# Hurricane Harvey Update



## Edgar (Aug 26, 2017)

I just heard from my brother in Weesatche (abt 20 mi NW of Victoria). The storm was down to a Cat 1 when it passed over his home. His power is out & his barn doors were blown off, but he is fine & no major damage to anything.

Our travel trailer, cabin & barn at our farm in Meyersville are all ok too. Meyersville is abt 30 mi N of Victoria & the Eastern eye wall passed very near at Cat 1 strength.

Lots of power outages, limbs & trees down, but most friends & relatives in the greater Victoria area are only reporting minor damage (fences down, some small structures down, & some blown-in water).

The coastal areas where the storm hit at Cat 4 strength were hit very hard. Several relatives & friends have beach homes in that area, some totally destroyed.


----------



## Cmiles1985 (Aug 26, 2017)

Best wishes to you and your family Edgar.


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


----------



## mark james (Aug 26, 2017)

It's amazing what the extent of damage is in one spot, and just a bit away is much less or more.  

My thoughts are with everyone effected.  Be safe.


----------



## Pen Zen (Aug 26, 2017)

I'm glad to hear your brother is okay.  I have a brother and a sister-in-law both of whom live in Aransas Pass.  They both evacuated  for the storm so they are okay also, but we are waiting to hear if they have houses left to go home to.


----------



## Edgar (Aug 26, 2017)

Pen Zen said:


> I'm glad to hear your brother is okay.  I have a brother and a sister-in-law both of whom live in Aransas Pass.  They both evacuated  for the storm so they are okay also, but we are waiting to hear if they have houses left to go home to.



Glad to hear they are ok - here's hoping they didn't have too much damage to their homes.


----------



## More4dan (Aug 26, 2017)

Edgar, how is the water where you are?  Hope all is well as the rivers and bayous rise. Stay safe. 


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


----------



## Pen Zen (Aug 26, 2017)

Edgar said:


> Pen Zen said:
> 
> 
> > I'm glad to hear your brother is okay.  I have a brother and a sister-in-law both of whom live in Aransas Pass.  They both evacuated  for the storm so they are okay also, but we are waiting to hear if they have houses left to go home to.
> ...



Thank you.  I just received word that the damage was minimal.


----------



## Edgar (Aug 26, 2017)

Pen Zen said:


> Edgar said:
> 
> 
> > Pen Zen said:
> ...



Great to hear!


----------



## Edgar (Aug 26, 2017)

More4dan said:


> Edgar, how is the water where you are?  Hope all is well as the rivers and bayous rise. Stay safe.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app



 No problems so far. We had 6.8" of rain up until about 6 am today & we've had a good respite until just half an hour ago. No rain & gentle breezes all day - all of the rain bands coming through this area passed us by on one side or the other.

We are getting a good rain now though with lots of thunder & lightning with this current rain band.

Mustang Bayou crosses our road about a half mile from our home - it's nearly full but not yet overflowing. It brings drainage from Missouri City & Pearland down through Alvin.

By the way, Dan - my daughter & her fiancé now live out near you. They just bought a home in Cinco Ranch and moved in last weekend.


----------



## Monty (Aug 27, 2017)

My weather station is on the fence that blew down last night so I don't have an accurate rain fall measurement. I do have a small glass rain gauge farther down on the fence. It showed about 5-3/4" this morning. I just emptied it again after this past round and it had about 4-3/4". Funny thing is they just regraded the ditch on one side of my property and redirected the flow and now I had more water in the ditches than I've ever seen before in my 36 years I've lived here.


----------



## magpens (Aug 27, 2017)

My thoughts have been with our Texas and Louisiana members and I have been following the news .

I hope all are safe and not suffering too much loss .

Thanks for starting this thread, Edgar .


----------



## Edgar (Aug 27, 2017)

Monty said:


> My weather station is on the fence that blew down last night so I don't have an accurate rain fall measurement. I do have a small glass rain gauge farther down on the fence. It showed about 5-3/4" this morning. I just emptied it again after this past round and it had about 4-3/4". Funny thing is they just regraded the ditch on one side of my property and redirected the flow and now I had more water in the ditches than I've ever seen before in my 36 years I've lived here.



We got 4.8" in 90 min with this last go-round. I was having a hard time believing it, but our ditch was completely full, then I saw on Ch 2 that Alvin was having a 3.2" per hour rate. Friendswood to South Houston is getting a 5" per hour rate - that's crazy!


----------



## TellicoTurning (Aug 27, 2017)

Good Morning Edgar,
Hope this finds you still safe and dry... I have a friend that I used to work with who lives in Alvin... glad to hear the area is not too bad.  Looks like Harvey will be even worse than Allison and she flooded downtown Houston.


----------



## JimB (Aug 27, 2017)

Glad to hear that you are getting through this without any major issues. Keep safe!


----------



## Monty (Aug 27, 2017)

Just got my weather station relocated to another post at about 9AM just as another round of rain started. Shows 0.37" already.


----------



## sbwertz (Aug 27, 2017)

Just found out that my cousin in Houston is still high and dry, but no electricity.  Says his neighborhood is an island at this point.


