« Bubba Raises Coin & His Voice Over Katrina | Main | Folks Are Edgy in H-Town »
September 20, 2005
Texas Coast In The Crosshairs
Just weeks after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the central Gulf Coast, another big storm is brewing, and this time Texas is in the bullseye.
Folks around here are used to warnings that usually don't pan out, but things feel a bit different this time. No doubt that's largely due to the devastation wreaked on our neighbors to the east, but whatever the reason, folks are nervous. As Rita quickly intensifies toward a Category 3 or 4 storm, there's good reason to be skittish.
A trip to the local grocery store (in central Houston) last night told the tale. All the water and batteries were gone. Local Home Depots have been overrun with Houstonians looking for plywood and other storm supplies. We expect liquor stores are doing a brisk business as well -- gotta be prepared!
The upper Texas coast hasn't seen a big hurricane in 22 years -- Alicia in 1983. It killed about 20 people and did significant damage ($2 billion) when there was far less residential development between Galveston and Houston than there is now.
Of course, Houstonians suffered mightily in Tropical Storm Allison 4 years ago, which didn't pack much wind punch, but dumped an unbelievable 36 inches of rain on the area in a matter of hours and caused catastrophic damage ($5 billion). Parts of our area haven't yet come back from Allison.
A powerful hurricane and the accompanying storm surge has the potential to flood some 600,000 area homes, mostly in Galveston County and in East Harris County. Are we ready? The Chronicle recently asked that question, and the short answer is no, though we're undoubtedly better prepared than New Orleans was.
Of course, none of us here really wants to find out, particularly our guests who fled Katrina and who are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. Stay tuned...
Oh, and a plug for the Chron's SciGuy, who is doing some fine blogging on the subject.
Posted by houtopia at September 20, 2005 09:17 PM