[Magdalen] Houston

[Jay Weigel]

Which one of the levees is it that developed a humongous crack?


On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 5:48 PM, Rick Mashburn <ricklmashburn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I am NOT Lynn but I...
>
> On Aug 30, 2017 4:46 PM, "Rick Mashburn" <ricklmashburn at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I am Lynn but I did live in Houston for many years. The city center has
> no
> > zoning and very little in the way of restrictions on land use. The newer
> > areas of town do have restrictions but they are very developer -
> friendly.
> > As noted earlier, many of the master planned communities make extensive
> use
> > of water features which look good and provide recreational opportunities.
> > But, they are actually there for flood control.
> >
> > There are two huge reservoirs in what was the far west side of town.
> Three
> > were designed as retention ponds in the late '40s to hold water and
> reduce
> > flooding in Buffalo Bayou - the largest bayou in the city.  It runs
> through
> > several tony neighborhoods and downtown before flowing into Galveston
> bay.
> > The problem was that growth enveloped what was the country and now both
> > reservoirs are surrounded by upscale neighborhoods.
> >
> > I hope I got most of that right!
> >
> > Peace, Rick
> >
> > On Aug 30, 2017 4:01 PM, "Jay Weigel" <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Lynn, is it still true that Houston has no zoning? I know that used to
> be
> >> the case.
> >>
> >> On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 2:06 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> > ...I call the "efforts" to accommodate too much concrete (new outer
> >> loops
> >> > and tollways, 100s of new subdivisions , to name a few) by the USArmy
> >> corps
> >> > of Engineers
> >> > : "TX mathmagic".
> >> > They forecast scenarios, calculate "additional run-off" added to the
> >> > existing "area" loosely defined, then come up with formulas for
> widening
> >> > already existing rivers, creeks and bayous (words often used
> >> > interchangeably), and/or digging huge sloped sided grass-planted
> basins,
> >> > also based on mathemagical calculations, that "confirm" safe retention
> >> of
> >> > water in case of flooding (??!!?) for new communities, which are then
> >> often
> >> > dug larger and deeper so they can become a "water feature" of the new
> >> > community, which still conforms to the formula because they've dug it
> >> > larger to accommodate the water they're adding for decorative
> purposes.
> >> >
> >> > No one knows or wants to say ENOUGH, NO MORE, so the city and the area
> >> E,
> >> > W, and N keep building and expanding.
> >> > When I moved in 1987 the middle class subdivisions in the
> unincorporated
> >> > areas 20+ miles from the city were very transient- corporate employers
> >> > transferring people in and out, sometimes in just a few years. People
> >> had
> >> > no sense of potential tragedy in the form of nature events if they
> >> didn't
> >> > actually experience them. The '90s saw more new residents who moved in
> >> for
> >> > long term OR like us, transferries laid off and unable to move
> without a
> >> > job at the other end in a new location.
> >> >
> >> > Such is life. I have been thinking for a while about moving away from
> TX
> >> > but it is complicated.
> >> >
> >> > Have confirmed Sunday tickets home (for now at least), have figured
> out
> >> > the rest of our itinerary- blessed to be seeing even more family and
> old
> >> > friends than our original scenario included. My house/condo is still
> >> dry. I
> >> > am blessed.
> >> > Lynn
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > On Aug 30, 2017, at 9:40 AM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > One of our local meteorologists (that is, he's a college instructor,
> not
> >> > someone on teevee) commented on the amount of Houston that's been
> paved
> >> > over because of rapid overdevelopment.
> >> > (Lynn's part of town has more undeveloped land than downtown.)
> >> >
> >> > He wrote:
> >> > Dump a glass of water on a granite counter.
> >> > Dump a glass of water on a sponge.
> >> > Note the difference.
> >> > -M
> >> >
> >> > On Wednesday, August 30, 2017, Roger Stokes <
> >> roger.stokes65 at btinternet.com
> >> > >
> >> > wrote:
> >> >
> >> > > The problem is the sheer volume of water that has to be dispersed. I
> >> read
> >> > > that there has been something like 6 cubic miles of water dumped on
> >> > Houston
> >> > >
> >> >
> >>
> >
>