TY for the work you do!

I’ve lived through many tropical storms and one hurricane hit us. But I’ve never seen the kind of devastation described and it’s hard to imagine losing so much and trying to survive in such hot and unlivable conditions.

the first responders are usually put in danger due to their foolishness as they call 911 for the inevitable help they need.

Nobody anticipated that this storm would cause this level of devastation. People in the mountains are used to harsh weather. This impact was unexpected.

the lower Appalachians were about to experience severe, severe rain and flash flooding. I don’t understand why there wasn’t more attention paid to that info by local authorities and citizens. There should have been been alarm bells ringing on a local level.

What happened is very, very uncommon. There's a difference between the event and the impact. The event - the storm - wasn't that unusual. The impact was.

So, I'm in Greene County TN about 12 miles from the Nolichucky dam and 8 miles from the river. When my Internet came back on a day after the hurricane came through, my landline came back on too. I noticed a message left on it from the Sheriff's Department.

It was an evacuation order for everyone downriver of the Nolichucky dam because the dam had busted.

Well, first off the dam never busted, it held up to all the water mother nature threw at it.

Second I'm at the top of a hill that would require unimaginable amounts of water for the flood to lap at my house foundation. Half of East TN would have to flood first.

Third it does and did flood at the road at the bottom of my lane. For me to attempt evacuation at that time, would have been much more dangerous then staying.

Fourth, there are a lot of streams where I live. Some only form if there is a lot of rain, called a dry stream. The streams were flowing but not excessively so. There is an older couple who lives near the bottom of my lane. That stream goes within yards of their trailer home. Their home never flooded though the road in front did flood for some time.

And here's the weird thing that maybe someone can explain to me. All the people who lived by the river were flooded and devastated. But the people who lived by some very large streams did just fine. I just have to wonder why.

Anyway, the water is back on and I can't wait to get my hot water working and take a shower.

I have been lucky. The area I live in (Naples) has gotten hit and trashed my mother’s house. We were in the middle of having the roof replaced so we had to have all the walls ripped out because of mold. Saw the eye go right over us. It was a scary day but since I was taking care of my bedridden mother and my brother - who had severe depression - I had to keep my head screwed on tight and could not allow myself to lose it. It helped there was family around. We have gone without power for days - which is horrible in Florida.Things could have been worse. Water flooded the street there but since the area was high it didn’t come in the house at my place or into my mother’s. We are just lucky we are now in sturdy housing that is high up and not real close to the Gulf.

See my post below, #54. Respect the flood plain! And houses on hills are good, houses on sides of mountains not so good, as mountain streams do flood and flow down the mountain, washing out roads, flooding or washing away homes. If a tree falls in a landslide and there's no house below it, the landslide doesn't kill anyone.

People, developers, builders, local government did or didn't respect the flood plain.
Roads and parks should be next to rivers and could tolerate floods. Homes near rivers get flooded. People generally know creeks and streams will rise and not to build near them. I think that accounts for the difference. Glad you're safe and got your power back.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=19540032

It was a puzzle to me. My neighbor with the trailer home a yard or 2 from a large, always flowing, stream was fine because she was just high enough to be out of the flood plain.

You can actually see the flood plain in certain areas around here. It's great for growing crops in but don't build anything on it. It floods regularly and creates a very flat area, frequently covered in silt and mud after a rain.

Also I think in the mountains, the rivers have formed in the lowest areas. Water runs down hill, duh. So, most of the water will be in the lowest areas.

The streams form just to drain into the rivers. The streams, dry or constantly flowing, empty out quickly (due in part to the rocky ground and shale.) The streams may back up some, but they are smaller so flooding clears up quickly.

The top soil around here doesn't stay either. It's also constantly flows downhill. So, all of it runs through rocky streams into the rivers very rapidly. It doesn't flood the streams because of the steepness of the mountains. It just forces it all down into the rivers, or temporarily floods the roadway, then drains down.

