Last Chance To See 600 sq mi: Hidden
Missed Connections: Gefilte Fish...and "Chain Connections"
H-Town Rock
Rock Talk, Vol. IX
Mayor Bill White and County Judge Robert Eckels held a noon press conference on the local flooding, stressing that things will be OK as long as we don't get more heavy rain later today. "The ground is saturated, the bayous are full," Eckels said. "If the rain stops, we're OK; if we get another 10 or 12 inches of rain tonight, it's going to be another problem."
No state assistance has been requested, though Gov. Rick Perry put high-water rescue teams and air-ground coordination teams on standby in case they are needed. But for now, White and Eckels said, local emergency management offices have been able to keep things under control. White said HFD has 11 rescue boats ready to be deployed, but he hasn't heard of any boat rescues actually being carried out. However, he said there have been about 500 emergency calls for rescue in the city, mostly from people whose cars were caught in high water. "Keep off some of these freeways where the feeder roads have been blocked off," White urged — especially the South Loop, where many drivers were stranded earlier.
The most extensive flooding, officials confirmed, is in southeast Houston. Though many neighborhoods are dry, White said others have "block after block after block flooded," with water getting into homes and businesses. But both White and Eckels said things are better than they could be: Flooding is localized, and it's probably been minimized by a number of flood-control projects that have been completed and are under way. Though White encouraged employers to be flexible with workers who can't make it to the office, he and Eckels said city and county courts are operating as usual and jurors and defendants are expected to show up. (If they can't, though, they should call and ask to be rescheduled.)
Today's storms are also a chance, if a minor one, to get to try out some improvements in flood response put in place after Tropical Storm Allison and Hurricane Rita. It's good practice for local officials, but "we don't neeed this kind of practice," Eckels said.
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Employers are supose to have compasion for us downtown even though their not closing the courts! I don't think anyone really knows what it's like unless they live in the Galveston area. My company said they would honor what the mayor said last year during Rita but guess what they didnt! It took me from 7-9:30 this morning to get to work!!!!!