Hurricane Harvey - August 2017

[CARIIS]

Katrina commander: Federal response to Harvey is 'amateur hour'


The Senate put in the current guy a couple of weeks after Gen Honore had this to say !

Starting hurricane season without leaders of NOAA and FEMA should 'scare the hell out of everybody'



[video=cnn;weather/2017/05/25/hurricanes-explainer-orig-llr.cnn]http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/02/us/noaa-fema-vacancy/index.html[/video]

 

[Bootsctr]

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2017/08/30/lieutenant-general-russel-honore-harvey-sot-newday.cnn

Awesome video CARIIS! Love him!

 

[Bootsctr]

[video=twitter;903369738230915072]https://twitter.com/kfdmnews/status/903369738230915072[/video]

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

Scary. Posted about 15 minutes ago by the New York Times.

A Sea of Health and Environmental Hazards in Houston’s Floodwaters

Flooded sewers are stoking fears of cholera, typhoid and other infectious diseases. Runoff from the city’s sprawling petroleum and chemicals complex contains any number of hazardous compounds. Lead, arsenic and other toxic and carcinogenic elements may be leaching from some two dozen Superfund sites in the Houston area.
Porfirio Villarreal, a spokesman for the Houston Health Department, said the hazards of the water enveloping the city were self-evident.
“There’s no need to test it,” he said. “It’s contaminated. There’s millions of contaminants.”

<snip>

Harris County, home to Houston, hosts more than two dozen current and former toxic waste sites designated under the federal Superfund program. The sites contain what the Environmental Protection Agency calls legacy contamination: lead, arsenic, polychlorinated biphenyls, benzene and other toxic and carcinogenic compounds from industrial activities many years ago.

<snip>

An E.P.A. spokesman, David Gray, said in a statement that the agency would inspect two flooded Superfund sites in Corpus Christi, but he did not specify which ones or say whether additional sites elsewhere in Texas would be checked.

Houston also lies at the center of the nation&#8217;s oil and chemical industry, its bustling shipping channel home to almost 500 industrial sites. Damaged refineries and other oil facilities have already released more than two million pounds of hazardous substances into the air this week, including nitrogen oxide as well as benzene and other volatile organic compounds, according to a tally by the Environmental Defense Fund of company filings to Texas state environmental regulators.

I don't really believe the company when it says the released peroxides aren't toxic (at least one first responder has already been hospitalized after breathing in the stuff).

But the problems caused by these explosions is nothing compared to the very under-reported story about flooded federal Super Fund sites in Harris County. There are about 12 such sites overall, and I think all are flooded, as are an unknown number of sites officially deemed highly toxic by the state of Texas.

 

[Bootsctr]

[video=twitter;903278396779761666]https://twitter.com/BrianJamesNBC5/status/903278396779761666[/video]

[video=twitter;903277495830622208]https://twitter.com/daveroe07/status/903277495830622208[/video]

 

[gitana1]

Rebuilding at least gives Texas decision -makers a chance to rethink safety & zoning matters across the board. Houston is on a flood plain. Global warming is real. Houston will flood again, whether they be 100, 500, or every other year type floods.


The cost of not doing it right this time- especially the social/human toll- is just too high, Imo.

My mom is from Holland, much of which is below sea level (her city Amsterdam is almost 7 feet below). They have mad storms and life-altering flooding. And yet... We have seen nothing like this there since the 50's and we won't.

My mom talks about it all the time. Just flooding from regular rain here in the streets of California is not seen in Holland.

Why?

"The original Delta Works price tag was steep, $5 billion, but a bargain relative to the cost of inaction. Compare it to one storm in the United States, Katrina, with a total cost estimated by FEMA at [video]http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/23/us/hurricane-katrina-statistics-fast-facts/index.html[/video], and immense human suffering."

[video=cnn;us/2017/08/28/harvey-brings-hell-orig-al.cnn]http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/29/opinions/dutch-america-storms-opinion-ghitis/index.html[/video]


We can do better in this country. It is vastly less costly to prepare and prevent catastrophe than it is to deal with it later. And it will provide jobs!!!!

[video=youtube;zUEfU0P92Ws]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUEfU0P92Ws[/video]

 

[JerseyGirl]

Irma upgraded! That was too freaking quick! She's a 3 already!