They really don't have enough culverts and bridges to route the rain off the roads. Everytime we get more than a half inch of rain the main road here floods. Because the road department didn't want to spend tax dollars on a culvert on a road only used by about 50 people 22 years ago. Now, hundreds of people use the road and the transportation department hasn't caught up.

Also the old director of roads was prosecuted for embezzlement of our tax dollars. It is a Republican controlled district afterall.

With the exception of people who don't have the means or money to leave, with no place to go......

Katrina/NewOrleans was the epitome of that situation big time..........

Lest no one forget, "W" when it came down, was at a Birthday Party in Arizona for some Republican Politician. Not a care in the world, not the least bit worried about the tragedy un-folding when Katrina hit land. The next day, he flew back to Washington, and posed for the memorable picture of him looking down from AFONE at the un-fathomable death and destruction, as they made a once over NO.

Evacuation was almost impossible, gas stations on the Florida turnpike were empty, people were stranded and there was no place to go or eat . If your car broke down tough. People were stuck on the turnpike for hours old cars you can imagine what happened. The last of the four storms that hit folks decided to ride it out it was safer than being on the highway. If people sit for a couple of hours in rush hour traffic imagine millions of people on highways built 30 years ago. Oh I forgot no hotel rooms.
Central Florida has the most hotel rooms in the state and they had to evacuate. The media needs to report the news not make the news.

And we have had storms that covered virtually the entire state. It's difficult to relocate even 20% of the state.

We evacuated from Irma...right into a new path for the storm. So we turned around and came home. She shifted back, and it was too late. We were fine, but it was a terrifying experience. We now refer to our new roof as Irma.

The most damage we have had was from a tropical storm that didn't even have evacuation orders for our area.

The armchair quarterbacking on this topic sets my teeth on edge.

The stories I could tell . Airport wrecked ,blue tarp on roofs and Polk county devastated.
Moved to Virginia, derecho, earthquake , almost 2 feet of snow and the worst disaster was hurricane
Camille in August of 1969 153 people died. There is no place safe, all we can do is take prudent precautions and if the worst happens help our neighbors.

Okay, I have no car, no close neighbors, no way to leave, no money for accomodations, assuming there are any.. GO TO THE SHELTERS!! But they are not taking pets, and I will not leave my baby. EVACUATE!!! Aassuming that I do have a car, and resources, and my baby, about the last damned place I want to be is on the road with hundreds, or thousands, of panicked, frightened, maybe hysterical, people.

And here is a flip side for you. During the Waldo Canyon Fire, the fucking "geniuses" running this city screwed up in multiple ways, including NOT ORDERING THE FUCKING EVACUATION of a housing area with one main road in and out, and lying about where the damned fire trucks were, until way too late. Two people died, hundreds of houses destroyed, lives torn up, because the assholes in charge were busy fighting their testosterone turf wars instead of promptly and completely dealing wiith the fire.

So before you, and other first responders (and Goddess bless and keep you all) "judge harshly", think about what decisions people have to make with whatever resources might be avaiilble to them, and also think about just how effective, competent, and trustworthy the community officials are. Mine are incompetent hacks in thrall to developers, and I don't believe them if they say the sun rose in the east this morning unless I witnessed it myself.

I lived in North Carolina at the time but inland near the Charlotte area. There was no internet or cell phones and the technology to predict how a hurricane would move wasn't as sophisticated. The night it hit I watched the 11 o'clock news/weather report and there was no indication that it would affect the Charlotte area outside of high winds and rain. The power went out at 3:30 AM and the horrendous sound of the wind woke me up. The noise was incredible yet it was pitch black because it was nighttime and the power was out all over the city. It wasn't until daylight broke that I could even tell what had been happening outside my door. To say the experience was jolting is an understatement.

We were on the outskirts of the city so we were without power for a little over two weeks. There was no going anywhere because our entire street was blocked with downed power lines, trees, telephone poles. The entire one side of the house was plastered with tiny pieces of tree leaves. I lived in a house on almost an acre wooded lot and we lost about ten trees but fortunately none fell on our house. Down the street from me a baby was killed in her crib when a tree fell on the house and went through the roof into the bedroom where the baby was. It haunts me to this day.

