Hurricane Harvey

[JEBar]

hope all of our folks are well away from the area where Hurricane Harvey is due to come ashore later today .... over the years the area north of Houston on Lake Conroe has become very dear to us ..... the projected level of rain is nothing short of amazing

 

[Frim]

hope all of our folks are well away from the area where Hurricane Harvey is due to come ashore later today .... over the years the area north of Houston on Lake Conroe has become very dear to us ..... the projected level of rain is nothing short of amazing

My wife was a first-responder at Andaman Beach Thailand 2004. The kind of devastation that can be expected will leave a mark in your memory that cannot be erased. Those affected people need to leave South Texas now. Anything left behind will probably be kindling when they return.

 

[Ty]

My wife was a first-responder at Andaman Beach Thailand 2004. The kind of devastation that can be expected will leave a mark in your memory that cannot be erased. Those affected people need to leave South Texas now. Anything left behind will probably be kindling when they return.

There isn't much to this hurricane as far as wind goes but to get that much water at once will be tough!

 

[Lil4X]

Beach dwellers and tourists need to move out now. It's going to be impossible to get off our barrier islands once the storm surge brings rising water. Then you're stuck for the duration. Not a good prospect.

The worst of this storm is that it's going to hang around so long. Right now, it's not expected to clear the area until next Thursday, meanwhile it's going to rain . . . buckets. Down the coast near Corpus, the wind is going to howl . . . and having gone through a LOT of these here on the upper Texas coast, it's no fun. Here are a few of the dozens of things we learned during hurricane Ike's aftermath:

I hesitate to say this at the risk of downplaying the danger here, but MOST of the time the media overplay the danger. If you are in a good solid home, on high ground, with all the required codes observed for living in hurricane country, you're probably OK against major wind damage - even in a Cat 2 storm. The first concern for most people is boarding up windows - not to keep them from being blasted out by the wind, but what the wind carries. Things to watch out for are lawn furniture, loose trash cans, lumber, fences, or any other thing that can become a projectile in high winds. Put them in the garage, or secure them in place. If your trash cans are pretty clean, fill them with water to anchor them down - you may need non-potable water for cleaning or toilet flushing. Ah! hadn't thought of that, had you?

Don't bother to tape up windows, it just creates a mess without offering any real protection. Board up large windows if you've already prepared plywood sections for the windows of your house. This is not a last-minute DIY job.

If you have enough time, it's a good idea to tint your home's windows with a good light or clear film (available at home improvement stores) for energy savings, but also to ensure that all the glass fragments resulting from a missile strike at least cling together. The sheets of mylar are cheap, and with a little planning and practice, it's an easy DIY project and gives you a whole new respect for the auto tint installers. I messed up and used a dark limo tint, with the effect that the view out my patio door always looked like a tornado was on the way - even on a clear, sunny day. That tint can easily be TOO dark, but even then, it's better than being pelted with shards of glass, and it might save your window from breaking altogether. Meanwhile, you can pull your blinds and close the drapes to help contain flying glass.

The second most common concern for homeowners in a storm is drinking water. It's not a big problem because your water supply is underground in most areas, safe from the storm. The only concern if for broken water mains (highly uncommon in a hurricane) are introducing contaminants into your drinking water. That, and electric service being cut to municipal pumps and wells. These outages are high priority repairs for utility crews, so it's not the serious concern as it once was - they should be back up and running in hours, right behind the life-support systems in your local hospitals.

A gallon of drinking water per person, per day is recommended by most authorities. You don't have to buy pallets of expensive bottled water, just wash out a few jugs, rinse thoroughly, and fill them with tap water before the storm begins. Put a little vaseline around the stopper in your tub and fill it with water. This isn't for drinking, it's the water you will use to wash dishes (rinse with hot water from a pan on the barbecue) or in a pinch, flush your toilet.

