Harvey, a category 4 hurricane, is making landfall onto southwest Texas right now.

To put this in perspective, Sandy was a category 1 hurricane.

Katrina, remember, destroyed the Bush presidency and this one might do the same to Trump. I hope FEMA and state authorities know what they are doing this time.

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WoodsDweller's picture

This may be really bad.

source

HurrHarvey01_20170825.jpg

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"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone

dance you monster's picture

I know most are inland, and presumably safe, but I hope we will hear firsthand reports of what's happening tonight and what will ensue over coming weeks.

A dozen years ago Katrina, its poor coverage in the MSM and poor handling by the government, were the elements that moved me to online reportage almost exclusively. My son at the time had just gone abroad on a school-year-abroad program that intentionally did not tell the kids what was happening in New Orleans, so as not to distract them. I went online to find out what the real story was, from firsthand accounts, and made sure my son (and by extension all the kids in the program) knew, day by day. Someone's kids abroad will need to know what is happening back home this time, too. There was a time when the network news fulfilled this role. Now it's us.

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Mark from Queens's picture

@dance you monster
Not sure who else.

Didn't realize this looks to be as serious as stated here.

Good points about Katrina coverage, DYM. That disaster and the non-response, or worse really, by the government, turned the country against Bush.

I did a week long motorcycle trip that next Spring, up from FLA through the South back to NYC, and felt it everywhere I went, with folks offering first hand stories of evidence. One that sticks with me was a couple in N. Carolina telling me that even their neighbors who had been staunch Bush supporters, began taking their bumperstickers off their cars after the response to Katrina.

Best place to get up-to-the-minute coverage is Twitter, which wasn't around then. For all its criticism, it is still a great equalizer in terms of getting out stories as they are unfolding in real time.

Wishing all of you Texans safety and security tonight.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

snoopydawg's picture

@dance you monster
She left yesterday and I didn't have a chance to ask if her property was in the path of this.
I've left her an email and hopefully she will check in after she gets to her destination.
If I hear from her, I'll let you know.

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Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.

WoodsDweller's picture

Harvey is going to park in place, pumping torrential rains onshore for a week (or more).
This is an example of weather systems "getting stuck" due to a weakened jet stream.

source

HurrHarvey02_20170825.png

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"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone

snoopydawg's picture

@WoodsDweller
Harvey is going to be worse than other hurricanes because of the warmer temperatures of the gulf due to climate change.
I doubt that this information will get Trump to start taking it serious.
He is doing irreparable damage to the environment because of who he has put in charge of the agencies that were put in place to protect us. As well as the other agencies. The democrats have finally found their spines and told Trump that his recommendation for the FDA is unqualified and he needs to choose a different candidate.
So was Carson, Perry and most of the others.
Carson is a brain surgeon, yet Trump thinks he's qualified to oversee HUD. Warren said that she voted to confirm him because she was afraid that Trump would pick someone else who was even less qualified.
Fortunately, the person who is in charge of FEMA is qualified for the job.

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Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.

WoodsDweller's picture

@snoopydawg
Trump can't do anything to cross the kooks in his base or he will be out within a week. Nothing will make him acknowledge climate change.

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"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone

@snoopydawg

Will Texas get funding for disaster relief? Will FEMA get the support they need? Will the actual people get help, or just the wealthiest?

Sending best wishes to all affected by this, for whatever that's worth, and I hope that Trump and the rest will think that the 'beautiful babies' and adult Americans in Texas are worth saving, even where not 'worth real money'.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

SnappleBC's picture

@snoopydawg

Obama paid lip service and did nothing substantive.
Trump doesn't pay lip service and does nothing at all.

Personally I prefer the second one. The first provides too much cover for neoliberals as nothing happens. What did Obama give us, the Paris Climate Accords? LOL

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A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard

WoodsDweller's picture

10:00 PM CDT Fri Aug 25
Location: 28.0°N 97.0°W
Moving: NW at 7 mph
Min pressure: 938 mb
Max sustained: 130 mph

This thing blew up from a CAT 1 to a CAT 4 in just a few hours. High surface temperatures in the Gulf, and warm water to a greater depth than the storm can draw from. After it backs out it will return to the Gulf and strengthen again, then head for Houston early next week. Expected rain totals as much as 35 inches, with some models showing up to 60 inches. Storm surge up to 12 feet.
Weather channel says this is the lowest pressure hurricane to make landfall in Texas.
EDIT: now saying it is the 4th lowest, three others tied at 931 mb.