My father's side of my family is originally from Guam. Guam is smack dab in the Pacific's Typhoon alley. My father was on island during Typhoon Pongsona in 2002. Max sustained winds of 145 mph, gusts to 173 mph. The island was in the eye for over 2 hours. The petroleum tanks for the island's power station caught fire in the middle of the storm. Concrete utility poles toppled like lincoln logs. My father told me you could tell when a bad typhoon hit the island because everything was brown; every tree that wasn't toppled was stripped of all it's leaves (or killed by saltwater the storm blew in off the ocean miles inland).

Massive Typhoons are the norm on the island. So much so, people don't usually build flimsy structures (reenforced concrete, hurricane proof windows). Evacuations are taken seriously, storm shelters are prepared and stocked, generators are readied and so forth. People on Guam go through this routine many times a year and probably suffer major Typhoons a couple of times a decade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_typhoons_in_Guam].

Contrast this with places like Florida or the Gulf Coast which probably have a lower frequency and much weaker storms than Guam does. Keep in mind just about everything on Guam has to come in by air or boat. These modes of resupply can be severely diminished immediately after a storm. Also, you can't usually bring in utility crews from neighboring states; Guam is a good 5 hour flight from Hawaii.

You've got to wonder how folks on a remote Pacific Island with major tropical storms impacting the island even year manage to "weather" these storms and state-side people always seem to have major issues despite ample warnings and the floods of relief, utility and volunteers (government and private) available to them.

Maybe state-side people can learn from the people of Guam. Take storms seriously both their intensity and the FACT that you are going to have to deal with one multiple times in your life if you decide to live in these areas. Don't build flimsy buildings and expect them to survive multiple storm events. Don't build structures in areas that flood. Be prepared for disruptions from these storms; it has to be baked in to your "lifestyle".

If I'm being insensitive, so be it. But watching people who decide to live in areas where they expose themselves to disruption and are surprised when it happens (multiple times) eventually gets fatiguing on my empathy.

Western North Carolina is experiencing an unprecedented disaster. It is 600 miles from the coast of Florida. The mountains are used to getting a lot of rain as tropical storms blow over. This time, the rain was even more than anticipated, on top of days of previous rains. The sides of mountains fell and buried towns. Places that are normally bone dry even during heavy rain became rivers.

The impact is more like that of an unexpected tsunami.

Topography channels rainwater into narrow valleys and small runs become raging rivers. Johnstown, PA May 31, 1889. You can model those.

I'll give you that having 30+ inches of rain in a day or so is not something to expect. But, climate scientists have been telling us for decades that weather is going to get wilder in the coming century. We've chosen to ignore them (and the financial and insurance industry who also will suffer in these events).

This is going to become the new "normal" unfortunately. Also, unfortunately, half the people out there will react negatively if you try tell them their "lifestyle" is not wise. I still have empathy, but it can be tested if you repeatedly expose yourself to the same risk.

"We" all know that climate change is real and that floods and other disasters are getting worse.

However, floods like this in western North Carolina are NOT common, and most of the people affected did not deliberately put themselves in harm's way.

In fact, Asheville and surrounding parts of NC have been recommended as areas that are relatively safe choices, climate-change wise.

So, your attitude that somehow it's the "lifestyle" (your scare quotes) of people who are actually working hard to be wise and thoughtful that's the problem comes across as harsh, and, frankly uninformed.

Asheville is a deep blue area with thousands of people who are committed to combatting climate change. It's one of the reasons they're there.

No place is safe. Are you going to snarl at the people caught in blizzards, tornados, wild fires, and droughts next? I am literally asking for a friend.

I'm here in the middle of this disaster.

Many asking how and why did this happen.
My answer, basically people didn't respect the flood plain! There's more to it but that's a huge part.