Inventory your pantry, if you already haven't. Figure on eating all the refrigerated food first, then the frozen food, then finally the canned goods. If your utilities are out, play like you're camping. Cook on your charcoal or gas grill, using a thick coating of soap on the bottom to make scrubbing the soot off your good pans easier. If you're not an experienced camper, an old Boy Scout Field Book should be on your bookshelf - it's kinda interesting - if you're curious about camping in the wild, but it comes into its own as an essential for survival in your own backyard with instructions and pictures for dozens of outdoor hacks. That tip for soaping your good pans for use on an open fire comes directly from those pages.

Figure on losing power, cable, and internet services if you're going to be hard-hit. Start charging every battery you own right now, including those in the lawnmower, boat, or motorcycles. 12VDC can be a godsend when the 110V goes out and you need to call for assistance, get snippets of TV weather, or find where the utility repair crews are, and where you can buy ice. Pull out that old transistor radio and put fresh batteries in it. It could be your only link to the outside world for a week or two with electric power and internet service down.

When our electricity went out for two weeks in the wake of Ike, we stayed fed, lit, and entertained - even without internet service (on the same poles as the electric utility that were torn down during the storm). The secret was a pair of 12vdc - 110vac inverters that we used to recharge phones, laptops, even power portable TVs so you can stay in touch with distant friends and family who are probably worrying about you.

We watched DVD movies on the entertainment system in the RX while a large selection of batteries charged on the tailgate - with the engine idling to provide power . . . . and popcorn from the barbecue grill. You have to think outside the box and get a little creative when you're camping in your carport - but it can be kinda fun, with cookouts every night, cowboy coffee (boiled) every morning, and covered dish suppers with the neighbors as you go through your perishables. With your home probably uninhabitable from about noon to midnight with the AC out, it's a good time to meet new friends and share information on where to find water, ice, food, and gas - things that can be tough to find if you just strike out on your own. Decks of cards and board games can provide a lot of family entertainment when TV is out of the question.

 

[NSTG8R]

There isn't much to this hurricane as far as wind goes but to get that much water at once will be tough!

I don't know what you consider "strong winds", but 125 mph sounds like it'd do a number on your roof, trees, cars...pretty much anything not made of concrete. Throw a boat load of rain and "projected" 12' storm surge on top of that and it sounds like it's going to get ugly down there around the coastal areas.

 

[larryboy]

Beach dwellers and tourists need to move out now. It's going to be impossible to get off our barrier islands once the storm surge brings rising water. Then you're stuck for the duration. Not a good prospect.

The worst of this storm is that it's going to hang around so long. Right now, it's not expected to clear the area until next Thursday, meanwhile it's going to rain . . . buckets. Down the coast near Corpus, the wind is going to howl . . . and having gone through a LOT of these here on the upper Texas coast, it's no fun. Here are a few of the dozens of things we learned during hurricane Ike's aftermath:

I hesitate to say this at the risk of downplaying the danger here, but MOST of the time the media overplay the danger. If you are in a good solid home, on high ground, with all the required codes observed for living in hurricane country, you're probably OK against major wind damage - even in a Cat 2 storm. The first concern for most people is boarding up windows - not to keep them from being blasted out by the wind, but what the wind carries. Things to watch out for are lawn furniture, loose trash cans, lumber, fences, or any other thing that can become a projectile in high winds. Put them in the garage, or secure them in place. If your trash cans are pretty clean, fill them with water to anchor them down - you may need non-potable water for cleaning or toilet flushing. Ah! hadn't thought of that, had you?

Don't bother to tape up windows, it just creates a mess without offering any real protection. Board up large windows if you've already prepared plywood sections for the windows of your house. This is not a last-minute DIY job.

If you have enough time, it's a good idea to tint your home's windows with a good light or clear film (available at home improvement stores) for energy savings, but also to ensure that all the glass fragments resulting from a missile strike at least cling together. The sheets of mylar are cheap, and with a little planning and practice, it's an easy DIY project and gives you a whole new respect for the auto tint installers. I messed up and used a dark limo tint, with the effect that the view out my patio door always looked like a tornado was on the way - even on a clear, sunny day. That tint can easily be TOO dark, but even then, it's better than being pelted with shards of glass, and it might save your window from breaking altogether. Meanwhile, you can pull your blinds and close the drapes to help contain flying glass.

