Nope. I'm saying that a hurricane is like every other storm in Houston, unless you live under a bridge. As long as I have a roof over myself, I'm fine.
I'm in the 100 yr. flood plain. Again, I don't care. Unless you were in an area that is typically flooded, you shouldn't care, either. Christ. I was in Baytown during Alicia. My family smartened up and moved. It ain't brain surgery, people.
Because we've been lucky (in our generation) so far doesn't mean we should take it for granted. Whatever decades of good fortune we've built up won't mean much if we do reach a point where we get hit right (or wrong, as the case may be). You are partially right in that some people tend to get overly concerned because they've never been in just that situation...but that works both ways. Because we haven't been in that situation means for some there is the danger of being careless. Dean doesn't seem to be a factor at all....luckily. Doesn't mean I'm not going to give a **** if there is any sort of threat in the future.
Alicia was barely a category 3 hurricane and it made your parents move away from the water. Look, I'm not saying that panic should ensue every time a hurricane threatens the area or that if you live in an area that doesn't flood and isn't close to the water, you shouldn't "shelter in place" or "hunker down" or whatever the phrase is this year. BUT, saying that hurricanes are no big deal or that they can't do significant harm is not just misguided, it's downright dumb. If you are in central Houston when a cat 4 storm hits square on Galveston, you can expect close to 12 hours or more of 70mph+ and probably 3 or 4 hours of winds that exceed 100mph. That's not anywhere CLOSE to "every other storm in Houston." A major cat 4 or cat 5 hurricane makes serious line of Texas summer thunderstorms look like a winter drizzle. At their worst, major thunderstorms that rumble through Houston give off downbursts of wind that may reach 50, 60, even 70mph. That's a short burst with sustained winds of 25-35mph that last an hour, maybe two at most. That is nothing compared to a major hurricane. You may not be afraid of hurricanes or think they are anything to worry about, don't be dismissive of the concern. That's just stupid.
And hurricanes spawn twisters that remove roofs from houses. That happened to my home on the west side in 1983 during Alicia. We were stuck living in a hotel for 2 months while our home was repaired.
I lived outside of a flood plain during Rita and the ridge vent on my apartment was torn off and flooded through the roof. You should have taken the hour drive east after Rita. You'd have a different mindset.
I know a guy who was an accountant in Beaumont. Had to start over entirely. A good number of his clients' businesses were destroyed, rendering his receivables to nothing. His office was completely gone. His home had a pine tree on it, along with about 1/3 of the homes in that neighborhood. I can't imagine the damage that thing would have done had it taken a course similar to what Alicia took.
A lot, but I think our economy would've rebounded more quickly than Beaumont. We have a client with their main offices there - a law firm. They worked out of Houston for a while, but their primary client base wasn't dramatically effected. Granted, they do corporate litigation. In reality, Allison was as great a natural disaster in terms of loss of property and damages as any storm we've seen since 1900. It just didn't have the high wind component. But, it would suck if a big hurricane hit Houston, no doubt.
A little update and history for the watchers. There is a new disturbance northeast of the Lesser Antillies the NHC has given the designation of Invest 92L. It is moving northwest and will likely be a concern for the east coast more than we along the Gulf. There isn't anything else out there and nothing significant forecast for the next week. One thing to note is our hurricane history in September. Texas sees our hurricane season come to a close a little sooner than the actual season. There have only been four major hurricanes strike the Texas coast in the month of September: 1875 Hurricane - September 16 - cat 3 - Port Aransas 1900 Hurricane - September 9 - cat 4 - Galveston 1961 Carla - September 12 - cat 4 - Port o'Connor 1967 Beulah - September 20 - cat 5 - Brownsville Rita struck just to the east of the Texas/Louisiana border on September 24, 2005 - close enough to make a note. There have been 13 other hurricanes strike the Texas coast in September, all cat 1 or 2. Four of those, all prior to 1919, struck the upper Texas coast between Freeport and the Texas/Louisiana border. The reality is that, while we have had hurricanes in September, major storms are rare, particularly after the 12th. Beginning September 5, our numbers begin to drop. By the end of September, our hurricane season is essentially over, thankfully. That leaves us with about 4 weeks or so of what I consider the Texas hurricane season and really only about 2 1/2 weeks of peak season for us.
Catching some Weather Channel. Has anyone seen the woman who is one of the heads of the hurricane recon missions they have interviewed for the story on Dean??? Capt. Nicole Mitchell They refer to her as "on air personnel" and I guess she does that as well, but she's a hurricane hunter - part of the Air Force reserves. Dang!
