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Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Tue 01 May 2018, 11:56:45

dohboi - You should set your baseless assumptions aside and read the entire post. As noted here many times the Rockman understood the effects of AGW decades before it hit the mainstream. The Rockman's first degree wasn't in geology...it was a B.S. in Earth Sciences. I'm very disappointed in you, buddy. Houston may flood more often due to climate change. But it still would flood periodically even if climate change did not exist. As it has done for tens of thousands of years. Using floods in Houston as proof of climate change is very poor science. No different then a denier pointing out there is no global warming because during April about 3 weeks Houston temperatures were well below normal. A FACT but similarly very poor science.

But back to the topic. Sorry: I screwed up and got lost in the details. Here's a much easier description of the geography of Houston. So a 50 year floodplain, a 100 year floodplain, blah, blah, blah. What they aren't telling you is that every square foot of the entire city Houston sits in a floodplain. Yes, that's a FACT. And how do we know this is a fact: every square foot of soil in the city was deposited during a flooding event over the last tens of thousands of years. IOW every home, business and roadway in Houston was built on sediments laid down during some flood event. Just as every home, business and roadway in New Orleans (and ALL the rest of southern Louisiana) was built on flood deposits of the Mississippi River.

Trust me: you can't beat the geology on this matter. LOL
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby dohboi » Sat 05 May 2018, 21:25:55

" Sorry: I screwed up and got lost in the details..." no prob...i post drunk more often than i should, too! :-D :-D [smilie=5baby.gif] [smilie=5bouncy.gif] [smilie=5bowtie.gif] :oops: :-| :mrgreen: :doubt: [smilie=3some.gif] [smilie=5crackup.gif] [smilie=5eek.gif] [smilie=5dunce.gif] [smilie=5forbidden.gif] [smilie=5grouphug.gif] [smilie=5headache.gif] [smilie=5hot.gif] [smilie=5masked.gif] [smilie=5shocking.gif] [smilie=5propeller.gif] [smilie=5squeeze.gif] [smilie=5umbrella.gif] [smilie=adora.gif] [smilie=adios.gif] [smilie=boxing.gif] [smilie=cachas.gif] [smilie=angel8.gif] [smilie=angryfire.gif] [smilie=BangHead.gif] [smilie=blob1.gif] [smilie=book1.gif] [smilie=bootyshake.gif] [smilie=color.gif] [smilie=confused1.gif] [smilie=crybaby2.gif] [smilie=cya.gif] [smilie=dead.gif] [smilie=dontknow.gif] [smilie=drunken_smilie.gif] [smilie=duckie.gif] [smilie=eusa_boohoo.gif] [smilie=eusa_dance.gif]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZmLx4w2VHo

Maria caused 18 times more damage in the U.S. territories than the second-costliest hurricane ...

10 Jaw-Dropping Findings from the NHC's Final Hurricane Maria Report



https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/ne ... ane-center
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Sun 06 May 2018, 13:00:46

dohboi – Good point. I think a lot of folks are confused about Harvey vs Maria. Essentially Harvey did not hit Houston. IOW we never got hit with hurricane force winds because the storm’s center stayed almost 100 miles south of downtown Houston. It did make landfall about 120 miles west of Houston and then moved back offshore. It didn’t make landfall until almost 200 miles east of Houston in Louisiana.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hurrica ... 52U3RGgs9M:

Many folks mistakenly believe Houston is on the coast…it is not. Galveston is. And although much closer to the eye of Harvey suffered much less damage then Houston. There was no significant wind damage in the Houston. We were hurt by an outer rain band that was stuck over the city for a very long time…moving just a few mph. And that was an extremely rare event for hurricanes rolling out of the Gul of Mexico that typically move 10 to 20 mph and pass over areas relatively quickly. One could say that Harvey’s lack of speed/energy is what crippled the city.

A very different dynamic then Maria.
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby dohboi » Wed 16 May 2018, 15:07:42

In other Houston news:

Houston, Texas

Oh boy. We typically don't get our first 96° [35.6° C] day until JUNE 17th.
This is a month ahead of schedule.


https://twitter.com/TravisABC13/status/ ... 8784114689

Sign of things to come?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdxM72EZ94
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby dohboi » Sun 02 Sep 2018, 16:38:59

"Houston, too close to New Orleans ...."

" ... savoring his $30,000 floodproofing investment ..."

"But if the water that had once sat on the golf course went downstream, where would it end up? "

"He used to work as a seismic engineer in oil and gas ..."

" ... rainfall is up 26 percent over the past 40 years—but runoff is up 204 percent. From 1996 to 2011, impervious surface in Harris County increased by a quarter, and from 1992 to 2010, the area lost almost a third of its wetlands—nearly 16,000 acres."

"Engineers who sign off on developments, assuring the public they will not contribute to flooding, bid for work from developers, who hire engineers who can make things pencil out. "

"the county must find a way to end this cozy relationship between engineers and their dual masters, developers and (according to state licensing) the public."

"Houston’s long-term strategy must simply be to evacuate the 100-year flood plain. It’s the equivalent of demolishing a midsize American city. "

https://slate.com/business/2018/08/hous ... roads.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pafY6sZt0FE
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Mon 03 Sep 2018, 13:37:38

"We typically don't get our first 96° [35.6° C] day until JUNE 17th." Yes, it can hot in the spring. Such as the 98F it hit in May 1949. Or 20 years ago when it hit 101F in June 1998. Of course, those are air temps which don't mean shit here. With our typical high humidity the "feels like temp" runs 5F to 10F hotter. LOL.

