Hurricane Harvey Public Advisory

[thackney]

Our little adventure:  About 4:30 yesterday, an announcement was made that everyone with pets would be moved to a newly opened shelter and to meet at the cafeteria in entrance to load up in some busses.  It was a big hassle schlepping everything to the opposite side of the building, but the shelter was crowded and some of the guests were already acting questionable. My sister told me this morning that a volunteer told her that things got a bit wild there, so I'm really happy that we left.

While waiting to load up, I was interviewed by ITV4.  After talking to the Red Cross rep, who said that we would be on the next bus, I ask where the new shelter was.  It was a jr high that I could see in the distance.  I told her we drove in, and we would get ourselves there, and hubby brought the car around and we loaded up and let ft. 

This new shelter was not ready at all.  There was only one Red Cross rep there and and a few volunteers.  The first shelter had food (pizza brought in) while the second only had snacks and water and a late night hot dog (a piece of bread with a cold hot dog). I can survive, not complaining.  The first shelter had cots, and the second one had none.  The surrounding community did bring in a ton of blankets, dry clothes, some pillows, and some air mattresses.  We ended up trying to get some sleep on the floor with a blanket above and below and a pillow.

This morning's breakfast was granola bars.  I overheard the lone Red Cross rep on his celll phone asking for food to be brought in as there wasn't going to be enough to feed the crowd (which were quite well behaved, btw).  He said that he had called every restaurant in Richmond and Rosenberg and he couldn't find one that was opened  Meanwhile, new evacuees were still arriving.

I thought OK we gotta get out of Dodge. Some of my friends in my neighborhood had mad it to San Antonio and Austin just fine using Waze, so we took off for my Dad's house without incident.

We have a bed tonight and spaghetti!  But the best part is that this morning the forecast for the Brazos dropped from 59 feet to 57.5, which puts it below the elevation of our levee and re-classifiesus from mandatory to voluntary evacuation.  They are still not recommending that we return, but we feel relieved and hopeful.

Good News, I hope when you return it is well.

We made it to our church.  Not a shelter but we are sleeping here tonight with some other staff members.  We found a restaurant open and felt half normal for a bit.

[thackney]

@thackney
Riverstone subdivision was on Channel 13 just now.
Water rescue.
Please be careful.

We debated today joining friends in a higher part of Riverstone.  I decided we needed higher ground this time, not another levee and pumps to depend upon.  That is why we left Sienna for the second evac.

[GrouchoTex]

Buffalo Bayou is flooding from Dairy Ashford to Piney Point, a pretty long stretch, according to what I just saw on Channel 13.

[austingirl]

Good News, I hope when you return it is well.

We made it to our church.  Not a shelter but we are sleeping here tonight with some other staff members.  We found a restaurant open and felt half normal for a bit.

God bless you and all affected. Just on weather channel catastrophic rain in southeast Texas. Beaumont, Orange and Port Arthur. Harvey isn't finished with Texas yet.

[catfish1957]

God bless you and all affected. Just on weather channel catastrophic rain in southeast Texas. Beaumont, Orange and Port Arthur. Harvey isn't finished with Texas yet.

Talk about.  I thought I heard on KFDM (Beuamont) streaming that Port Arthur had received 28 inches of rain in past 24 hours.  Also showed someone's cell footage of rainwater (ankle deep) in evacuation center in civic center.  Evacuees were having to get up in the stands to avoid water.

[Elderberry]

[anubias]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/port-arthur-texas-conditions-dire-residents-in-survival-mode/

40 inches in one day in Port Arthur.  The shelter flooded.

[Victoria33]

@txradioguy

Water and food can't be delivered to shelters or stores.  Food trucks can't get there and they wouldn't go anyway because they have to have fuel in the devastated areas and there are no gasoline stations working due to no power and gasoline trucks can't get there to renew their gasoline even if they had power.

Sewage isn't working so toilets are backing up - no way to get rid of human waste.
There are no medicines available in the affected areas and people couldn't get them anyway since they have no transportation.

The above problems are going to be known starting today after this many days have passed since power went off and water covers everything.

Estimates are 10,000 people in shelters and more arriving all the time.

There is disease in the flood water and thousands are going through this contaminated water.  People who were in the water are going to get sick.

Many years ago, I lived in League City, Texas, and League City doesn't exist anymore - aerial view shows nothing but water.  Those years ago, Clear Creek flooded and flooded our subdivision.  Our house was higher than the rest and we didn't flood.  we got in the water to help some friends to get them to our house.  All their clothes in their house were soaked with flood water.  I washed every bit of their clothes, handling them saturated with flood water.  My washer/dryer worked for days to clean all their clothes.  Then, League City put out a directive - every person who was in flood water needed to get a tetanus shot.  A place was set up to give us our shot.

