Harvey Update

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
It's been a little crazy for everyone in Texas as you can imagine. DD's school district just announced the closure of school for the entire week. My family has been very fortunate to not get water in the house as our street drains pretty quickly and efficiently...the rest of Houston, not so much. Softball doesn't seem so important as so much devastation surrounds us. I just hope all the softball families remain unaffected.


I just looked at www.yourgamecam.com under Collins Park and the entire complex has 4 feet of water in it. See for yourself. This happened to this same facility about 18 months ago, and they couldn't play for some time. We have a showcase scheduled there in October. We are supposed to play in Galveston next weekend too! I have a feeling that we won't be playing anything for a long time.

Send prayers this way please!



Collins Park.jpg
 
Jul 19, 2014
2,390
48
Madison, WI
I hope this post doesn't cross the line into political discussions, but I am angry enough that I really don't care.

So far the flooding is at 800 year levels, and may soon be at 1000+ year levels.

For decades, climatologists have been warning that these 500-1000+ year flooding events were going to happen at least every 20-30 years in the early 21st Century, then increase to about once every 10 years by mid-century or so. By that I mean EVERY area along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts will see a 500-1000+ flooding event, not just one or two places. Katrina, Sandy and Harvey are just the appetizer. The main course is yet to come.
Politicians have been in two groups: one group says the climatologists are lying, the other group says they are telling the truth but nobody can be bothered to actually do anything about it.
My brother was lucky enough to have his house on an island off of Long Island at 18', when the flooding got up to 16' in Sandy, another 1000+ year event. Meaning parts of his property were flooded, but his house "only" sustained wind and rain damage. My brother-in-law has a house on Coney Island, and ALL of Coney Island was under water, including his house.
Not long after Sandy I read a book that described Sandy in detail. Except the book was written BEFORE Sandy, and it said politicians were ignoring the problem, because that is what American politicians do. The book also pretty much predicted Harvey. Again, politicians either denied the problem or decided there was nothing they could do about it.

So, for anyone living in areas near coasts, such as the entire Gulf Coast, all of Florida, the entire Atlantic Seaboard, you can believe the politicians or you can believe the climatologists. You can either make sure you are living in high enough and well-drained enough ground for the biggest flood since Noah, or your home will be flooded. There WILL be a 500-1000+ year flooding event in your area within the next 20-30 years, which could mean today, or it could mean 2047. Floods don't care if you believe in them or not. Please stay safe.

And Orange Socks, it appears you are living in the right place. Stay safe and dry.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
I hope this post doesn't cross the line into political discussions, but I am angry enough that I really don't care.

So far the flooding is at 800 year levels, and may soon be at 1000+ year levels.

For decades, climatologists have been warning that these 500-1000+ year flooding events were going to happen at least every 20-30 years in the early 21st Century, then increase to about once every 10 years by mid-century or so. By that I mean EVERY area along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts will see a 500-1000+ flooding event, not just one or two places. Katrina, Sandy and Harvey are just the appetizer. The main course is yet to come.
Politicians have been in two groups: one group says the climatologists are lying, the other group says they are telling the truth but nobody can be bothered to actually do anything about it.
My brother was lucky enough to have his house on an island off of Long Island at 18', when the flooding got up to 16' in Sandy, another 1000+ year event. Meaning parts of his property were flooded, but his house "only" sustained wind and rain damage. My brother-in-law has a house on Coney Island, and ALL of Coney Island was under water, including his house.
Not long after Sandy I read a book that described Sandy in detail. Except the book was written BEFORE Sandy, and it said politicians were ignoring the problem, because that is what American politicians do. The book also pretty much predicted Harvey. Again, politicians either denied the problem or decided there was nothing they could do about it.

So, for anyone living in areas near coasts, such as the entire Gulf Coast, all of Florida, the entire Atlantic Seaboard, you can believe the politicians or you can believe the climatologists. You can either make sure you are living in high enough and well-drained enough ground for the biggest flood since Noah, or your home will be flooded. There WILL be a 500-1000+ year flooding event in your area within the next 20-30 years, which could mean today, or it could mean 2047. Floods don't care if you believe in them or not. Please stay safe.

And Orange Socks, it appears you are living in the right place. Stay safe and dry.

You make some good points. Harvey was a major hurricane which in and of itself is no different than what has occurred for eons. The difference was the weather patterns that caused it to hang out for so long. It truly was a perfect storm. I do not deny that climate change exists, because that is what climates do. They change over time. However, to link the extreme flooding caused by Harvey specifically to climate change seems to be a stretch.
 
Jul 19, 2014
2,390
48
Madison, WI
Nobody is saying any particular storm was caused by climate change. Nor does it really matter to the people who are suffering in Texas right now.

The PROBABILITY is affected by climate change.

I'll give an example. Comparing the climate now with the climate a few decades ago is like comparing a roulette wheel with 0 and 00 to a European style roulette wheel with just 0. One could not blame am epic losing streak on playing a roulette wheel with 0 and 00 compared to just playing a roulette wheel with 0, but the probability of an epic losing streak is higher. In a few decades, we will have the effect of 0, 00 and 000 all on the roulette wheel. When our kids are old, it will probably be 0, 00, 000, 0000 and possibly 00000 and 000000 on the wheel.

What I am saying is this: the climatologists have had an extremely good track record of predicting certain events that normally should occur once every 500 or 1000 or even 10-20,000 years would happen, and then having all of those events happen. Superstorm Sandy, not seen in about 1000 years. Harvey, not seen in at least 800 years. Massive wildfires in the Arctic, not seen since before the last ice age. All of these were predicted by climatologists, and all of them happened, and I think all of the happened EARLIER than predicted.

Anyone who lives close to the Atlantic or Gulf coasts should assume that there will be a storm like Harvey or Katrina or Sandy in their area within the next 30 years. Or, you could bet your home and possibly your life against the climatologists.
 
Jul 19, 2014
2,390
48
Madison, WI
Hoping for the best for all of our DFP members in the area.

I hope when things are all clear we can get a lot of posts about how the families are safe.
As I mentioned, my brother and his family and my brother-in-law and his family were hit by Sandy, one of them hit very hard, but insurance took care of that. The important thing is they all went to higher ground, and were safe.

People are important. The rest is just stuff, and insurance can take care of most of the stuff.
 
Aug 26, 2011
1,285
0
Houston, Texas
Update from us - we are in north Houston area - we are dry, have power and have some leaking but nothing compared to what others are suffering. My parents, on the other hand, have their home in Rockport - first direct hit. The entire town suffered massive destruction - my parents' home has some damage, but nothing compared to their neighbors. Some homes came away unscathed, while others are a total loss. My parents are safe here in Houston (so to speak - their house here is being threatened with flooding - already reaching under the back door). My dad will be hurting from loss of business since his business was here and in Rockport. We just need for Harvey to disappear so that recovery can begin. My office is downtown Houston - no flooding in our building but so many buildings are flooded or affected. We are currently "trapped" in our home with flooded roads/areas preventing us from going anywhere. I am constantly amazed and in awe at the waves of support and assistance of our community and surrounding communities and states. Our prayers are with all those affected by this massive "perfect" storm.

Bright note: DD is apparently the only in our family (and extended families) able to carry on with her regularly scheduled programming - she started her first day of college today. :)
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,474
Members
21,443
Latest member
sstop28
Top