They built where it wasn't safe near rivers and streams, built developments on fields and slopes that channel water to it or thru it. They built one bridge instead of 2 or 3.

Interstate observation...the bridges of Madison county...I was there last week and the river had several bridges across and roads along the river. River flooded roads waters receded roads cleared one big bridge out but several smaller bridges along the road allowed people to cross after flood waters receed. I did see a foundry right on the river that was essentially demolished.

A friend owned the Grail movie house in the River Arts District. Wearhouses used to be there. When flooded, only stuff would get destroyed, but put businesses and homes near a river you're taking a chance. Her business is totally destroyed but her home is safe because she didn't live in a flood zone just had her business in one.
My heart goes out to her but even she knew not to live near there.

Years ago, farmland near a stream, house on high ground, field floods, crops lost but not many homes or lives. Sell farm developer puts houses near the streams, nice street leading to the road houses flood roads flood, water rushes to places that never flooded before

One reason I left NYC, its by the coast and will flood eventually. My home here higher than the creek nearby, and further away. Homes near any water are in a flood plain.

Even now a development is planned on an area that has never been built on because it's a flood plain, but they will put it up and it will flood. Another development was built less than a mile away by that stream and it always floods
Now mostly businesses there people won't live there except some unsuspecting folks and realtors mostly just want to sell homes and properties.

That's my observation and opinion. FWIW

I don't think most people pay attention to these types of important details when they choose a place to live. Things like jobs/economy, a place being pretty or cool, outdoor activities, views, etc, capture attention. Flood plains and geology are as important as weather and climate. Some know the risks and calculate that it's worth it (hot climates) but most don't make those calculations. One rule I have is to never live below a dam, including far away but within the flood zone if a dam should fail (and LOTS of dams are in bad shape). I decided that many years ago after reading an article about how Eugene OR is surrounded SEVEN dams and there's an earthquake fault there. How many there know the danger? Very few, I'd guess. Same goes for living on cliff sides. Water runs downhill and that means there's potential for landslides and the accompanying disaster if your house is in the way.

but it wasn't un-expected......

Days before the hurricane even hit shore, I recall the forecast paths ALL showing EXTREME rains up into the States North of Florida.....

I truly feel bad about the tragic results to people's homes and infrastructure, it is absolutely devastating......

But it seems from a distance, that many of their states don't spend a lot of time, or more importantly money, to prepare for such weather disasters. Instead, their Governors and Mayors are quick to be screaming at the top of their lungs how the feds are not doing near enough to help with the disaster.......Unless, of course, it is a Republican State, and a Republican President is in office.......

FEMA is dealing with an extreme shortage of funds for even a normal year, much less a multi tragic event year.
The last thing the Republican's want published in the Owned/Operated RepubliCON Media is the fact that a "whole big bunch" of Senators/House Members voted repeatedly against giving FEMA more money.......Including Florida and Texas U.S. Senators and House members. And those Politicians, happen to be the ones currently screaming the loudest, from the rooftops, about FEMA not spending near as much as they should be on helping them......

Screw you, especially Senators Cruz and Scott......Maybe if Scott hadn't corruptly stolen over a billion dollars from U.S. Tax Payers, they could have maybe used that to help out Florida.....

The FACT that 95+ of All Media in the U.S. being owned/operated by the UBER Rich Republicans and Corporations, has it's distinct advantage in handling ALL the rhetoric that the people in these states hear, see, read.....

First, yes, inland areas sometimes get extreme rain as hurricanes blow over. It's not unusual, and people prepare. However, this time there was a confluence of factors that took what would have been a fairly normal occurrence to another level. Sides of mountains collapsed on little towns. One expert calculated that this was a once in 37,000 year event.

There are plenty of news articles about this.

Second, the governor of NC is a liberal Democrat, and he's had nothing but praise about the state and federal response. This is also widely reported.

any corrections on the other 90% of my comments ??????????

I agree with many of your comments about FEMA funding and Republicans. However, your whole post kind of hinges on the two points you had wrong.