[video=twitter;903356914351923200]https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/903356914351923200[/video]

This one is getting me nervous!!

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Aug 31 2017, 5:03 pm ET

Hurricane Irma Packing 115 MPH Winds and Gaining Strength in Atlantic

by Corky Siemaszko

While Texas is still struggling to recover from Harvey, more trouble was brewing Thursday out in the Atlantic — and her name is Irma.

Packing 115-mph winds and strengthening rapidly, Irma was declared a Category 3 hurricane just before 5 p.m. and was heading west at 12 mph and picking up speed, the National Hurricane Center reported.

At the time, it was about 3,000 miles southeast of Miami....

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/h...-mph-winds-it-gains-strength-atlantic-n797791

 

[Bootsctr]

My mom is from Holland, much of which is below sea level (her city Amsterdam is almost 7 feet below). They have mad storms and life-altering flooding. And yet... We have seen nothing like this there since the 50's and we won't.

My mom talks about it all the time. Just flooding from regular rain here in the streets of California is not seen in Holland.

Why?

"The original Delta Works price tag was steep, $5 billion, but a bargain relative to the cost of inaction. Compare it to one storm in the United States, Katrina, with a total cost estimated by FEMA at [video]http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/23/us/hurricane-katrina-statistics-fast-facts/index.html[/video], and immense human suffering."


We can do better in this country. It is vastly less costly to prepare and prevent catastrophe than it is to deal with it later. And it will provide jobs!!!!

Thank you Gitana! Those are two great videos. The first would only play halfway through, but I loved watching the old news footage from the 1953 Dutch flood. Many scenes just like Harvey! Hard to watch the child or young woman (I think) tug on that bag of sand, but reminded me of my great-grandmother who was Dutch-German. This quote always makes me think of her "And though she be but little, she is fierce!" So many beautiful horses rescued! Bless their hearts! You could tell many were just exhausted! WE definitely could learn from Holland!

My sister-in-law used to live close to Buffalo Bayou there in Houston and it would flood just under normal rainfall. Built on the coast in very low-lying land. Massive flood in 1936 and before that there was the 1900 Galveston hurricane that had no name.

1900 Galveston hurricane

The Great Galveston Hurricane was a Category 4 storm, with winds of up to 145 mph (233 km/h), which made landfall on September 8, 1900, in Galveston, Texas, in the United States, leaving about 6,000 to 12,000 dead. It remains to the present day the deadliest natural disaster in US history.

The dead bodies were so numerous that burying all of them was impossible. The dead were initially weighted down on barges and dumped at sea, but when the gulf currents washed many of the bodies back onto the beach, a new solution was needed.[30] Funeral pyres were set up on the beaches, or wherever dead bodies were found, and burned day and night for several weeks after the storm. The authorities passed out free whiskey to sustain the distraught men conscripted for the gruesome work of collecting and burning the dead.[21] More people were killed in this single storm than the total of those killed in all the tropical cyclones that have struck the United States since. This count is greater than 300 cyclones, as of 2009. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 remains the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history.[31]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane

CARIIS your earlier post reminded me of what happened during this 1900 hurricane and the deceased.

 

[Bootsctr]

This one is getting me nervous!!

Keeping you in my thoughts JerseyGirl! :hug:

 

[JerseyGirl]

Aug 31 2017, 5:03 pm ET

Hurricane Irma Packing 115 MPH Winds and Gaining Strength in Atlantic


Packing 115-mph winds and strengthening rapidly, Irma was declared a Category 3 hurricane just before 5 p.m. and was heading west at 12 mph and picking up speed.
At the time, it was about 3,000 miles southeast of Miami....

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/h...-mph-winds-it-gains-strength-atlantic-n797791

the &#8220;rapid intensification&#8221; of Irma's strength caught everybody&#8217;s attention at the NHC headquarters in Miami.

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/36250963/hurricane-irma-forecast-path-0831-17-11am

 

[Bravo]

Thanks for this info Boots and gitana

 

[Bootsctr]

[video=twitter;903385935278112770]https://twitter.com/kfdmnews/status/903385935278112770[/video]

 

[Bootsctr]

Thanks for this info Boots and gitana

Thanks for being here Bravo! :tyou:

 

[Bravo]

Thanks for being here Bravo! :tyou:

Awww you are so very kind :tyou:

 

[Bootsctr]

God Bless Jacksonville! Even with Irma possibly headed to Miami, people still helping Texas!

