Hey asshats... stop worrying about Rita's effect on Crawford

[MazeRat7]

I suggest you focus your concerns on the only "Blue" county in Central Texas and the sourranding Hill Country. Yes, Austin (in Travis County), and we are directly in the "projected" path as is San Antonio. Why do you give a rats ass about Crawford when the most liberal cities in Texas are gonna get seriously wet... by that I mean it floods here when there is a simple thunderstorm. If we get 4-6+ inches of rain in an hour this place will shut down....


MZr7

On Edit: San Antonio is just south of us and also has a history of flooding... between the two cities (San Antonio/Austin) I would estimate we are talking about several million people will be impacted by floods...

[Eurobabe]

1. Asshats: GREAT WORD OF THE MONTH!!

Don't know where that came from, but I love it. In fact, I changed my moniker on yahoo boards to asshat_bush. LOL!

[redsoxliberal]

2. you're rather inland, aren't you?

gimme a break, people will evacuate to austin.

Yes, it'll be wet... yes, some idiots will try to drive through 7' of water in their hummer... but give me a break... focus on the coast for hurricanes.

[John Q. Citizen]

4. Flooding is the #1 cause of death from natural disasters world

wide. And the number one cause of property loss.

If Austin gets seven inches of rain it will be a very bad thing.

[redsoxliberal]

8. yes... now, simple quiz... which causes worse flooding

15ft storm surge and ten inches of rain

or

ten inches of rain.


Answer, 15ft storm surge alone would do more damage than 35" of rain. And you won't get the wind. Now that's not to say you won't see the storm of your life (there's a good chance you will,) but people inland claiming they will see more damage from a hurricane than those on the coast are purely comical.

[Liberal In Texas]

37. Oh come on. I didn't see anybody post that they think that inland is

going to have more damage or be worse than the coast.

[John Q. Citizen]

44. often there are many more deaths inland from flooding than there

are on the coastal areas. It depends on a lot of things. One is if a tropical depression stalls inland it can wreck havoc with the rainfall amounts. Plus lots of people evacuate from the coast where inland they stay and get flooded.

Simple is often times misleading.

[MazeRat7]

Crawford is farther from the coast than we are....

But that was not my point, Austin (the most liberal county in Texas) has a a history of flood problems. Freeport (the projected impacted point) is pretty sparsely populated. Yes they will be devastated with collateral effects up to Houston and down to Galveston, but there will be major inland flooding.... If we get more than 4-6 inches of rain in a few hours, this place will be paralyzed.


MZr7

[redsoxliberal]

12. okay... first of all, it will be friday or saturday before landfall

so saying freeport is the projected landfall should be taken with a grain of salt... somewhere from chorpus christi to LA border more like.

Second, you will not be the number one impacted area. People will evacuate to Austin, not from it.

[fudge stripe cookays]

19. Again, Austin is not the county.

Flooding here is a major inconvenience, but it doesn't PARALYZE anything.

I've lived in Texas since I was 4. I'm 39 now. I remember very few events in my life that would be seen as paralyzing.

FSC

[jobycom]

28. A half inch of snow could do it.

Paralyze us, I mean.

[fudge stripe cookays]

30. We rarely get that even.

When it "snows" here, it's sleet.

Even reprehensor hates it. As a Canadian, he's used to snow driving, and says it's not the same thing. This is icier and more treacherous.

FSC

[jobycom]

32. It snowed two years ago

Of course, the snow melted by 10AM because there was no sleet to maintain it. But ice shuts the city down more than floods.

[txindy]

41. And then all of the ice-laden trees come crashing down.

Ice and snow are always 'fun' in Central Texas, esp. in the hills. A dusting closes everything down. :rofl:

[FormerRepublican]

36. Or an ice storm.

I loved getting off work early because an ice storm was headed our way... Now I live where it snows, and I've never seen a single day when the weather is bad enough for the company to send a folk home!

[stepnw1f]

3. lol (nt)

[txindy]

5. San Antonio will flood, too. Not to mention all points in between.

Everything between Austin and San Antonio will be seriously flooded. However, the entire Gulf Coast is in terrible danger. If I lived there, I'd be looking to move inland for a while, even to Central Texas. Anything's got to be better than the Gulf right now.

