Hurricane Harvey Slamming Texas

[pbmaise]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Is this the same Harris county official that countermanded the state governor's warning that people should evacuate to the north? On Thursday and Friday there was huge confusion when the state government called for people to evacuate the area around Houston. They turned all southbound interstate lanes to northbound. Then city and/or county officials came out and said no, the storm would go west and people should not evacuate. The governor is pi$$ed as I understand it. And Harris county officials are on TV this afternoon blaming the governor for a lack of rescue boats.

It is still raining hard in the area and looks to keep raining all night into tomorrow. Harvey is a big vacuum cleaner sucking huge amounts of water out of the gulf and dumping it on Harris county. The situation is extremely bad for many thousands of people.

I keep seeing many records were from 1994 and it was not from a hurricane.

See: Flood of 1994: History could repeat itself - Houston Chronicle

I have been tracking the rise of the upper San Jacinto River and it still has many feet to go to match 1994.

This said, everyone said Harvey would dump the same amount of rain as that Montgomery County storm in 1994.

Further, instead of less building in the flooded areas of 1994 there has been massive new developments.

Everything likely slab on grade.

When Allison hit Houston there were over 70,000 homes flooded. At least these people should have been told to get out.

There were also over 90,000 cars damaged by flood waters.



I

[tdoster]

Originally Posted by LEOCAT66

Looks just exactly like the Oak Harbor Marina where we were for "KATRINA". Floating docks just did not work out well. They collapsed under the weight of the boats and folded on top of each other like deck of cards. Most boats were lost on the floating docks. We were on a traditional dock. We survived along with two other boats, all others were either on the bottom, on top of the dock, or implanted into the condo complex.

The complete opposite for Texas. IKE. We lost few boats on good floating docks. Most of the new docks have been built with that lessen. Higher stronger pilings and floaters.

This is also true after Harvey. Port Aransas had the newer floating docks and while Port A is almost a 90% loss, you will see most of the boats in the new floating docks still floating.

Corpus Muni has great floating docks with high pilings and notice the work boats in the old piling docks were moved to the floaters. Very little loss, and the docks held beautifully.

Foulton, Rockport, and Ingleside are all fixed. A lot of damage. Cove Harbor, House of Boats, Hooking Bull. A ton of damage, but the new Cove Harbor Floaters did better than the rest of the Harbor. A lot of damage, but a lot of it because it is really open to the wind and Covered docks add a lot of windage, but many boats still floating nicely in their slip. Key Alegro, is a total. No report on Matagorda, but assume the best.

[jimbunyard]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Is this the same Harris county official that countermanded the state governor's warning that people should evacuate to the north? On Thursday and Friday there was huge confusion when the state government called for people to evacuate the area around Houston. They turned all southbound interstate lanes to northbound. Then city and/or county officials came out and said no, the storm would go west and people should not evacuate. The governor is pi$$ed as I understand it. And Harris county officials are on TV this afternoon blaming the governor for a lack of rescue boats.

It is still raining hard in the area and looks to keep raining all night into tomorrow. Harvey is a big vacuum cleaner sucking huge amounts of water out of the gulf and dumping it on Harris county. The situation is extremely bad for many thousands of people.

There is some speculation that the confusion among the authorities stems from the botched evacuation of Houston for Rita, which wound up causing more deaths than the storm itself.

Many waterways in the area are now at or will be at record or above levels in the next few days.

A link to a roll-over and clickable page that shows past, current and future levels;

NOAA - National Weather Service - Water - State

Looks like they may be getting a respite as drier West Texas air is being entrained. Let's keep our fingers crossed...



Gulf Of Mexico - Water Vapor Loop (Flash) - Satellite Products and Services Division/Office of Satellite and Product Operations

[jimbunyard]

Originally Posted by LEOCAT66

Looks just exactly like the Oak Harbor Marina where we were for "KATRINA". Floating docks just did not work out well. They collapsed under the weight of the boats and folded on top of each other like deck of cards. Most boats were lost on the floating docks. We were on a traditional dock. We survived along with two other boats, all others were either on the bottom, on top of the dock, or implanted into the condo complex.

What a difference a day (as well as the strength, direction, duration and fetch of the wind [in this case 'just' 80 or so knots, from the NW, W and then SW for about 10 hours over 40 miles]) makes...

Before and after Katrina, Oak Harbor. My boat (before I owned it) at the end of the yellow arrows (a fixed dock)...14-16' storm surge (after the eye had passed, by the way) kinda exceeded most docks' design parameters I expect...

