While Vrede is Away

[rstrong]

Dramatic before-and-after images show Houston underwater

Here in Winnipeg on the flat prairie, any new housing developments must be built with water retention ponds. In a sudden heavy rain or sudden spring thaw that the storm sewers can't cope with, the ponds fill with water instead of basements. They can drain through the storm sewers at their leisure. We also have the occasional swale - a low-lying park or playground - that can absorb a sudden large run-off. While both take up space - meaning less taxes - they increase the property values of the houses along them - meaning more taxes.

And of course the ground around houses must be a bit higher than street level. Streets and the outer edges of yards can fill with water, but the basements don't. I experienced this at my house in Mitchell during spring runoff.

I watched a show about a major city in Asia that gets hit by hurricanes. They also had a major problem with traffic getting in and out of downtown. So they solved both problems with a "Big Dig" style traffic tunnel. In a hurricane it's closed to traffic and acts as a giant storm sewer, draining the downtown to a river miles away.

While many of the Houston images are heartbreaking, some of the images are impressive. Some of those flooded freeways are much lower than ground level. This helps with noise abatement, but it looks like water retention was part of the plan. I've also seen aerial photo of completely flooded streets - surrounding green lawns and houses above water level. Someone's been planning ahead and doing it right.

[Vrede too]

... Someone's been planning ahead and doing it right.

I hope so, but it's hard to find the money to plan for a 500 or 1000 year event. I know that Holland does it, but even they may be screwed by AGW.

[O Really]

Woulda been easier if they hadn't decimated/filled in all the wetlands between them and the gulf.

[billy.pilgrim]

Woulda been easier if they hadn't decimated/filled in all the wetlands between them and the gulf.

Bingo. Houston has been warned for years.

Granted they would not have prepared for this event, but had they followed expert advice this damage would have been less.

[rstrong]

Bingo. Houston has been warned for years.

Granted they would not have prepared for this event, but had they followed expert advice this damage would have been less.

You're talking about the world capital for oil companies and companies that build equipment for them. Home to the headquarters of Phillips 66, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, KBR, Marathon Oil, Kinder Morgan, Enbridge Energy Partners and many more. The folks who pay big money to ensure that the warnings are dismissed.

Not that this will cost them. The jump in oil prices because a quarter of the gulf capacity was temporarily shut down, will cover any losses. They'll have experts telling them how to get taxpayer relief to rebuild. And perhaps a few files can be selectively lost in the storm.

[k9nanny]

Every time an interviewed survivor says, "I've lived here 50 years and ain't never seen water come in my house," I want to know, how many square miles near you have been paved?

One inch of rain puts down 27,000 gallons of water on one acre.
Fill in the wetlands and remove the natural vegetation, and, sooner or later, you're sunk.

[Vrede too]

... One inch of rain puts down 27,000 gallons of water on one acre.
Fill in the wetlands and remove the natural vegetation, and, sooner or later, you're sunk.

Harvey by the numbers (so far)

... 260 billion: Rough estimate of gallons of rain that have fallen on the city of Houston so far, assuming an average of 24 inches across 620 square miles. That’s approximately as much water as the Mississippi River carries past New Orleans in 16 hours....

50 inches: Maximum expected rainfall total from Harvey in some parts of Texas. The average annual rainfall at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston is 49.76 inches.

30,000: Estimated number of people who will be forced from their homes as a result of Hurricane Harvey, according to the Washington Post. I would have guessed more.

... 2,000: Number of people who’ve been rescued from flooding in Houston, according to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who said Monday morning that 185 critical requests for help were still pending in the city.

$667 million: Amount of funding the Trump Administration seeks to cut from grants to the Federal Emergency Management Agency — including FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program — to help pay for the construction of a border wall.

16: Percentage of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s overall budget the Trump Administration has proposed cutting....

[O Really]

I don't know where gas comes from out here, but pump prices in WA jumped 7-10 cents from Friday night to Saturday morning. Now around $2.85, with some stations still $2.79ish. That's just garden variety robbery.

[O Really]

30,000: Estimated number of people who will be forced from their homes as a result of Hurricane Harvey, according to the Washington Post. I would have guessed more.