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"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone

riverlover's picture

I usually talk to him on Sundays. I think the outer rain shield will get there. I have a niece in Houston. With 4 kids. I think they will hunker. Unfortunate.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

the line is OK it's a hurricane but Not That Bad. Right.

Thanks for the twitter recommendation. I don't have cable--costs too much--and LSM websites have become impossible to read or watch.

The comments from woodsdweller--thank you WD for those--indicate that Harvey isn't finished yet. Not, it would seem, by a long shot.

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Mary Bennett

gulfgal98's picture

with both storm surge and flooding. Storm surge is the most dangerous part of a hurricane or even a tropical storm. An area can get storm surge without even having high winds. About 12 or 13 years ago, areas in the Big Bend of Florida suffered significant damage from storm surge from hurricane Dennis which was a relatively weak storm that made landfall over 100 miles west of where the storm surge damage occurred. A large and relatively shallow bay contributed to the effect of storm surge in the Big Bend area of Florida while further west where Dennis made landfall, the shelf drops off more resulting in little storm surge damage.

With the incredible amounts of rainfall predicted, flooding will definitely be a problem since much of that area of Texas is low and flat with no place for the water to go. Also, often the flooding can occur after the storm has passed through as water flows into the lower areas form uplands. From what I have read, the Houston area is ripe for a major flooding event associated with Harvey.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

WoodsDweller's picture

Compilation of video from yesterday.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or_xsbUsINo]

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"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone

at least on paper, than Heckuvajob Brownie.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

Lily O Lady's picture

among others. We were in Houston a couple years ago when about 16 inches of rain fell in a few hours. The city was paralyzed. Some people were drowned in their cars. One part of I-45 had a pile of cars washed into a heap, looking like a child's abandoned Hot Wheels. Most of the drivers had escaped, thank goodness.

So I've seen it bad. Will this be as bad or worse?

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Deja's picture

@Lily O Lady
Some places have been given a respite of sorts, giving some places precious needed time to let the water recede. But rain bands are forcast for the next few days. Tornadoes all around.

I remember the time you're talking about. I watched as people quickly parked their cars all up against a wall and in seconds the water was rushing so hard they had to climb out passenger windows because other cars had been slammed into theirs by the racing water. Almost instantaneous. Little water over the road, and seconds later a pile of cars/trucks up against a wall and rapids in the middle of the roadway. Frightening!

Good news: almost 24 hrs after making landfall, Harvey has been downgraded to a tropical storm.

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WoodsDweller's picture

@Deja The downgrade to a tropical storm is only for winds, the rain is the real problem now and will continue for another week.

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"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone

Deja's picture

@WoodsDweller

And I'm in a tornado warning right now. I'm hoping the water stays outside of my house!

Just saw on the Houston news a story about families voluntarily evacuating from my little po dunk, single four-way stop sign town. They're fleeing the San Bernard river, which is supposed to be at flood stage tomorrow, and crest on Monday. I'm half a mile from the river, so thinking I'll be okay.

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@Deja

I certainly hope you'll be OK, and able to keep in touch!

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Deja's picture

Just saw it on tee vee. An accident and heavy, heavy rain, and the people stuck on the highway are right in the middle of a tornado warning.

So glad everyone I know is NOT DRIVING! Why are people driving right now? Maybe they have jobs that expect them to show up no matter what. This is a will to work state (or whatever it's called). Sigh . . .

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TheOtherMaven's picture

@Deja

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Deja's picture

Equusearch guy just on news. 8" of water in his house, that rose as he was talking to the bobble heads. Only other time in 14 yrs (I think he said) of living in Santa Fe, Tx, that his house has ever had water in it, was this year's Tax Day Flood (April 18th, 2017).

This is what he does (and why), when he's not getting flooded:
[video:https://youtu.be/RoZBPulH89E]

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