The Houston Flood and Politics

[Tom Sawyer]

And people weren't doing that after Katrina?

No, they were Democrats, so they sat there and died unless the government came to rescue them.

 

[Elixir]

Yeah, they're better represented in congress than the victims of Superstorm Sandy were. I admit to a bit of schadenfreude, watching TX representatives squirm about their votes against heling out after Sandy, and their demands that any reparations paid to the Sandy victims be counter-balanced by equal budget cuts. Too bad about that wall though - looks like a government shutdown to force us to pay for it is out of the question for the moment.

Trump should go one of the refugee centers and hold a rally... "What a crowd! Can you believe this crowd?"

It isn't about government aid that I think Houston will bounce back. It is the fact that the average Texan tends to be more self sufficient so begins "taking care of business" without waiting for or depending on government. A good example is already evident - there were swarms of Texans (not associated with government) who, for days, used their personal boats to rescue others who were trapped... they didn't wait for FEMA rescuers to take care of the problems.

Yeah, the average Texan living within 25 miles of the coast is much more likely to have a boat and/or large truck, than the average Northeasterner who lives within 25 miles of the coast. And the flooded areas of Texas are FAR more accessible by boat than were the areas most effected after S. Sandy. I saw a video of some "self-sufficient" Texan trying to catch a rather large fish - that was swimming around in his living room. I don't recall seeing any food showing up in Sandy's victims' houses, but there may have been. I don't consider anyone more self-sufficient than anyone else by virtue of living in Texas, but who knows - it does seem to effect people in strange ways.
Regardless, we're planning to get some survival supplies headed toward TX/LA this week. This situation is likely to last for a while.

 

[skepticalbip]

It isn't about government aid that I think Houston will bounce back. It is the fact that the average Texan tends to be more self sufficient so begins "taking care of business" without waiting for or depending on government. A good example is already evident - there were swarms of Texans (not associated with government) who, for days, used their personal boats to rescue others who were trapped... they didn't wait for FEMA rescuers to take care of the problems.

And people weren't doing that after Katrina?

A few did but nowhere near the public response in Houston.

 

[LordKiran]

And people weren't doing that after Katrina?

A few did but nowhere near the public response in Houston.

See I'm willing to believe there were more people helping (Though I don't necessarily since its just an assertion by you at this point.)

What I don't believe is that this has anything to do with general mentality. There are any number of circumstances this could have resulted from.

 

[dismal]

So, assuming this storm bringing 3 or 4 feet of rain is Houston government's fault, I need a quick check:

Is it the current mayor (Black Male Democrat) or his predecessor (Gay Female Democrat) that bear the responsibility for not preparing for a storm the likes of which has never been seen? There was a White Male Republican mayor, so it seems tempting to blame him but he left office in 1982.

It seem like we better get the identity politics decided right up front. While the flood waters are still rising.

The threat was obvious:

https://www.propublica.org/article/hell-and-high-water-text

Hmmm, not so obvious that this article has anything to do with what is happening there.

The problem here is not the storm surge and hurricane winds. It's that it's raining. A lot. 4 feet in places.

I don't think there are too many places set up to handle 4 feet of rain. When I lived in Los Angeles they had flash floods if there were a few inches.

 

[Elixir]

I don't think there are too many places set up to handle 4 feet of rain. When I lived in Los Angeles they had flash floods if there were a few inches.

Other than the Wailailai swamp on Kauai, I've never been anywhere that ever got 4 feet of rain at a time. But climate scientists have long predicted that this sort of thing will become ever more common as more energy is made available to storm systems (due to GW).

 

[dismal]

I don't think there are too many places set up to handle 4 feet of rain. When I lived in Los Angeles they had flash floods if there were a few inches.

Other than the Wailailai swamp on Kauai, I've never been anywhere that ever got 4 feet of rain at a time. But climate scientists have long predicted that this sort of thing will become ever more common as more energy is made available to storm systems (due to GW).

I'll let everyone know they don't have to worry about conserving water anymore.

I can't wait to get a 5 gpf toilet again.

 

[Elixir]

Other than the Wailailai swamp on Kauai, I've never been anywhere that ever got 4 feet of rain at a time. But climate scientists have long predicted that this sort of thing will become ever more common as more energy is made available to storm systems (due to GW).

I'll let everyone know they don't have to worry about conserving water anymore.

I can't wait to get a 5 gpf toilet again.

Wanna buy a water filter? The technology has improved vastly ...

 

[dismal]

I'll let everyone know they don't have to worry about conserving water anymore.

I can't wait to get a 5 gpf toilet again.

Wanna buy a water filter? The technology has improved vastly ...

Not for my toilet, no.

 

[RavenSky]

And people weren't doing that after Katrina?

No, they were Democrats, so they sat there and died unless the government came to rescue them.

Actually, they were being shot at... Danziger Bridge shootings

 

[LordKiran]

No, they were Democrats, so they sat there and died unless the government came to rescue them.

Actually, they were being shot at... Danziger Bridge shootings

I saw an interesting documentary. Apparantly there's a local belief that the leves near the 9th ward were purposefully demolished to take pressure off of the leves near richer communities.

 

[ZiprHead]

And people weren't doing that after Katrina?

A few did but nowhere near the public response in Houston.

Here’s a quick look at the top 20 states and the total number of boats registered in each:

1. California 1,051,606
2. Michigan 1,000,337
3. Florida 922,597
4. Minnesota 834,974
5. Wisconsin 650,280
6. Texas 624,390
7. New York 529,732
8. Ohio 413,276
9. Illinois 398,431
10. South Carolina 383,971
11. Pennsylvania 357,729
12. North Carolina 353,625
13. Louisiana 327,272
14. Missouri 325,717
15. Georgia 325,135
16. Washington 266,717
17. Alabama 264,191
18. Tennessee 259,235
19. Virginia 243,590
20. Mississippi 199,037

http://www.discoverboating.com/resources/article.aspx?id=122

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Yeah, the average Texan living within 25 miles of the coast is much more likely to have a boat and/or large truck, than the average Northeasterner who lives within 25 miles of the coast. And the flooded areas of Texas are FAR more accessible by boat than were the areas most effected after S. Sandy. I saw a video of some "self-sufficient" Texan trying to catch a rather large fish - that was swimming around in his living room. I don't recall seeing any food showing up in Sandy's victims' houses, but there may have been. I don't consider anyone more self-sufficient than anyone else by virtue of living in Texas, but who knows - it does seem to effect people in strange ways.
Regardless, we're planning to get some survival supplies headed toward TX/LA this week. This situation is likely to last for a while.

And it's much safer for that Texan to take his boat out. A dunking is unlikely to lead to hypothermia.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Well, the rain is stopping and Harvey is moving Northeast. The big problem now is parts of Houston are still flooded and it may be weeks in some places before that drains off. So far here, I am high and dry, but there are no grocery stores open, no food, no water. With a reported 1/2 million cars and trucks destroyed, people won't be able to get to the stores when they reopen. How this is going to resolve is going to be interesting to see. In many places, gasoline supplies may have been contaminated by flood waters. Water systems are probably contaminated by flood waters. A million or more people won't be able to get to work, even if their workplace survived the flood. Large numbers of people here live in the suburbs but drive into down town to work. It is going to be an interesting year to come. This is when we need leaders who can organize well and get things done. We may be in trouble.