The second most common concern for homeowners in a storm is drinking water. It's not a big problem because your water supply is underground in most areas, safe from the storm. The only concern if for broken water mains (highly uncommon in a hurricane) are introducing contaminants into your drinking water. That, and electric service being cut to municipal pumps and wells. These outages are high priority repairs for utility crews, so it's not the serious concern as it once was - they should be back up and running in hours, right behind the life-support systems in your local hospitals.

A gallon of drinking water per person, per day is recommended by most authorities. You don't have to buy pallets of expensive bottled water, just wash out a few jugs, rinse thoroughly, and fill them with tap water before the storm begins. Put a little vaseline around the stopper in your tub and fill it with water. This isn't for drinking, it's the water you will use to wash dishes (rinse with hot water from a pan on the barbecue) or in a pinch, flush your toilet.

Inventory your pantry, if you already haven't. Figure on eating all the refrigerated food first, then the frozen food, then finally the canned goods. If your utilities are out, play like you're camping. Cook on your charcoal or gas grill, using a thick coating of soap on the bottom to make scrubbing the soot off your good pans easier. If you're not an experienced camper, an old Boy Scout Field Book should be on your bookshelf - it's kinda interesting - if you're curious about camping in the wild, but it comes into its own as an essential for survival in your own backyard with instructions and pictures for dozens of outdoor hacks. That tip for soaping your good pans for use on an open fire comes directly from those pages.

Figure on losing power, cable, and internet services if you're going to be hard-hit. Start charging every battery you own right now, including those in the lawnmower, boat, or motorcycles. 12VDC can be a godsend when the 110V goes out and you need to call for assistance, get snippets of TV weather, or find where the utility repair crews are, and where you can buy ice. Pull out that old transistor radio and put fresh batteries in it. It could be your only link to the outside world for a week or two with electric power and internet service down.

When our electricity went out for two weeks in the wake of Ike, we stayed fed, lit, and entertained - even without internet service (on the same poles as the electric utility that were torn down during the storm). The secret was a pair of 12vdc - 110vac inverters that we used to recharge phones, laptops, even power portable TVs so you can stay in touch with distant friends and family who are probably worrying about you.

We watched DVD movies on the entertainment system in the RX while a large selection of batteries charged on the tailgate - with the engine idling to provide power . . . . and popcorn from the barbecue grill. You have to think outside the box and get a little creative when you're camping in your carport - but it can be kinda fun, with cookouts every night, cowboy coffee (boiled) every morning, and covered dish suppers with the neighbors as you go through your perishables. With your home probably uninhabitable from about noon to midnight with the AC out, it's a good time to meet new friends and share information on where to find water, ice, food, and gas - things that can be tough to find if you just strike out on your own. Decks of cards and board games can provide a lot of family entertainment when TV is out of the question.

I catch rain water to use in the garden and as emergency toilet flushing water. We get less precipitation in a whole year than some areas down there are going to get in the next 3/4 days. A couple of 5 gallon buckets tied down so they wont blow away should get you 10 gallons of pretty clean water.

 

[JEBar]

they just announced that Harvey has been elevated to a Level 4 hurricane

 

[4matic]

Riding the storm out at my mid-rise in the Houston Galleria...

Unfortunately...Houston is a concrete jungle with poor drainage...Harvey has the possibility of dumping 15 to 25 inches of rain in Houston...which would result in severe urban flooding...

Here's a photo of Houston flooding adjacent to my building last year... this photo was taken two days after the rain stopped...

 

[JEBar]

because of Harvey, my wife and daughter just finished taking 5 vehicles over to fill them with gasoline .... not that we expect any storm related issues with infrastructure in our area; in fact, none is expected .... a substantial portion of our country's refining and storage facilities are located in the Corpus Christi area .... if as projected, they have an 11' or better storm surge, the damage to all structures could be significant .... if so, supplies will be disturbed for a while and prices will rise quickly .... worse case, we have a good bit of gas on hand that will be burned all too quickly

 

[4matic]

Here's another photo of Houston flooding taken two years ago...for reference these vehicles were trapped by rising waters on highway 59 during heavy rain...

Severe flooding in Houston is a very common problem...