[Magdalen] Houston

[Rick Mashburn]

Jay, that's another issue all together. The levee was for the Brazos river.
There was a mandatory evacuation order issued on Monday for Fort Bend
County which is southwest of the city and south of the area with the
reservoirs I mentioned earlier which are on the west/northwest side of town.

It's hard to imagine, but the Houston metro area covers more than 2,200
square miles. I'm told that is larger than the state of Connecticut. But,
that part could just be Facebook lore.

Peace, Rick

On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 4:50 PM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
> > >> > >
> > >> >
> > >>
> > >
> >
>