One of my sons has lived in Asheville, NC for a long time. He is far to the left of most DUers. So are many others there.

Thanks for responding to my post. I really do appreciate it. I also understand the frustration and weariness. Let's just not take it out on one another.

Is this the same Asheville?????? I am from the west and don't know much about the East or SE coast states

Asheville, North Carolina is a vibrant community in Western North Carolina. It has been compared to Berkeley and other towns. Filled with artists, artisans, small businesses. Very progressive. The arts section of town - full of small studios and galleries - was obliterated.

AP News, there are a bunch of articles about Asheville NC and the storm......

More population, more damage. Blue dot in a red region. But 25 counties were affected out of 100 in NC. Smaller counties and towns were also hit very hard, some essentially destroyed, buried, by landslides, covered by mud, water or both.. Travel in the region disrupted, many roads and bridges destroyed. Hundreds dead here but numbers are slow to get reported, and word of mouth here tells the story. I've heard a lot of first hand stories I wont share here.

I look at the BPR (Blue ridge public radio) website for the best news about what's going on in the region. Here's the link. https://www.bpr.org/#stream/0

I've also been listening to local "I Heart radio" which has had non-stop coverage, reporting on how the folks of Western NC communities are helping one another in remarkable ways. That is very true, and wonderful to see and hear about.

Rec

you live in a yearly hurricane state? Shouldn't folks consider moving expecially if you are a renter?

Not just folks in hurricane states.

Why would anyone live in tornado alley?

Why would anyone live on a mountain?

Why would anyone live along a fault line?

I lived in the Boston area for three years. During that time, I experienced a hurricane, a nor'easter, a blizzard, and an earthquake. I don't hear people being advised to leave eastern Massachusetts.

Over and over on DU I see judgmental posts that suggest that the posters are biased against people living in the South, and people living in supposed "red" states.

Empathy has gone out the window for some. When they hear of a disaster in NC, their immediate reaction is "MAGATs got what's coming to them."

They don't know anything about the people or the geography - some apparently believe that the Appalachian Mountains are on a beach in Florida - but the judgment is swift and self-righteous.

I think this is the ultimate intention of the people spreading lies - to create chaos, sow distrust, turn people against one another, drain people of empathy. It's a look into the future, I fear.

Thank you for your many posts asking people to remember kindness.

Usually those hazzards have a range of reasonably predictable patterns that people get accustomed to and know how to handle. But occasionally, maybe once in a century, or once in 4 or 5 decades, an event occurs outside the usual parameters.

Here is just one example in Buffalo. They are used to lake effect snowstorms every year and blizzards about once or twice in a decade. They are equipped for handling those events. But in 2022, the US was hit with heavy snowfalls and severe temperature drops, starting in the west and moving eastward.

By Christmas, when the storm system reached Buffalo, it developed into a once in a generation bomb cyclone that lasted 4 days. Water from pre-blizzard rains froze instantly as temps dropped rapidly and winds rose to 80 mph with higher gusts. Blizzard conditions lasted for 37 hours. Lake effect snowfall continued for 4 days. Lake Erie waves several feet high were blown onto the shore where they instantly froze, layer after layer. Power substations froze solid. Roofs and sliding glass patio doors collapsed. The airport closed for 6 days.

I had lived through a bomb cyclone in Cleveland in January of 1978, so I recognized the warning signs in the Buffalo forecast for December 2022. But most people in the area did not. The NWS warnings about time of arrival were off a bit because conditions changed at the last minute. So thousands of people got caught in last minute Christmas shopping or stocking up for the storm.

It was a huge disaster. 47 people died.

Here on DU, armchair disaster "experts" harshly criticized the victims. The critics knew Buffalo's reputation for lake effect snow, so they "knew" that the victims "brought it on themselves." But that bomb cyclone was far outside the parameters of blizzards for the region. It was a combination of ice storm, lake effect snowfall, sub zero wind chills, and cyclonic winds (a land hurricane) all at once that lasted for 4 days. Holiday visitors from outside the region were caught unaware. Local people had never seen such a storm in their lives.