[jobycom]

9. San Antonio could be in genuine danger if it hits far enough west.

San Antonio and the cities just north have terrible flooding when it rains. A hurricane striking around Corpus and heading across San Antonio into the hills could cause problems.

Also, coastal cities could wind up flooded twice, if it drops enough rain on the rivers and floods them all the way downstream after the hurricane passes.

It's all guessing. Maybe it'll do like that Category four that slid in around Kingsland and Alice, and hit almost nothing.

[fudge stripe cookays]

17. You mean Kingsville? n/t

[jobycom]

29. Yes, of course, but I'm an idiot with names!

:-)

[txindy]

18. Yes, I've seen what a simple downpour does to San Antonio

The thought of the lingering effects of a Category 4 hurricane reaching that area gives me the chills. The Guadalupe, Comal, and other rivers can't handle water in the amounts expected with such a storm. And the subsequent flowing of all that water down to an already-flooded coast would be devastating. A double hit, much like Katrina in certain areas.

[AspenRose]

15. I've been saying this all week...originally from S.A.

And I remember Hurricane Gilbert well....I was at A&M at the time and our game with Alabama was cancelled until later in the season, in December. B/CS got tremendous amounts of rain (and there wasn't any Pat O'Brien's hurricane mix around for miles due to the hurricane parties going on).

I don't know if they still hand out hurricane tracking maps at the local HEBs in San Antonio in June. (That was one of the signs that summer had 'arrived'....that and the HEB peach ice cream....) We were always aware growing up that any hurricane that hit the coast 'just right' had the potential to flood S.A.

Edit: my cousin in Clear Lake is leaving Thursday...

[jobycom]

6. Yeah, right

Austin's safe. If we get a lot of rain we might flood the usual creeks. But it's summer, the lakes are low, the ground is dry enough. It won't hurt us. Might make people have to go the long way to work if they live down Spicewood Springs, I guess.

It won't hurt Crawford, either, unless it scares one of Bush's pigs and makes him stampede through the ranch house. Might break a cup or two. If Bush was there, it probably scare him and make him start crying. That's about all.

It would be worse if it hit Corpus Christi and drove up until the hills above San Antonio and New Braunfels and Sequin. They get some serious flooding at the drop of a hat. And they are much closer to the coast, so the rain would actually reach them.

[txindy]

10. You're just determined to make sense, aren't you?

:yourock:

Oh, and the rampaging pig and crying Junior imagery? :applause:

[Texasgal]

7. As an AUSTINITE

I am NOT so much worried about Travis county, I am worried about what TEXAS COASTAL CITY gets hit direct.

God, the fucking humanity on this board kills me.

[MazeRat7]

13. Or lack of... *nuf said.

[QC]

16. Yeah, I get tired of people cheering on catastrophes

in hopes that they might just happen to inconvenience someone we don't like. As someone who lives on the coast, I don't find hurricanes even remotely funny.

[Bridget Burke]

48. Proof that not all Austinites are stuck up Yuppies!

(I'm joking!)

Yes, the Coast will get it bad. After Hurricane Carla, my Mom drove us down to the Bay to see the effects of storm surge. Nothing but piles of rubble where neighborhoods used to be.

In my part of Houston, I don't expect serious danger. But minor damage & loss of power will be widespread.

[Liberal In Texas]

11. Asking for any particular region or city to be wiped out because someone

we don't like, lives or is from there, is the height of narrow-minded stupidity.

I for one will be hosting my son in Houston here in Dallas. And Dallas isn't going to be a walk in the park even a few hundred miles from the coast. We're going to have power out and trees down and roofs off and floods.

This is very flat country and the water has no place to go quickly.

This might not be NOLA, but it's serious and people are going to die.

Anybody have any jokes?

[fudge stripe cookays]

14. I'm FROM Austin. Relax.

It's Travis County by the way.

Austin made it through 1981 OK; this will be fine too. Austin is far enough inland that it'll get a little (okay a LOT of) rain. As will most other areas. But I'm more worried about our friends on the coast. Especially our new guests.