Yeah, me too. Actually as a percentage of the 6.5 mill that live in the metro area, that's not very many. Probably be more as the water rises.

[rstrong]

You're talking about the world capital for oil companies and companies that build equipment for them. Home to the headquarters of Phillips 66, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, KBR, Marathon Oil, Kinder Morgan, Enbridge Energy Partners and many more. The folks who pay big money to ensure that the warnings are dismissed.

Not that this will cost them. The jump in oil prices because a quarter of the gulf capacity was temporarily shut down, will cover any losses. They'll have experts telling them how to get taxpayer relief to rebuild. And perhaps a few files can be selectively lost in the storm.

I don't know where gas comes from out here, but pump prices in WA jumped 7-10 cents from Friday night to Saturday morning. Now around $2.85, with some stations still $2.79ish. That's just garden variety robbery.

CBC: Hurricane Harvey could hike gas prices by 15 cents in some Canadian cities

The oil companies probably consider what's happening to their home town to be "a good trade."

[Vrede too]

I don't know where gas comes from out here, but pump prices in WA jumped 7-10 cents from Friday night to Saturday morning. Now around $2.85, with some stations still $2.79ish. That's just garden variety robbery.

My survey of one station saw it go up 10 cents from Friday morning to Friday evening.

[rstrong]

Splinter: Ted Cruz Is Bringing His Unique Brand of Hypocritical Evil to the Hurricane Harvey Crisis

The Texas senator voted against funding for Hurricane Sandy disaster relief in 2013. Guess what his position is today.

[billy.pilgrim]

I don't know where gas comes from out here, but pump prices in WA jumped 7-10 cents from Friday night to Saturday morning. Now around $2.85, with some stations still $2.79ish. That's just garden variety robbery.

My survey of one station saw it go up 10 cents from Friday morning to Friday evening.

20 cents in last 2 days

[Vrede too]

Harvey Moves Back Over Water (strengthens); Historic Rainfall Will Continue

Harvey is an asshole.

[billy.pilgrim]

It's going to be 10 years to repair.

And months before you can take a deep breath without choking from the smell.

These people need a lot of help.

[billy.pilgrim]

A different kind of smell and I'm not going to Texas for the same reasons I turned down Fukushima.

The choking smell of rotting meat from tens or hundreds of thousands of refrigerators will happen over the next few weeks, but the real danger from chemicals and nuclear is now.

I remember all too well lil bush lying about air quality after 9.11, but this is alternate reality Texas where the lies are standard fare.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/ ... -chemicals


https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/ ... -shut-down


If you are there, be safe Vrede.

[Vrede too]

... If you are there, be safe Vrede.

Thanks. I haven't been contacted about going yet.

If I die in a nuclear meltdown my last words will be, "I told you so."

[GoCubsGo]

Might want to stay away from Crosby.

http://www.khou.com/weather/harvey/cros ... /469003777

[billy.pilgrim]

Might want to stay away from Crosby.

http://www.khou.com/weather/harvey/cros ... /469003777

What's this going to do to the Gulf?

8/3/17
"This week, NOAA announced that this year's dead zone is the biggest one ever measured. It covers 8,776 square miles — an area the size of New Jersey. And it's adding fuel to a debate over whether state and federal governments are doing enough to cut pollution that comes from farms."

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/201 ... -ever-seen

And then there's the Horizon disaster sitting on the bottom further out, but this may be a new kind of bigle.

[rstrong]

Remember the Bhopal disaster, the chemical leak that killed thousands of people in India? Over the next few decades, as chemical storage tanks rust out and no-one maintaining them, that leak gets repeated a thousand times around the world at various chemical plants.

CROSBY, TEXAS - A mandatory evacuation is underway in a one and a half mile radius of the Arkema Chemical plant in Crosby. Chemical refrigeration at the plant has been compromised due to high water and lack of power.
[...]
The plant’s chemical inventory includes acetone, benzoyl chloride, chlorodifluromethane, cumene, cumene hydroperpoxide, DI(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, ethybenzene, ethylene glycol, hydrochloric acid, mercury, methyl ethylketone, n-hexane, sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfate, sulfuric acid and butyl alcohol.

That's a lot faster than I was expecting.

Once again I'm too optimistic.