We have heard nothing from officials about disease in this Harvey water now - there is sewage in this water. No call for people to get shots.  This will be the second round of disaster, people getting sick.

[Victoria33]

@txradioguy
@mystery-ak

IF YOU LIVE IN TEXAS:

Bob, the geologist who retired from Exxon/Mobil, says since all the oil refinery plants along the Texas coast that process gasoline are shut down, the gasoline being used now is our reserves. Bob knows where all the reserves are in Texas and Louisiana.

In Texas, trucks deliver gasoline to gas stations.  Refineries are shut down so no trucks can get gasoline from there to your area; they are having to get it from our reserves.  As of yesterday, a gallon of gasoline was 30 cents higher than it was the day before yesterday.  in other words, gasoline is less available than it was before this disaster.  You might as well fill up now before the prices go any higher, which could be today.  Bob got gasoline yesterday because he said it will get scarce due to refineries not able to function.

This disaster affects all of us in Texas.

[Smokin Joe]

@txradioguy
@mystery-ak

IF YOU LIVE IN TEXAS:

Bob, the geologist who retired from Exxon/Mobil, says since all the oil refinery plants along the Texas coast that process gasoline are shut down, the gasoline being used now is our reserves. Bob knows where all the reserves are in Texas and Louisiana.

In Texas, trucks deliver gasoline to gas stations.  Refineries are shut down so no trucks can get gasoline from there to your area; they are having to get it from our reserves.  As of yesterday, a gallon of gasoline was 30 cents higher than it was the day before yesterday.  in other words, gasoline is less available than it was before this disaster.  You might as well fill up now before the prices go any higher, which could be today.  Bob got gasoline yesterday because he said it will get scarce due to refineries not able to function.

This disaster affects all of us in Texas.

While I expect to see prices rise there, they are up 20 cents per gallon here, too (North Dakota). That indicates the entire fuel supply will be affected, although the most critical shortages will be in areas affected by the storm, partly because rescue efforts will consume a lot of what is available in the local market. Expect gasoline prices there to go up sharply until resupply can be worked out.
Overall, it will take a couple weeks of longer for the refineries which have shut down to re start, possibly longer depending on damage and how long it takes for the water to go down. I expect fuel prices to increase more, far from the Texas coast but the sharpest increases will be down there.

[anubias]

@txradioguy

Water and food can't be delivered to shelters or stores.  Food trucks can't get there and they wouldn't go anyway because they have to have fuel in the devastated areas and there are no gasoline stations working due to no power and gasoline trucks can't get there to renew their gasoline even if they had power.

Sewage isn't working so toilets are backing up - no way to get rid of human waste.
There are no medicines available in the affected areas and people couldn't get them anyway since they have no transportation.

The above problems are going to be known starting today after this many days have passed since power went off and water covers everything.

Estimates are 10,000 people in shelters and more arriving all the time.

There is disease in the flood water and thousands are going through this contaminated water.  People who were in the water are going to get sick.

Many years ago, I lived in League City, Texas, and League City doesn't exist anymore - aerial view shows nothing but water.  Those years ago, Clear Creek flooded and flooded our subdivision.  Our house was higher than the rest and we didn't flood.  we got in the water to help some friends to get them to our house.  All their clothes in their house were soaked with flood water.  I washed every bit of their clothes, handling them saturated with flood water.  My washer/dryer worked for days to clean all their clothes.  Then, League City put out a directive - every person who was in flood water needed to get a tetanus shot.  A place was set up to give us our shot.

We have heard nothing from officials about disease in this Harvey water now - there is sewage in this water. No call for people to get shots.  This will be the second round of disaster, people getting sick.

My son has filled up his gas guzzler multiple times in Brazoria county this week.  He was getting gas while talking to me on the phone yesterday.  He is also taking families to grocery stores that still have staples.  I assumed the gas stations and the grocery stores were/are going to empty, but as yet many are still running in Brazoria county, at least.

An interesting tidbit:  The grocery stores he has frequented have at least four cops in each store to maintain order and prevent looting.  They only allow 2 customers per cashier inside.  Long lines form outside waiting to be allowed to go inside to shop.

[Elderberry]

List of open Kroger stores: https://www.kroger.com/asset/houston_open_stores_udpated_v2

[Elderberry]

Current Walmart U.S. Store and Sam's Club Operational Status

http://news.walmart.com/news-archive/2017/08/25/hurricane-harvey-store-closure-information

[catfish1957]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/port-arthur-texas-conditions-dire-residents-in-survival-mode/

40 inches in one day in Port Arthur.  The shelter flooded.

