breaking into empty second-level apartments just to have somewhere to go," she said.
State, local and military rescue units have plucked thousands of stranded residents from the water and deluged homes. "None of us (is) going to give up," Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said, reassuring residents.

In Harris County, authorities asked stranded people to hang sheets or towels from their residences, so rescuers could spot them more easily.

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IMPORTANT: If you are awaiting rescue, hang a towel or sheet prominently so we can find you. Adresses are hard to spot. #harvey #hounews
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The Pentagon is also identifying resources, including trucks, aircraft and troops, that can be dispatched for hurricane relief if the request comes, defense officials said, and Gov. Greg Abbott has activated the entire Texas National Guard, roughly 12,000 Guardsmen, he said Monday.
Dam releases

Harvey brings 'life-threatening' flooding 02:22

The US Army Corps of Engineers began releasing water from the Addicks and Barker dams in west Houston early Monday, said Jeff Linder, Harris County flood control district meteorologist.

Harvey's impact by the numbers

"The rationale is it is better to start with controlled releases using the outlet structures than to allow uncontrolled release to go over the edge of the dam. So we have more capability to control the downstream effects," said Edmond Russo with the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Barker Dam
Addicks Dam

In Conroe, an hour's drive north of Houston, record levels of water are also being released from Lake Conroe Dam. The city will be evacuating some neighborhoods as a result.

Residents living along the Brazos River in Fort Bend County were ordered to evacuate after the National Weather Service predicted river levels of 56.1 feet, nearly 2 feet above the record during flooding last year.

Tyler County, north of Beaumont, also issued a mandatory evacuation order for all "low-lying and flood-prone areas."

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A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for people in low lying flood prone areas of Tyler County. #TX36
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South of Houston, in Brazoria County, officials set up an evacuation route for at-risk residents, ordering them to "LEAVE NOW!" Those in need of shelter can take refuge in the Bell County Expo Center in Belton, officials said.

The state of roads -- particularly interstates 10, 45 and 610 in Houston -- left many residents stranded. Much of that is due to flooding from the White Oak Bayou, which rose more than 20 feet in four hours Sunday.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the Dallas mayor. He is Mike Rawlings.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the Addicks and Barker dams are in Galveston. They are in west Houston.

This story has been updated to clarify the number of confirmed and unconfirmed deaths attributed to the storm.

CNN's Susannah Cullinane, Amanda Watts, Carol Costello, Ralph Ellis, Joe Sterling, AnneClaire Stapleton, Chuck Johnston, Tony Marco, Jill Martin and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.



SEE ALSO:

FOR THE SCIENTIFICALLY TECHNICAL READERS, GO TO:
https://water.weather.gov/ahps2/inundation/index.php?gage=iowi4


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harvey-fact-vs-fiction-stay-clear-of-rumors-online-social-media/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cedar-bayou-texas-record-rainfall-harvey-flooding-national-weather-service/
AP August 29, 2017, 5:46 PM

HOUSTON -- Cedar Bayou, Texas, has recorded 51.88 inches of rain from Harvey, marking a new continental U.S. record, the National Weather Service said.