CRISIS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Tropical Storm Harvey was poised to re-enter the Gulf of Mexico Monday [8-28-17] and make another landfall closer to Houston roughly two days later, prolonging the slow-motion flooding disaster that already has crippled one of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas.
The storm isn’t expected to regain hurricane strength as its eye moves back over water, according to the National Hurricane Center. But its plodding, easterly track means as much as 20 more inches of rain could fall on the Houston area. The region has seen as much as 30 inches in recent days, turning roads into rivers, inundating homes and requiring rescues for thousands of stranded people.
The historic rains, already more than half of what Houston gets in a typical year, were forcing officials to make painful decisions to evacuate flooded areas—and to release water from reservoirs under strain, knowing that it would flow into nearby neighborhoods.
Local officials warned the situation will get worse Monday…
Buffalo Bayou is the main waterway that snakes through the heart of Houston. The water levels of two reservoirs that feed into it are particularly concerning…
Monday morning the Corps started spilling 2,600 cubic feet per second from the Addicks reservoir and about 2,000 cubic feet per second from behind the Barker dam. Those will gradually increase to 8,000 cubic feet per second total, further flooding Buffalo Bayou which is already at historically high levels.
Mr. Turner warned there would be more flooding to neighborhoods near the bayou, but said officials had no choice but to release the reservoir water. Some engineers warned that if the reservoirs were to breach, it could release flooding on an unprecedented level.”
-Miguel Bustillo, Erin Ailworth, and Dan Frosch, “Harvey to Hit Houston Again,” The Wall Street Journal online, Aug. 28, 2017 12:13pm