Wil end up there may be more rain in BPT area than any where else in the state.  Though remote, my digs  piney woods north of Beaumont okay at this point.

[libertybele]

@txradioguy

Water and food can't be delivered to shelters or stores.  Food trucks can't get there and they wouldn't go anyway because they have to have fuel in the devastated areas and there are no gasoline stations working due to no power and gasoline trucks can't get there to renew their gasoline even if they had power.

Sewage isn't working so toilets are backing up - no way to get rid of human waste.
There are no medicines available in the affected areas and people couldn't get them anyway since they have no transportation.

The above problems are going to be known starting today after this many days have passed since power went off and water covers everything.

Estimates are 10,000 people in shelters and more arriving all the time.

There is disease in the flood water and thousands are going through this contaminated water.  People who were in the water are going to get sick.

Many years ago, I lived in League City, Texas, and League City doesn't exist anymore - aerial view shows nothing but water.  Those years ago, Clear Creek flooded and flooded our subdivision.  Our house was higher than the rest and we didn't flood.  we got in the water to help some friends to get them to our house.  All their clothes in their house were soaked with flood water.  I washed every bit of their clothes, handling them saturated with flood water.  My washer/dryer worked for days to clean all their clothes.  Then, League City put out a directive - every person who was in flood water needed to get a tetanus shot.  A place was set up to give us our shot.

We have heard nothing from officials about disease in this Harvey water now - there is sewage in this water. No call for people to get shots.  This will be the second round of disaster, people getting sick.

This is absolutely horrific, there are still people who rescuers can't get to and I don't think people realize that even after the flood waters recede, those affected by the flood are going to continue to be displaced and devastated for a long time.  Recovery isn't going to happen overnight or even in months.  This is going to take years.

I look back at what we went through with Charley. Charley was a cake walk in comparison.  Harvey is the monster of all storms.

I will continue to pray for TX for a long time.

[Smokin Joe]

Wil end up there may be more rain in BPT area than any where else in the state.  Though remote, my digs  piney woods north of Beaumont okay at this point.

Glad to hear you are safe and secure.

[Elderberry]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/port-arthur-texas-conditions-dire-residents-in-survival-mode/

40 inches in one day in Port Arthur.  The shelter flooded.

Harvey battered Port Arthur Tuesday, dumping more than 26 inches of rain in 24 hours, an all-time daily record for rainfall. More than three and a half feet of rain has fallen on Port Arthur since Saturday.

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/harvey-flood-port-arthur-texas-shelter

[Smokin Joe]

This is absolutely horrific, there are still people who rescuers can't get to and I don't think people realize that even after the flood waters recede, those affected by the flood are going to continue to be displaced and devastated for a long time.  Recovery isn't going to happen overnight or even in months.  This is going to take years.

I look back at what we went through with Charley. Charley was a cake walk in comparison.  Harvey is the monster of all storms.

I will continue to pray for TX for a long time.

People don't understand because they have a hard time conceiving of a situation where contractors will be overwhelmed, with tens of thousands of structures needing remediation, and an invasion of scam artists along with the reputable contractors will make it hard to sort out who will do quality work.

Like the oil boom here, which brought a building boom as well, when we had our fire, it was almost impossible to get anyone to do the work. Ordinarily, you'd have a two floor re-wire and stripped to framing and re-done in a month or two, tops. Ours took nearly eight, and one of the contractors sucked.

Anything not dried out promptly will end up covered with mold, so insulation, drywall, carpet, etc. will have to be stripped out of thousands of residences in short order, along with furniture and most anything exposed to the pathogens in the floodwater. This is going to present mountains of debris and materials which will have to be hauled out and disposed of.

It is going to take quite a while before the area recovers.

[thackney]

@thackney, I hope you're doing OK today.

We are safe.

[Bigun]

 Harvey rainfall grand total 26. 20 inches at my house.  Nothing compared to other places.

[Sanguine]

We are safe.

Good!

[Smokin Joe]

Harvey rainfall grand total 26. 20 inches at my house.  Nothing compared to other places.

That's still a sh*tload of rain. I know, there are places that nearly doubled that. I wonder how many people have taken a tape measure and realized just how much water that is?

[Smokin Joe]

We are safe.

Glad to hear it!

[Bigun]

That's still a sh*tload of rain. I know, there are places that nearly doubled that. I wonder how many people have taken a tape measure and realized just how much water that is?

Indeed it is and this area is going to be in recovery mode for guite some time. Thankfully we suffered no real damage here.

[Bigun]

We are safe.

Excellent news!  No telling how long it will be before you get back home and begin to clean up and my heart aches for you and all the others in that situation.