Jacksonville-area organizations collecting supplies to help people, pets affected by Harvey

The devastation in Texas from Hurricane Harvey has triggered a massive response nationwide, including in Jacksonville and its surrounding communities.

&#8220;We know, we understand what&#8217;s happening," said Martha Nourse, whose house was severely damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

"We were living in Vilano Beach. The water came up 7 feet into the road and 2.5 feet into the house,&#8221; Nourse said.

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/l...help-people-pets-affected-by-harvey/600240850

 

[Bootsctr]

the “rapid intensification” of Irma's strength caught everybody’s attention at the NHC headquarters in Miami.

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/36250963/hurricane-irma-forecast-path-0831-17-11am

Irma will continue its westward march over the next 5-7 days at which point the forecast models disagree on where the storm heads from there.

The official forecast from the National Hurricane Center projects that Irma will remain a Category 3 hurricane through the weekend, and become a Category 4 hurricane by early next week.

Shaking my head again! Unbelievable!

 

[CARIIS]

Man he is a booger He is gonna do like 8 inches somehwere else tonight

I assume Houston goes its water from ground water - is it only a matter of time before they start to ahve water issues??

Mayor presser Verizon 2.5 mill

football star or whatever sport he is 10 mill

I

waste mangement 1.5 mill

toyate center now coming

someone else 10 mill

It is truly crazy how much this impacts

the inflow from the rivers has resulted in the currents in the gulf being too much at this time for ships to come in

the ships are giants

This is why I suggested amazon donation suggusted shipped directly to a center

I watched it up close when they started sending Katrina folks here will share the stroy later

[h=3]Don't Be Misled by Deceptive Charity Efficiency Claims | American ...[/h]https://www.charitywatch.org/charitywatch-articles/don-39-t-be...charity.../147

Jan 15, 2015 - You see "85 cents" and "programs" and figure the charity probably is ... This makes sense, especially for charities that can tout a high percentage of program ... charitywill have fundraising and general administrative expenses ...



[h=3]Red Cross Exec Doesn't Know What Portion Of Donations Go To ...[/h]www.npr.org/.../red-cross-exec-doesn-t-know-what-portion-of-donations-will-go-directl...
22 hours ago - Critics have long complained that the charity'sfinances are not transparent. ... percentage of donations going to internal administrative costs, ...



[h=3]Red Cross Misstates How Donors' Dollars Are Spent : NPR[/h]www.npr.org/2014/12/04/.../red-cross-misstates-how-donors-dollars-are-spent

Dec 4, 2014 - Red Cross officials have repeatedly said 91 cents of every dollar donated to the ... Instead of 91 percent of people's money going to services, the real ... theiradministrative and fundraising costs low and they are proud of their ...

 

[CARIIS]

Shaking my head again! Unbelievable!

generally they really dont have any forecast use until starting about 5 days out


they were off with Henry by a bit and totally off for charley by half a state!

Its gotten better

andrews intensity was like Harvey very little warning before he blew up

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/models.asp


When the model starts, is has an incorrect picture of the initial state of the atmosphere, ... The four best hurricane forecastmodels&#8212;ECMWF, GFDL, GFS

Wilma ( lowest barometric in hostroty) off

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS702US702&q=+wilma+hurricane+forecasts+wrong&oq=+wilma+hurricane+forecasts+wrong&gs_l=psy-ab.3...99495.101076.0.104041.7.7.0.0.0.0.137.517.6j1.7.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.0.0.y1kCRTwrW2Y
_

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

generally they really dont have any forecast use until starting about 5 days out


they were off with Henry by a bit and totally off for charley by half a state!

Its gotten better

andrews intensity was like Harvey very little warning before he blew up

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/models.asp

When the model starts, is has an incorrect picture of the initial state of the atmosphere, ... The four best hurricane forecastmodels&#8212;ECMWF, GFDL, GFS

Where we are, you & I are going to have to keep an eye on Irma, dear CARIIS