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/Histor ... n=USTX0617
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Mon 03 Sep 2018, 13:47:12

Of course there was some significant flooding in Houston long before there was much "impervious surface" here. Such as in Dec 1935:

◾HEAVY RAIN PRODUCED WIDESPREAD FLOODING ACROSS HARRIS COUNTY
◾BUFFALO BAYOU ROSE TO AN UNPRECEDENTED 52 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL (NORMAL WAS 6 FEET) AT THE CAPITOL STREET BRIDGE
◾FLOOD WATERS ROSE TO THE SECOND AND THIRD FLOORS AT MANY DOWNTOWN BUILDINGS
◾HOUSTON'S CENTRAL WATER PLANT WAS UNDER WATER AND INOPERABLE FOR WEEKS
◾DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT $12.6 MILLION DOLLARS#
◾THE IMPACT OF THIS FLOOD WAS SO SEVERE...THAT THE HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT WAS CREATED TO ALLEVIATE THE FLOODING PROBLEMS WHICH PLAGUED THE CITY

# - Monetary values assigned to storms are from the year of the event. Values have not been adjusted for inflation.

https://www.weather.gov/hgx/climate_holidays_hundred

Yep, been hot and flood prone in Houston for a very long time. Including before we were burning much fossil fuel. LOL.
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby jedrider » Mon 03 Sep 2018, 14:10:55

A lot of deniers refer to the depression era as some of the hottest years on record with most severe weather conditions!!

So, the implied conclusion is that this is normal variation and not a signature of severe climate change.

Does it strike anyone as weird that the depression years was also the years of extreme weather events??

Can someone say 'Global Dimming' :)
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby Newfie » Tue 04 Sep 2018, 09:51:35

$15 billion dike possible. Would seem to have a lot in common with what Venice is attempting. One wonders how that would have helped last years scenario. Google IKE DIKE and look at the proposed construction.

https://gcaptain.com/houston-eyes-exoti ... lion-dike/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ike_Dike
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Tue 04 Sep 2018, 15:02:27

Newfie – That plans make zero sense to me. Look at the map from that link:

https://gcaptain.com/houston-eyes-exoti ... lion-dike/

You see Baytown at the top of Galveston Bay…that’s where the Rockman lives. I know this area very well. Look at the large stretches of the proposed dike both east and west of Galveston. There ain’t shit in either area to protect north of the dike. Just marsh and piss poor grazing land. In fact, very little road access in those areas. Don’t believe me…just look at Google satellite images. Those two areas represent a large majority of the area they want to “protect”.

Also none of the refineries along the Ship Channel (where the majority of the refineries are located) are at risk from a hurricane’s storm surge: Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula would take any hit: a surge can’t physically make it past those barrier island. Hence the word “barrier”. LOL. Thus if a storm surge can’t make it into Galveston Bay one obviously can’t make it up the Ship Channel to the refineries. Which is why even with a long history of storm surges along the coast there you won’t find any reports of storm surge damage north of the barrier island. Look for yourself. Check a map with a scale: Houston never has and never will be in any danger from a storm surge in the Gulf of Mexico: Houston is not on the coast...not anywhere close. For that matter: neither is New Orleans.

So why would the business community be behind spending many $BILLIONS in public funds for an unnecessary project? Ask yourself: who will get paid those funds for the work?
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby dohboi » Sun 12 May 2019, 15:35:55

Deadly flooding is rocking Texas. Scientists say this is our future under climate change.


What's happening in Houston is the future, according to climate scientists.

https://thinkprogress.org/texas-floodin ... fb69fbbda/

...The heavy rain comes only weeks after the United States closed out the wettest 12 months on record, a period that has also seen much of the Midwest devastated by flooding...

...Around 21 million people can expect possible flooding this weekend, including residents in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby dohboi » Sun 12 May 2019, 17:57:07

More on the stat just mentioned:

Wettest 12 Months in U.S. History in April 2019

https://desdemonadespair.net/2019/05/we ... l-may.html
The 12 months ending in April 2019 were the wettest year-long period in U.S. records going back to 1895, according to the monthly U.S. climate summary issued Wednesday by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby ROCKMAN » Mon 13 May 2019, 17:41:21

dohboi - Not that increased rainfall due to CC hasn’t contributed to flooding in Harris County (Houston + immediate suburbs) but the primary cause of widespread home/business flooding has been population growth: over 70% from 1990 thru 2017. Remember what I’ve pointed out before: every square foot of the entire region is in a floodplain. Obviously, folks build on higher portions of the floodplain first. So, the new population would have forced to live in the more flood prone areas. Especially true in far west Houston where many expensive homes were flooded during Hurricane Harvey: an area immediately adjacent to the reservoirs that were designed to capture flooding rains that would have normally flooded downstream Houston. The folks in those adjacent areas wanted to sue the US Corps of Engineers for releasing waters from those reservoirs…waters that flooded their homes. The waters were released to prevent the reservoir dikes from failing.

The lesson: don’t build a $300,000 house immediately downstream from a flood control structure in a formally easily flooded area.
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Re: Houston, We Have A Problem--Floods Shut It Down

Unread postby dohboi » Tue 14 May 2019, 22:49:30

Yes, there are always going to be multiple causes to our ever-accelerating demise.

I trust that you and yours weathered this thing relatively unscathed, I hope!
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