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[RedKing]

There's gonna be a fuckton of fatalities then. There are already numerous reports of people sheltering in their attics, on 2nd and 3rd stories of buildings. Another 25-30 inches of rain, and those people are likely dead or trying to survive on their rooftops for weeks.

[Frumple]

Yeah, much more likely than not. Though attics are real damn bad ideas unless there's roof access involved.

People are fucked en masse at this point regardless unless some damn lucky shit happens and a lot of people suddenly find their ass and that flashlight to get the rescue and relief efforts going on a level we've basically never seen in this country.

But... right now, most of those roads are pretty close to death traps for much, much lower traffic than a mass evacuation would entail. Guess you could roll the bones but it's likely the folks in charge think the odds are better at this for staying in place, even with what that entails.

E: ... that said, it looks like at least some places are trying to some degree. Fort Bend has issued a voluntary evac order in the face of a time given to the addicks/barker water release. They start releasing water Monday morning. Apparently the reservoirs themselves are rising about four inches per hour at the moment, which has prompted it then instead of possibly later.

E2: Though yeah, caveat to what I was mumbling about above, a trickle evac of some sort is significantly more reasonable. It's mostly just mass+mandatory that would be the embuggering.

[Aklyon]

So basically, shit's fucked in texas until the ocean stops trying to eat it?

How underprepared is our current FEMA staff?

[Frumple]

Laughter of thirsting gods unprepared.

... more seriously, I don't think we're really sure. Chief was saying as late as the 23rd or 24th that he was in support of the fed having less of a role in disaster relief and, y'know, hasn't been tested. How badly our executive being just kinda' fucked on the operational level is going to effect specifically what capacity FEMA and other agencies federal and otherwise has to respond is unknown. Whether the basically chronic approaching or being underfunded american disaster relief and infrastructure budgets are going to make this worse than it had to have been, no one got no clue. Save maybe experts in the field, I guess, and then almost certainly conditionally at best.

It's been like 10-12 years since we've had a hurricane set to do this much damage roll in, and it's flooding at a level we've literally never seen before -- actually never in recorded history -- in texas at the absolute least. It could end up being everything from holy shit your organizational cock ups got thousands of people killed to normal level of functioning saving at least most people they try to. I don't think anyone's really going to be able to say until the bodies start getting counted and the material damage tallied.

E: All that said, we do have plenty of people in the search and rescue field that's going to be able to be tapped. Family of mine is in the field, mainly firefighting these days but chipped in with both 9/11 and katrina aftermaths, and has mentioned that there's pretty heavily incentivized stuff starting to hit their networks to try to convince professionals (or equivalents) to come in and help. It's just... lot of uncertainty with the rest of it.

[misko27]

This looks pretty bad. Times is putting casualties at 5, but that won't last long (or maybe it will, at least until the waters recede in a few days). The fact that the rain is going to continue is particularly concerning; what is the drainage like there? Is there a river to empty into or something? (Oh god the sewers there must be completely stopped up).

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Considering the state of the highways, I think the rivers are full.

[Frumple]

From what I've seen of predictions, drainage wise is. Not the prettiest picture. Stuff getting up into record flooding heights and then staying there for days kinda' stuff.

And yeah, most rivers in the area seem to be at or approaching breaking free of their banks. Lotta' places already at or over the TOB (Top Of Bank, if I've not already forgot the meaning) level. And there's still days to go.

E: Oh, and for extra fun, since apparently nature hadn't fucked SE Texas enough, it's worth noting the area has a pretty significant fire ant population.

And fire ants don't drown. Instead they form giant masses of floating hell called rafts, and will disembark with fervor onto anything that touches them. They're apparently around enough mentions to avoid them are picking up.

[Sheb]

PTW

[RedKing]

From reports I've seen, sewage systems are already spilling into the floodwater. As are water moccasins and gators from the coastal bayous.

So...if being eaten by a gator covered in shit, petroleum, and poisonous snakes is of concern to you, perhaps this is not the time to plan a visit to Houston.

Latest estimate is that 11 trillion gallons of water have fallen on Texas so far. Which works out to a little over 41 cubic kilometers of water. Or slightly more than two Great Salt Lakes.

[Frumple]

Also "fun", there's been somewhere around 140 tornado warnings over the last three-ish days. It's not upper band tornado alley records frequency, at least. Those apparently top off in the 190s over a three day period.

E: Ah, and addicks has crested 100. It's about three feet from "house flooding begins in earnest" level.

[RedKing]

I feel like with all these stats, and every time someone says "it doesn't break the record for _______ yet", it's just begging Mother Nature to let us hold her beer.

There's also Trump's seeming tone deafness on Twitter (in other news, water is wet).

Wow - Now experts are calling #Harvey a once in 500 year flood! We have an all out effort going, and going well!

Going to a Cabinet Meeting (tele-conference) at 11:00 A.M. on #Harvey. Even experts have said they've never seen one like this!

HISTORIC rainfall in Houston, and all over Texas. Floods are unprecedented, and more rain coming. Spirit of the people is incredible.Thanks!

People have commented that he sounds almost excited about it. Which he really shouldn't be, considering how Bush at least had five years before his "Katrina moment", rather than seven months.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

So when does Kanye go on TV (or I guess on stream, these days) and talk about Trump's apathy towards black people while Mike Myers stands awkwardly trying to remember how to engage human interaction protocols?

[martinuzz]

I'm kinda waiting for Trump to make a public statement that the US government is doing all it can to divert the water flow to Mexico.

More seriously though, be safe, folks in Texas.

[smjjames]

I feel like with all these stats, and every time someone says "it doesn't break the record for _______ yet", it's just begging Mother Nature to let us hold her beer.

There's also Trump's seeming tone deafness on Twitter (in other news, water is wet).

Wow - Now experts are calling #Harvey a once in 500 year flood! We have an all out effort going, and going well!

Going to a Cabinet Meeting (tele-conference) at 11:00 A.M. on #Harvey. Even experts have said they've never seen one like this!

HISTORIC rainfall in Houston, and all over Texas. Floods are unprecedented, and more rain coming. Spirit of the people is incredible.Thanks!

People have commented that he sounds almost excited about it. Which he really shouldn't be, considering how Bush at least had five years before his "Katrina moment", rather than seven months.

Overcompensation for a possible "Katrina moment" and just coming off wrong? The tone deafness and frequent tweeting isn't new, but he's definetly making an effort to appear focused and paying attention rather than distracted. He's even stopping by in Texas as early as tomorrow. Some of the criticisms of Bush was that he seemed detached from the whole thing.

[Frumple]

I'unno, just a katrina moment might be preferable when this all finishes falling out. The population in the process of losing home and livelihood are a few multiples of what katrina hammered. The size of the metaphorical dropped plate in this spinning act is helluva' lot larger.

Screwing up in regards to a population just the size of what got scattered in Louisiana could easily end up being light compared to what has the potential to happen with this mess.