Billingsly on Channel 2 said yesterday at noon something like "I know all the models are saying Texas, but it just looks like a Louisiana landfall. Sometimes you just have to go with what you see." Good call, Frank. I'm thinking Kingwood will lose power for a day or 2, but it could have been so much worse. Already got the pool toys put away and the freezer full of baggies of ice and frozen water bottles. I'll put out the generator if it goes longer than a day. Feel bad for Lake Charles. Besides the trashy casinos, it really is a cool little town with really good people.
"Important: "Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes. This surge could penetrate up to 30 miles inland.""
That isn't clickbait that's the NHC's advisory. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at3.shtml?start#contents
Yeah, there's only so much one can take. You said in-laws? Did they get out? You and your wife must be worried.
Baton Rouge is 40 miles inland and they are expecting storm surge. Unreal. This thing keeps getting stronger too.
There are many places this will hit that have never fully recovered from Rita and Harvey, Port Arthur being a big one. We're also going to lose a lot more of Louisiana coastline to the Gulf.
We've known for decades that a Cat 4 hitting Freeport would basically wipe Houston off the map for a good while. Yet nothing has been done. If anything, it seems like we're even less prepared than we were 10-20 years ago. Building, construction, more concrete, keep developing!!!! Where is all that water supposed to go?
What does the proposal look like of what Houston should be doing? It’s insane how we are reminded yearly, usually multiple times of the danger and just don’t care. It’s not like an out of sight out of mind thing.
It is crazy how often we are threatened with big storms now. Yeah, my wife's parents. Her mom left and is staying with my wife's sister in The Heights. Her dad is refusing to leave. All the kids are pissed at him. I hope he makes it through alright.
I may be way off base on this, but doesn't this basically boil down to a population that doesn't want government to do anything essentially?
Seems like it's more a question of what we shouldn't be doing. Maybe we don't develop every inch of the city that hasn't already been developed. I'm sure there are people here who can answer that question better than me though.
Hurricane Laura Intermediate Advisory 28a Issued: 12:00 PM CDT Wednesday August 26, 2020 Current Location: 27.1N, 92.2W Geographic Reference: 200 miles SE of the TX/LA Border Movement: North-northwest at 14 mph Max Winds: 130 mph gusting to 160 mph Organizational Trend: Steadily Strengthening Forecast Confidence: Average Estimated Central Pressure: 958 mb Our Forecast Observations from a reconnaissance plane as it finished its investigation of Laura indicated that Laura's sustained winds have reached 130 mph, which would make Laura an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Another reconnaissance plane is now approaching Laura's center to measure Laura's winds. The first band of squalls is currently moving across south Louisiana and will reach the upper Texas coast over the next hour. These first squalls may contain brief wind gusts to tropical storm strength as well as isolated tornadoes. Conditions along the Louisiana and Texas coasts will continue to deteriorate through the afternoon and evening hours as Laura approaches. Laura is expected to produce a storm surge of 18-20 feet near where the center crosses the coast in Cameron Parish, LA and within about 40 miles to the east of the point of landfall. Extensive damage is expected along coastal Highways 82 and 27. Most structures along the coast will be destroyed. This surge will move ashore around midnight tonight, just ahead of Laura's eye
I bet that's the issue. You'd think rather than wait for federal dollars to ever get down here, Texas legislative body would take it upon themselves to fund a storm surge protection system along the most important economies, even if they had to raise taxes on citizens to do this. Unfortunately, that's not the case and as always, we aren't a proactive society but instead reactive. You'd think the largest economy in Texas would be pretty ****ing important to the legislative body.
The NHC once again proves their forecasts tend to be better than any one modeling system. They've nailed the path pretty darn well so far. The hardest thing to predict is intensity...they were off on that one so far.