K & R

Despite this

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220461156

that a young woman was rescued from a catastrophic flood? I would think we would all find her survival to be very good news.

She didn’t like Californias earthquakes, Missouri’s tornados. I guess Texas floods are okay.

In Houston, certain neighborhoods flood but people don't drown. Underpasses are marked. And if there's a major storm, well, most of the bayous and creeks have flood zone clearances (if built up fairly recently) or notices. Avoid where it floods, not a problem.

Even Harvey was exceptional in the extent of the flooding, which pretty much just extended the usual flood zones much farther than expected. A lot of the city didn't flood at all. On my street the water didn't get over the 3-4" cement slope they call a "curb", much less up to the house or into it. Read the topo maps and you're safe.

Kerville and points west along the Guadalupe are known flood zones. Drained by a single river, a lot of the soil is underlain with limestone, which means no drainage. Even the Guadalupe has limestone for a lot of its course. (Somebody called the soil in the area 'caliche soil', which strikes me as wrong for the hill country--this is ancient limestone, not caliche, a heavily mineralized subsurface layer like you get in the Sonoran Desert due to rain dissolving minerals from the upper soil but the rain only soaks in a certain amount, year after year, for millennia ... The hill country's limestone will be karst in a million years.)

I might like visiting the area but if I camped there and I knew there was a chance of thunderstorms I'd steer well clear of being unconscious anywhere near the river or major streams. Again, the topo map is your friend. (With the ENSO in neutral, last I checked, the summer's climate's fairly unpredictable--some years it's real drought, other years bland, other years fairly wet. This is a fairly bland year, but in TX in summer sky-water is like in Arizona--you get it in storm cells. The one over Hunt County/Kerville stalled. This was real bad.)

The flooding in Texas was mostly due to hurricanes
and tropical storms.

Now it's potential is everywhere, the same as the
potential for drought... which I fear even more.

This is the way news should be reported.

This reporter was terrific. Very informative. Wish we had more of her on our local news. All I ever see is giggling and low cut clingy dresses on the women, and that's not only Fox. The men try to be cutesy and funny too. It doesn't go over well when the next news item after all the ha ha hee hee stuff is serious.

Anyway, this young woman that was saved is going to have one hell of a story to tell for the rest of her life. I sure hope she doesn't get bad news about the rest of her family.

We got the bubble-headed bleached-blonde, comes on at five
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundry

bantering don’t have chemistry. I wish this reporter worked at a local station where I live. 🙂

When did it become a plus to have four different "reporters" all talking over one another and laughing about something one of the other of them did or saw or whatever? It's chaotic and ridiculous.

One story this morning was all about how everyone needs to start their Christmas shopping right now because toys are going to cost three times as much once tariffs kick in. They followed up with their comments about what sorts of things kids might want for Christmas. It's July and they are pushing the conspicuous consumption early.

Rec

than the sensationalists on some of the cable channels

At one point I said, "Holy smokes, she's telling me everything I want and need to know."

What's wrong with this picture?

an excellent report, and very detailed.

Panic and exhaustion would've overtaken most people. 20 miles. Wow.

It's so sad that she was left to recover at the house and not taken in to be treated for at least shock. But she has her life and that's a miracle thanks to her will and the man who came to her rescue.

I have to say, it doesn't sound too good, but you never know.

It's posted as an OP in GD.

Whole houses swept away. One house was full of people who you can see going downstream .

People still in their cars being swept down with bystanders yelling for them to get out.

Even experienced swimmers would have a nearly impossible chance of serving that.

This girl who made it is an absolute miracle. You're right about the slim chances of her family having made it out.

And she had to be left behind so rescuers could continue search and rescue.

I cannot begin to imagine how apocalyptic it must feel for these people.

dodging floating refrigerators.

on edit: orangecrush posted this video of what it was like:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220462166

She must have been on an adrenaline high to be able to pull this off.

1969. The Hurricane caused catastrophic flooding after dark, but some people managed to survive when they grabbed onto tree tops as they were carried away by the current.

I was really obsessed with hurricanes as when I was younger (I kinda still am to be fair) and knew tons about all the big ones.

Camille was a tremendously powerful Category 5 storm (they didn't have categories until after her actually , but that's what she'd have been on the scale), but by the time she got to Virginia she was just a rain storm. However, the Low pressure system that was her remnant interacted with two other systems and the mountains of VA which lifted her clouds up. Camille didn't just rain, she wrung out all the moisture she had within just a few hours. Survivors told of having to cup their hands over their mouth to even breath, the water was coming down so hard one had to keep from inhaling water. The tales of the survivors were almost unbelievable when they described the amount of water that was falling. Birds actually drowned in the air because they couldn't breathe. Many areas reported over 20 inches of rain in less than six hours. One town officially got 27 inches in three. Unofficially the figures were even higher, perhaps north of 40 inches...all within a period of time of two to five hours. Erosion on the mountains was described to be a thousand years worth in a single night and literally the sides of several of them fell off. It was unbelievable.

We have more of this to look forward to.

overwhelmed at the moment, and she was assessed as not being in immediate danger.

Triage is a thing in emergency situations.

Thank G-d, this lady is safe but this should not have happened

Link to tweet

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Some experts say staff shortages might have complicated forecasters’ ability to coordinate responses with local emergency management officials.

🚨 NYT: As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas

Some experts say staff shortages might have complicated forecasters’ ability to coordinate responses with local emergency management officials.

Gift link:

— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 2025-07-06T04:33:59.776Z

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