[skipmac]

Nothing on this thread for two days.

How did everyone in TX make out? Hope everyone got through safe and boats intact.

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Nothing on this thread for two days.

How did everyone in TX make out? Hope everyone got through safe and boats intact.

they aint done yet. help is arriving from cajun navy and mexico, houston is not gonnabe done with this until they fix their levees. seems those are breaking with more rain on the way. challenging.

[hpeer]

Been following this elsewhere, all second hand info. It it seems there are three dams of interest.
One south of Huston has over topped and they are evacuating neighborhoods
A second protecting Houston has also breached but no word yet if it a catastrophic failure.
A third is in about the same condition as the other two and is in sever risk of failure.

I think these are all relatively low level earth walk structures. Apparently in at least the second one, the earth wall had subsided so the over flow is going over a dirt section, not a concrete spillway.

Last fall in NC after Matthew there was serious flooding above New Bern a very long time after the storm. Houston may end up being interesting.

[Gadagirl]

Just want to add that my heart is with all in his path.

[RTB]

Boat Storage Rockport TX - Wet Slip and Drystack - Cove Harbor Marina

Key Allegro Marina

Rockport was ground zero for the cat 4 hurricane. Not much you can do to survive that.

I'm sure plenty of marinas near, and on up the coast got wiped out, but they don't do social media apparently.

Even 150 miles north, in the Kemah/Clear Lake area, marinas were significantly affected. I have a couple of friends running in dinghy's checking on boats for friends. You can't get to the boat on a floating dock, because the water is too high and there is no access to the docks. But, really no wind damage. Just high water.

The worst is over for now, at least for Texas. Another wave heading to the east coast. Looks like an early starter, and could be bad news for someone! Mother Nature is such a bitch at times.

Ralph

[skipmac]

I recall at least three forum members on this thread that list TX coast as their location, SSgt Pitt, Sailmonkey and Cavalier. Anyone heard from these guys? Hope they came through OK.

[SSgtPitt]

Originally Posted by skipmac

I recall at least three forum members on this thread that list TX coast as their location, SSgt Pitt, Sailmonkey and Cavalier. Anyone heard from these guys? Hope they came through OK.

Thanks for asking Skipmac. The marina said everyone on the new docks faired well except for one cat that was dismasted and you can find that picture online in several areas plus a power boat that sunk a little. We're driving up Thursday night to take stock and will drive back Wednesday. I'll take some pics and videos of the entire marina and get 'em posted.

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by skipmac

I recall at least three forum members on this thread that list TX coast as their location, SSgt Pitt, Sailmonkey and Cavalier. Anyone heard from these guys? Hope they came through OK.

+1 wrt Thanks for asking. I'll send photos of Seabrook Marina at the weekend, and I'm guessing Sailmonkey will report on Waterford Harbor. We had nowhere near the wind that Rockport and Corpus received, so I'd be surprised if there's any real damage (touch teak) at the ClearLake marinas, especially the ones with newer floating docks. I left Cavalier's AIS transmitting, and she still appears to be in her slip.

Sent from mTalk

[Pilou]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Nothing on this thread for two days.

How did everyone in TX make out? Hope everyone got through safe and boats intact.

Photo from my friend's boat in Palacios TX, yesterday 8:00 pm local time. Harvey was not longer in the forecast there.

[tdoster]

Originally Posted by Cavalier

+1 wrt Thanks for asking. I'll send photos of Seabrook Marina at the weekend, and I'm guessing Sailmonkey will report on Waterford Harbor. We had nowhere near the wind that Rockport and Corpus received, so I'd be surprised if there's any real damage (touch teak) at the ClearLake marinas, especially the ones with newer floating docks. I left Cavalier's AIS transmitting, and she still appears to be in her slip.

Sent from mTalk

Here is a good drone fly of Watergate thanks to Brian Austin of S/V Austintacious in Watergate. You can see Seabrook in the distance. For the most part not a lot of damage. We are currently in Portofino.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLIYD8IgbuI&t=116s

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by tdoster

Here is a good drone fly of Watergate thanks to Brian Austin of S/V Austintacious in Watergate. You can see Seabrook in the distance. For the most part not a lot of damage. We are currently in Portofino.

Great! Thanks!

Just heard from Seabrook Marina office. No real damage, just muck/debris from high water, and the electricity isn't back on yet.

I'd made a bypass relay (with a selector switch) such that, if selected, my solar would automatically come on if shore power is lost, and then turned-off again when shore power returns. I'll be interested to see how well it worked when I get down there..

I'll upload photos when I do.