Similarly, California is used to earthquakes. Buildings are built to withstand them. Locals know how to behave in an earthquake. But if an 8.0 quake or higher ever hits LA or San Francisco, their preparedness would not be enough.

It breaks my heart that the response of some is to blame the victims.

that my area missed the worst of it, but we still had continuous wind and heavy snowfall that came in wave after wave as the wind directions shifted.

I picked up med refills and stocked up on other necessities the evening before it hit. The line at CVS was so long that I almost went home with the intention of returning early in the morning since the storm was not predicted to hit until around 9 or 10 am. So glad that I stuck it out that night.

By 10 pm night before the storm, the NWS at Buffalo changed its warning for the expected arrival time and first areas expected to be hit to earlier morning hours due to a shift in winds and other factors.

The date was December 23. Several stores had extended hours for Christmas shoppers -- opening earlier for "special sales" and closing later. Some were open all night.

Because the change in the NWS warnings came late the night before, many people did not know about the changes.

The bomb cyclone blizzard that I experienced in Cleveland in 1978 was even worse. Warm and rainy the day before. Temps dropped 20 degrees in one hour
overnight. Rain froze on surfaces in very thick sheets of ice. Started with 50 mph steady wind and horizontal snowfall at 5 am. Winds increased during the day. Some gusts reached 110 mph. Several feet of snow and huge drifts.

A bomb cyclone blizzard is a rare, once in a generation event. Two in one person's lifetime are REALLY rare, but they were in two different states, although both were on Lake Erie. Just my luck to be present for both.

I live in California! Earthquakes, fires, freeze, flooding, etc. I recently moved from the Bay Area to north of Sacramento to be closer to family an reduced housing prices. Supposedly, no earthquakes and we carefully looked at fire maps to choose an area with a very low risk of fire. Our first year we had a small earthquake and a short evacuation for fire! The climate is changing and many natural disasters will be worse and effect more people.

After that devastation people are in shock. People who aren't there like to fantasize "Die Hard" wise-cracking tough-guy heroes.

That is NOT the way it is.

I also want to thank you in spades for being a relief worker. You have the empathy of a true hero in these situations.

My thoughts are for the folks who are going to be mobilized more often now and for more powerful events. Looking back on it, I'm kind of amazed what we were able to do in the early days of cell phones before the widespread use of the internet. In others, I can see why it made things much easier.

I'm afraid my abilities these days are restricted to donating blood regularly and "writing a check" when I can. And honestly, that's all that most people should be doing if they are able. Staying out of the way and maintaining empathy is just as heroic as far as I'm concerned.

Last edited Sun Oct 6, 2024, 01:10 PM - Edit history (1)

Miami. We were fortunate that the island was not flooded, but I was awed by the power of the winds and how dangerous it was to walk outside because of flying objects that could kill you if they hit you.

A few years earlier a hurricane had smashed a large ship against the causeway, breaking the only means of transportation between the islands and the mainland. The entire island was flooded, and rattlesnakes invaded people's houses to find someplace dry. People evacuated for weeks, but they did have houses to come back to when the flooding subsided.

I also experienced a number of typhoons in Tokyo when I lived in Japan. Trains stopped running, businesses and schools were closed, but there was no extensive flooding and it wasn't too bad. Elsewhere in Japan, a very mountainous country, villages were wiped out by landslides.

It is frightening how storms all over the world have increased in intensity. There are many places that will become inhabitable as the intensity increases and storms occur more frequently.

and with flooding, you're essentially being flooded with fecal matter.

To this day, the smell of a warm wet army tent or army blanket triggers nausea.

countless pig sewage lagoons in North Carolina that overflow across the entire area around them.......

I evacuated, but had to come home to resume work...

It was August in Houston... no electricity for a week,
got water back after two days.

