Abandon Houston
OK, maybe abandon is a harsh word. How about relocate? Bottom line.....Houston is flooding again. Heavy rains made portions of I-10 and Beltway 8 impassable. William P. Hobby Airport was closed for two hours. The mayor took a helicopter tour and said he saw "block after flooded block"http://cbs13.com/national/local_story_170151142.html
http://www.ksat.com/weather/9391506/detail.html?rss=ant&psp=news
Anyone remember Tropical Storm Allison? It was June 2001 and it flooded Downtown Houston.
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WEATHER/06/09/texas.floods.03/
That's twice in five years and neither instance was a hurricane event. I think we should consider relocating Houston. It is clear that they will continue to flood and the city can't seem to do anything about it.
I especially love this quote from the mayor of Houston about this weekends flooding:
"We live in Houston, Texas, and you can't be surprised at flooding in Houston," White said. "When you have this much rain in a short period of time at a place that's near sea level, then you still have some real risk."
The bold is my emphasis.
Check out the pictures from TS Allison (2001):
http://www.houstonvotersagainstflooding.com/Pics.htm
http://www.forum-polonia-houston.com/Events/2001/Allison/allison.htm
Look familiar? Imagine a Cat 5. I think its time to relocate Houston.
Hollis P. Wood
TAGS: Katrina, New Orleans, NOLA, Houston, Flood, Texas
posted by Hollis P. Wood @ 2:33 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I happened to be partway through a 3 year non-hurricane related exile in Houston when Allison hit. Prior to the "levee disaster of 2005" the flooding there was far, far worse than anything I'd ever seen in New Oleans since moving here in the early 70's. A co-worker at the time, a native of New Orleans, agreed. The flooded areas were also well beyond downtown Houston. They spent 24+ hours pulling people and pets off of rooftops and rescuing them in boats. Sound familiar? And guess what, bunches of the hospitals in the Medical Center had stuff stored in the basements including generators, research labs, etc. How "unprepared" is that?
Stuck at IAH right now because of the storms. What a stupid place to build two large "hub" airports (Intercontinental and Hobby). A large hurricane hitting Houston would disrupt Continental Airlines and Southwest nationwide.
Also, I'm sure the increased strain on the Houston area drainage system due to the evacuees is the primary cause of the rampant flooding. FEMA should reimburse them for that.
I think we should find out what that cab driver in Chicago thinks about it. He's gotta be an expert on flooding by now.
Most of the flooding in Houston is due to development, not elevation. Houston continues to add acre upon acre of impervious cover, and then stand back, surprised, when all the water stays in the streets because:
a) the storm drain system is inadequate (the drain in front of my Houston home backs up in any storm with more than 1/2 inch of rainfall) and
b) the newer developments just channel it downstream to older developments. (Everybody knows it, but the developers have the $$, and $$ talks!)
The response to Allison was not to improve storm drain systems. Buildings just built better floodgates to keep the water out of their basements and underground parking garages (as in the Medical Center area).
Abandoning Houston and leaving the concrete to crumble would actually solve the flooding problem. Let's move 'em out!
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