And places like Bandera, that tend to flood easily.

In 1981, it started raining in early May, and rained every day until the beginning of July. It was bad.

This is way different.
FSC

[FormerRepublican]

20. You're forgetting about tornados...

Remember when Hurricane Gilbert wiped out a huge warehouse on Kelly AFB in San Antonio? A two-by-four speared a reinforced concrete water-tower like it was a pincushion. Remember when the F-5 tornado wiped out a bunch of houses north of Austin? Didn't even leave a foundation for survivors to worry over...

I wouldn't worry as much about the hurricane as I would about the tornados it spawns. In Texas, they grow big tornados!

Hunker down in the basement for a wild and windy ride ...

I used to live in Austin. I just hope it doesn't get mushed by anything. I'd hate to have the things I remember blown away or destroyed. I can envision an F-5 dropping out of the sky to lift away the Western Whitehouse, with nothing left but cleared earth. It would be poetic justice of the very best kind! And I hope FEMA is just as slow to respond to Bush as it was to respond to New Orleans ... Poor Georgie, wandering the wind cleared landscape in Crawford with no food or water for 5 days, while his pals run around like keystone kops wondering what to do... They'd like to evacuate him, but no one will take him... What a vacation picture for the twins!

It would be God paying * back for torturing the disabled and the poor - something God frowns on, even while 'pukes eat it up with a spoon.

[fudge stripe cookays]

21. Point taken.

But if you lived in Austin, you know we don't have basements here.

Just find an internal room or closet with no windows and hope for the best!

FSC

[redsoxliberal]

22. tornadoes almost always are on the NE side of a cane

as in Austin will not be hit by a tornado either.

jesus.

[jobycom]

24. Geeze, that was a nasty day.

That 5 that hit Jarrel came out of a sunny day that suddenly went black. I heard them talking about a large tornado spotted in Jarrel and heading towards Austin. Three large tornados cut through Cedar Park and far northwest Austin. When it was over I turned the radio back on the hear the news about Jarrel, and they had confirmed 36 deaths. And the day started out pretty.

You've made my day now. I just lost the town I grew up, the city my relatives all lived in, and now you got me worried about my current home in Austin getting blown away. Have a nice day. :-(

[FormerRepublican]

35. I was living in North Austin when the Jarrel tornado hit.

I think there was around 3 other tornados at the same time, and the news was saying the big tornado was going to hit Austin. I was living in an apartment at the time, 3rd floor, no basement. I was never afraid of thunder storms until I moved to Texas and found out tornados drop out of them.

Living in Texas, you joke about tornados, mostly. Like calling a mobile home a tornado magnet.

The good thing to remember about tornados is that they're small (less than a mile wide), the weather guys can see them coming (usually) so you can get out of the way, and there's actually a very low likelihood that you'd ever be hit by one. Which is why Austin has no basements... People bet the odds that they'll never get hit. Generally, they win the bet.

No matter where you live, there's always a threat of natural disasters. If you live in California, it's earthquakes. If you live along the gulf, it's hurricanes. If you live way up north, then Yellowstone might explode and bury you 6 feet deep in ash. Or snow in a blizzard will freeze you and bury you 6 feet deep - take your pick.

Natural disasters are a fact of life we all live with. I guess I deal with it by employing gallows humor. If my number isn't up, an F-5 could land on my head and I'd still walk away. If my number is up, I could stub my toe on the curb and get a blood clot that lodges in my heart and I'm dead. After a while, you stop worrying about it because worrying doesn't change when your number is up. I guess I've learned a bit of fatalism as a coping mechanism for anxiety...

Sorry - I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I guess I forgot for a minute that some of the folks here survived Katrina. Bad me. :(

[jobycom]

39. I was in North Austin, too.

Three large tornados. No one was sure what had happened to the Jarrel tornado. I grabbed my kids from school and went to my wife's work, which was in the side of a hill, until things passed.

You can keep your fatalism. I prefer to scan the skies for coming danger and get the heck out of the way. I don't want to be standing next to someone else when their number is up!