A big tree was knocked over in my front yard and had
damaged part of the roof over the garage.It

It wasn't easy, but I got through it fine.

Now, Helene is a whole different kettle of fish. That was
a monster, and left unspeakable damage and horrible
deaths in its wake.

And now Milton is coming along to the same area.

This is unfuckingbelievable. I just can't wrap my mind
around climate change now, except to realize it's worse
than bad.

All I feel for people iimpacted by it is sorrow, compassion,
and the wish the we had done something about it much
earlier.

... a hurricane is comparable to a ride to the emergency room in the back of an ambulance.

(... while a medic is telling the driver "Hurry! We're losing him." )

I still remember Allison, Ike, Harvey and Beryl. I moved to Houston after Alicia and the city was still recovering six months later. Going through a hurricane or a tropical storm is no fun

free, available 24/7, at 1-800-985-5990.

There's been an ongoing thing of rumors about FEMA - what they're doing and what they're not - and some people feeling the need to come to FEMA's defense, which I find ridiculous. Unless someone is there and going through the nightmare, they DON'T KNOW what's going on and are in no position to argue about it. All of the individuals hit by a natural disaster will have their own experiences and stories to tell. One may have a good experience with FEMA (or a charity) and someone else may not and may be angry about it. All accounts can be true and it's not for those not there to argue about it. Just try to be compassionate and remember that some people have lost everything, including people they love and their precious animals who are also family.

As a long time, native of the Midwest and prairie, I have had my share of tornados, and do not wish to ever experience them again. After the first few tornados you experience, you get rather tired of them pretty quickly.

I never want to experience a hurricane. This event alone is, like you said, some 100s of miles wide, 100s of miles long, something that is magnitudes and magnitudes larger than one tornado, even perhaps a cluster of tornados.

These are short-term events too (tornados). A hurricane is long-term.

No way do I want to experience these monsters, and again, thanks for your poignant write-up.

and my response was very detailed - some main points:

- In 2017, Harvey hit quite a bit south of Houston w/winds, we were getting the flooding because it decided to stop over Houston for a few days (how do you predict that). Our area - 48" of rain in a couple days. Luckily we are in a newer subdivision, did not lose power long enough for food to go bad, and the drainage system is superb. We were just stuck inside for a few days. Once the storms started moving we could get out and help others. Others were completely flooded out. It just depended where you lived (and had very little to do with money that time - there were mansions that flooded when they let a dam go because it was the safest way to release the water).

- In 2005, we had learned. We did evacuate for Rita (the storm after Katrina) - in fact all of Houston did from Woodlands & Katy to everyone below them - so an estimated 2.5 million of us were all stuck on a handful of major highways trying to get out of the city. We sat on the road on the way to Dallas - just ahead of the bus with elderly folks that started on fire - we were in that car 20+ hours before we stopped at a McDonalds south of Dallas and heard about the bus a little later. Houston to Dallas is normally 4 hours. And then Rita wasn't a very strong storm for Houston (although it did hit our neighbors in Beaumont, TX).


People who haven't lived through these events have no clue what they are talking about, although they love to make wide pronouncements and judgments. Every storm is different. And, since many folks don't want to believe in climate change, there are going to be more of these storms that are strong enough to move inland. Those making judgments now may feel a little silly when they are on the receiving end and find out it isn't always so easy to "just leave".

Some things look amazingly different if you haven't lived them. I know--thank you, Captain Obvious, but it's deeper than that, and I think you hit some really good points. We SEE things on TV or read about them and we are only using our sense of sight but catastrophes hit us on every sensory level and take us right into our limbic systems. It is complex.

Grasping the impact leads to greater empathy, and we can sure use more of that.

Thanks again.

A post so valid. Desperately important. Thank you for it. I'm in NC - my son left Asheville to visit me 1 1/2 hours drive away 2 days before the storm came. We have friends still missing. You made many valid points that should impact our mental and physical response and understanding.

Thank you. And my heartfelt best wishes to all who are affected by natural disasters. We don't know until we've been there....