Houston Suffers Catastrophic Flooding

Houston in now suffering from catastrophic, historic flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey:

Tropical Storm Harvey officially became Houston’s worst storm on record overnight, dumping heavy rains across the city and into overflowing bayous, leaving swaths of the city submerged in floodwater.

“It’s catastrophic, unprecedented, epic — whatever adjective you want to use,” said Patrick Blood, a NWS meteorologist. “It’s pretty horrible right now.”

Brock Long, FEMA’s administrator, said on CNN that Harvey is “a storm the United States has not seen yet.”

Some parts of Houston have gotten more than 20 inches of rain, and at least five people have died.

Houston’s CBS affiliate KHOU is off the air because their office has flooded.

Here’s some video. Street flooding:

Flooding and tornadoes:

Drone-eye view of neighborhood flooding, I think from somewhere in suburban SE Houston:

Compilation of various flooding footage, including bats swimming because they can’t get back to their home under the bridge (and some NSFW language at the end):

And keep in mind Houston suffered severe flooding not only from Ike in 2008, but also in the Memorial Day flood in 2015.

Update: 15 seniors rescued from Dickinson nursing home.

Some official tweets:

Update 2:

Ben Taub hospital being evacuated due to flooding and power failures.

Update 3

It’s bad:

FEMA director says Harvey could be worst to ever hit Texas.

In a telephone interview with The Washington Post, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director William “Brock” Long said Harvey could top all previous Texas storms in terms of total damage.

“This will be a devastating disaster, probably the worst disaster the state’s seen,” Long told The Washington Post from FEMA headquarters in Washington.

Casualties, thankfully, remain well below record Texas storms.

The 1900 hurricane that hit Galveston, essentially scrubbing the island by tossing the bay across it, killed an estimated 6,000 to 12,00 people.

1:35: Two Houston-area airports cease flights

Hobby and Bush Intercontinental airports have ceased operations until further notice.

Roughly 850 travelers are stranded at the two Houston-area airports.

Hobby Airport closed around 3:30 a.m. when water reached the runways. Roughly 500 travelers were stuck at the airport Sunday morning. The airport facilities haven’t suffered any structural damages. Bush followed suit.

11:14 a.m.: MD Anderson closed Sunday and Monday

With roads in the Texas Medical Center impassable, MD Anderson Cancer Center said outpatient services, surgeries and all appointments are canceled for Sunday and Monday.

“Statewide, Abbott said there are 316,000 people without power, not including the Houston area.”

“As of 1 p.m., more than 76,000 customers in the area were without power.”

Cruise ships are unable to dock in Galveston because the port is closed and they couldn’t go anywhere if they could disembark due to flooded roads.

Note: Houston water has NOT been shut off.

Update 4

Six Houston deaths total including a homeless man in La Marque who may have just dropped dead.

Update 5

Mandatory evacuations have been called for parts of La Grange as well as parts of Fayette County along the Colorado River.

La Grange is more than 100 miles inland of the Gulf of Mexico…

Also, President Trump is coming to visit on Tuesday.

Update 6

Took a break to take care of three downed trees in my front yard using lopers and a hatchet. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be sore tomorrow…

Footage of the aftermath of Harvey’s destruction in Rockport.

Compilation of more Houston flooding, including some overlap with previous clips (the KHOU flooding):

Update 7

Both FEMA and the Coast Guard are on the scene assisting with rescue operations.

6:13 p.m.: Harvey flooding forces release from Addicks and Barker

Col. Lars N. Zetterstrom with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced late Sunday afternoon that rising levels in the Addicks and Barker reservoirs will force authorities to release water from both dams. Based on the corps data, the rising waters will place residents and their homes in dangerous situations.

“We will have to release water to reduce the risk flooding in the Houston metropolitan,” he said. “Until we realize the actual rise we can predict how many homes would be impacted.”

Homeowners near the reservoirs will likely have water seep into their homes prior to the release.

Some of the released water will flow into the Buffalo Bayou and increase the already bulging water levels. This will lead to officials issuing a voluntary evacuation for residents living along bayou.

The corps plans to release water by 2 a.m. Monday at Addicks and 11 a.m. at Barker.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 27th, 2017 at 12:42 PM and is filed under Texas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Houston Suffers Catastrophic Flooding”

  1. Howard says:
    August 27, 2017 at 5:43 PM

    In addition to the Memorial Day 2015 flood, there was also the Tax Day 2016 flood which had similar consequences.

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