[FormerRepublican]

42. Ah...

...but my brand of fatalism says do whatever you can to protect yourself, then shrug and let it happen.

I worry too much. At a point, I get burnt out on worry and just have to take whatever comes (after I've done my paranoid thing, of course).

People in Austin used to laugh at me because I would encourage them to take shelter when the weather guys talked about tornados. And then they'd laugh again when I talked them into taking shelter and there was no tornado. That's the problem with the things - it's always a joke until it's real. Unfortunately with Jarrel, taking shelter didn't help. Even a reinforced room couldn't protect them. The tornado sucked up the freaking concrete foundation along with everything else (as well as some road pavement, as I recall). If the tornado is bad enough, even hiding in the basement won't help because the wind can suck you out of a basement.

I guess that's what I mean by fatalism. You do what you can. If what you can do isn't good enough - well, we're human and itty bitty in comparison to the power of Mother Nature. Fortunately, the odds run in favor of survival.

[fudge stripe cookays]

45. I'm with you.

I do what I can to protect myself, and let fate take care of the rest.

Anytime the sky used to go that funky yellow green color when I was young, my dad would send me into the bathroom with a pillow and blanket, tell me to get in the tub, so I'd take a good book and wait till my parents told me to get out.

I lived in North Austin most of my life. Quail Creek growing up; Parkfield near Kramer for most of it. Moved up here in 1994.

FSC

[FormerRepublican]

25. Oh, and I forgot - no storm damage elsewhere. We've been damaged...

...enough by this admin.

[Ilsa]

23. I'm in Victoria, not too far from the coast.

Right now, the projected path is for a few miles NE of us. Trying to figure out what we want to do. We're stocked up on stuff already. Hotels in some areas are still full with katrina evacuees.

[AspenRose]

26. Aargh, stay safe....

eom

[jobycom]

27. You might want to head to Austin.

You aren't far from the Coast at all, and you could catch the NE quadrant. If so, look out for tall trees around your house.

[Justyce]

34. I looked for hotels/motels yesterday without

any luck -- if we have to go, we're talking about either heading to our friend's place near Austin or just packing the tent & camping stuff & trying to find a campground. The main thing is to get out if it's heading your way -- you can always find somewhere to crash later if you have to. Good luck -- crossing my fingers for us all!

[Justyce]

31. Jefferson County is also a blue county and is

actually in far more danger than the Austin area at this point. By the time it makes it several hundred miles inland, it won't be of near the magnitude it will be when hitting the coast. We are planning to evacuate to the Austin area where we have friends to stay with if it keeps looking like Jefferson County is going to be slammed (their place isn't in a flood zone). We're barely above sea level here, not to mention the initial winds we would have here, which will dissipate as it gets further inland... scary :(

[lastliberalintexas]

46. Yes, as is Galveston County

And Brazoria, Harris and whatever county Corpus is in are also in much more danger and are either blue or purple. But heaven forbid that we worry about them- the Austin City Limits music festival goers might get a little wet. :eyes:

[StClone]

33. Wishful thinking for a reason and Carla

I think the point is if Crawford is hit what will pat Robertson say?

Plus don't forget Hurricane Carla it affected Dallas quite a bit!

[FormerRepublican]

38. Pat Robertson would say the anti-Christ did it...

...and if we weren't such a heathen nation given over to ungodly ways we could figure out who the anti-Christ is and welcome in the rapture. Now send more money for the Pat Robertson Anti-Christ Identification Fund (also known as diamonds-r-me!).

(Er... Bush = Anti-Christ? Robertson = Anti-Christ? Hmm...)

[mnhtnbb]

40. Yeah, we're being punished for not impeaching Bush!

[txindy]

43. We should've impeached him with all of our minority votes in Congress?

:eyes: Gee, that would've worked well.

[lectrobyte]

47. FWIW, 4 to 6 inches of rain in an hour shut down most places.

We had some street flooding with much less than that (3 inches or so) in about an hour.

Good luck Texas, it looks like you are going to need it.

[Texasgal]

49. Travis County wasn't the only "blue" county

either.

South Texas... El Paso... other pockets of Texas were too.

JUst wanted to add that.