Community Chat

[Oznell]

Coast Guard Petty Officer Scott Ruskan, heroically rescued 165 campers in the Texas floods.  It was his first official rescue mission.  He had signed up for the Coast Guard after a career in finance.  What a guy! 

 

So many unsung people, worked individually and together, to save human life.

[Spurt]

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@Desertdi wrote:

Weather can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood.    My girlfriend called me one night and said, "Look outside...it's a blizzard."   Nothing here, and she doesn't live very far away.

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@Desertdi 

We have that too....my sister and friends live about 5 miles from me and I will get rain and they dont and vice versa....I guess that's why they call it SCATTERED SHOWERS!!!

[Spurt]

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@Nonametoday wrote:

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@Kachina624 wrote:

Kerrville is in the Hill Country.  Not only did a lot of rain come down but it ran off all the hills in the area into the Guadalupe River and other tributaries.   Flash floods are very common in the Hill Country.  All the low places along their highways have flood water measuring poles to show how deep water is.

This instance was much worse than most, but not the worst ever.

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@Kachina624 

This happens in this area a lot but not to this extent.  It did, however, happen this way in the past century, c.1925 (I think is what I read, but don't quote me. I have low sodium and my mind is not working as well as it was a few weeks ago).

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@Nonametoday @Kachina624 

Not just the Hill Country, but where I live, San Antonio itself experienced what was called a "100 Year Flood", a flood event with a 1% chance of occurring in any given year, and not one that happens only once a century. San Antonio also has a history of significant flooding, including the devastating flood of 1921 and a major event in 1998. The 1998 flood, which occurred after the completion of the San Antonio River Flood Tunnel, spared downtown from severe damage thanks to the tunnel's effectiveness. 

[Kachina624]

@Spurt.  Actually we have a similar problem in Albuquerque.   The city is laid out at the very bottom of the 10,300ft Sandia Mts.  Water rushes down from the arroyos on the mountain into cement lined arroyos in the city.  They become deep, rushing torrents in seconds.  Empties into Rio Grande.  There are homeless people who camp under the bridges and get washed out.  Fire department is kept busy trying to rescue them but several die every year.

It's controlled flooding that the city couldn't exist without.

[Spurt]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

@Spurt.  Actually we have a similar problem in Albuquerque.   The city is laid out at the very bottom of the 10,300ft Sandia Mts.  Water rushes down from the arroyos on the mountain into cement lined arroyos in the city.  They become deep, rushing torrents in seconds.  Empties into Rio Grande.  There are homeless people who camp under the bridges and get washed out.  Fire department is kept busy trying to rescue them but several die every year.

It's controlled flooding that the city couldn't exist without.

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@Kachina624 

Yep, sounds like a similar situation here with the people that are oblivious......I get what your saying about controlled flooding....

With all the rain we've been having certain parts of the city are always subjected to flooding, low--lying areas where the Texas soil can only absorb so much and all the tremendous rain totals created problems ....The city puts up barriers in these areas and sends out the warnings thru TV, social media, cell phones, and weather APPS about flooding and they all include the warning TURN AROUND DONT DROWN....but some people ignore the info and think they can drive thru it, but some of these areas turn into a river with strong currents and their cars get swept away.....12 people died a couple weeks ago....and others had to be rescued!!!! SMH!!!!  

As a deterrent the Fire Dept even fines the people that are rescued $1,000 for not heeding the barriers but it doesn't seem to stop them, and the damage or total loss of their car has to be dealt by them too.... Why are people idiots???

[Spurt]

I just can't believe how EVIL some people are--- they had a local area press conference with the latest info on the Hill Country Flood Disaster at 10 AM this morning.....Some people with still unaccounted for family members/kids have posted photos with their contact info on social media asking if others have seen their missing loved ones....And these people are receiving calls from scammers saying that they have their kid and want money to release them.....There has to be a special karma for a person who is that EVIL to do that!!!!

[Spurt]

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@Desert Lily wrote:

6-15 inches of rain fell at a rate of 3-6 inches per hour. The Guadalupe River surged 20-27 feet in 45-60 minutes in various areas is what I read on the Fox Weather website.

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@Desert Lily 

Yes, and what added to the problem was not only all the rain but also remants of what was left from a Pacific Tropical Storm that merged with it and also an atmospheric low pressure area which caused the storm to just camp out and stall over the area feeding the rain over the location.....

[JoyFilled Warrior]

I thought I'd just heard there was no Siren System in this Riverfront community.  Is this true?  No Siren System?

[AuntMame]

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@JoyFilled Warrior wrote:

I thought I'd just heard there was no Siren System in this Riverfront community.  Is this true?  No Siren System?

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No siren system. The community considered installing one after a flash flood a few years back because of all the children's summer camps along the river, but decided against it due to cost. It's a large, scattered area which would have made a siren system expensive. 

Text alerts were sent out to cell phones but it was in the middle of the night and most people ignored them. 

[granddi]

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@AuntMame wrote:

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@JoyFilled Warrior wrote:

I thought I'd just heard there was no Siren System in this Riverfront community.  Is this true?  No Siren System?

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No siren system. The community considered installing one after a flash flood a few years back because of all the children's summer camps along the river, but decided against it due to cost. It's a large, scattered area which would have made a siren system expensive. 

Text alerts were sent out to cell phones but it was in the middle of the night and most people ignored them. 

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Many things went wrong.

No sirens to warn (just like tornado sirens)

Community did not elect to spend $50K for sirens

Cell phone emergency alerts failed due to spotty cell service in the area.

Every county in Tx has an emergency response officer. This person failed.

Sensors can be installed on the river to alarm when the levels rise to a certain level. None in the area.

Reduced weather staff

Citizens ignored warnings 

A hundred yr flood

The state of texas has an estimated $23 Billion surplus.