----------



## Dehn0045 (Aug 27, 2017)

I am in League City.  We have gotten a total of 31" since about 5pm Friday based on a nearby weather station.  We were getting 4 to 5 inches per hour for about 3 hours last night, it was unbelievable.  We are in the 500+ year flood plain and had water about a foot from entering the house.  The 100 year flood plains nearby already have 2 to 4 ft at least.  It was truly an epic storm.  We ended up with some minor water damage where water got up under the flashing on the roof, but nothing even close to others.  With the wind and storm surge down by Port Aransas, the number of tornados, and now flooding, this is no doubt a catastrophic event.  My thoughts and prayers are with those who are seriously effected.


----------



## More4dan (Aug 27, 2017)

Buffalo Bayou is spilling over in Katy and the Barker Reservoir is expected to rise to record levels sometime in the near future. And the rain keeps falling.  Still high and dry for now and a gumbo on the stove. 


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


----------



## Edgar (Aug 27, 2017)

Dehn0045 said:


> I am in League City.  We have gotten a total of 31" since about 5pm Friday based on a nearby weather station.  We were getting 4 to 5 inches per hour for about 3 hours last night, it was unbelievable.  We are in the 500+ year flood plain and had water about a foot from entering the house.  The 100 year flood plains nearby already have 2 to 4 ft at least.  It was truly an epic storm.  We ended up with some minor water damage where water got up under the flashing on the roof, but nothing even close to others.  With the wind and storm surge down by Port Aransas, the number of tornados, and now flooding, this is no doubt a catastrophic event.  My thoughts and prayers are with those who are seriously effected.



Stay safe, Sam. We are also in a 500 year zone, but we got 19" of water in our home from TS Claudette in 1979. I hope that was it for another 462 years. 

So far we are at 17.4" and our ditch is keeping up with the rain.


----------



## Edgar (Aug 27, 2017)

TellicoTurning said:


> Good Morning Edgar,
> Hope this finds you still safe and dry... I have a friend that I used to work with who lives in Alvin... glad to hear the area is not too bad.  Looks like Harvey will be even worse than Allison and she flooded downtown Houston.



There is a little flooding in some parts of Alvin, but not too bad yet. We are on the NW side of town and have 17.4" over 3 days so far. S, SE and E side of town has gotten at least 7" more than we have & those are the areas with some issues.

Most of the heavy rain bands have skirted Alvin so far. Band after band has gone between Alvin & Galveston, right up through Friendswood, Dickinson & League City & straight up the Gulf Fwy (I45) into Houston. Mostly we are just catching the western edge of those bands, but we have also gotten a few direct hits.


----------



## TellicoTurning (Aug 27, 2017)

Edgar said:


> TellicoTurning said:
> 
> 
> > Good Morning Edgar,
> ...



I heard from my friend, she and husband are ok... no serious flooding for them either.  Also got hold of most of my cousins in the area... one is in Humble area with her mother, they live a couple of blocks from where I lived when I was in Humble... we had water about a foot from the garage door from Allison... don't know what Harvey is doing to the street... Another cousin lives over on west side of Houston, forget the sub division, but it used to flood even in lighter rains... can't get hold of her, but maybe my cousin in Humble has a contact.  My cousin in Humble's  sister lives in south Houston or Pasadena, last I heard, but Gail said she was ok and not under any duress.  My sister in law lives in Conroe and is high and dry as is her son in the Woodlands.  My SIL's step-son is in your area, but likely he went to his brother's house in Dallas.  At least I hope so... he's a trucker and might well be on the road well away from the storm, but his wife would be home, so here's hoping they did go north... my wife is in contact with her sister and nothing has been said about the stepson and daughter in law.


----------



## Edgar (Aug 27, 2017)

TellicoTurning said:


> Edgar said:
> 
> 
> > TellicoTurning said:
> ...



Here's hoping they are all ok. We will keep them in our prayers.


----------



## magpens (Aug 27, 2017)

Does anyone know how things are in Cypress, a suburb of Houston north west of the main city ?

I have good friends there but I expect they have gone to their daughter's place in Austin. . Can't contact them in either place.

Monty must be in the "thick of it" at Pearland.


----------



## More4dan (Aug 28, 2017)

magpens said:


> Does anyone know how things are in Cypress, a suburb of Houston north west of the main city ?
> 
> I have good friends there but I expect they have gone to their daughter's place in Austin. . Can't contact them in either place.
> 
> Monty must be in the "thick of it" at Pearland.





I do have friends in Pearland that had water at their door this morning but less risk tonight. Hopefully your friends are safe. 


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


----------



## CREID (Aug 28, 2017)

They say that an estimated 9 trillion gallons of rain has fallen in Texas.


----------



## Cmiles1985 (Aug 28, 2017)

Best wishes to all affected. I apparently still have a house. I've been told my carport is gone and my boat barn collapsed. That's fine. Our town's transformers are shot, and electricity outage is expected to be greater than three weeks. Our water tower collapsed, so city water supply is suspended until electric pumps can be operated. The important thing is that my family is safe. We will be heading "home" to assess damages tomorrow.


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


----------



## CREID (Aug 28, 2017)

Cmiles1985 said:


> Best wishes to all affected. I apparently still have a house. I've been told my carport is gone and my boat barn collapsed. That's fine. Our town's transformers are shot, and electricity outage is expected to be greater than three weeks. Our water tower collapsed, so city water supply is suspended until electric pumps can be operated. The important thing is that my family is safe. We will be heading "home" to assess damages tomorrow.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


Glad  your safe. Take care.


----------



## Edgar (Aug 28, 2017)

Cmiles1985 said:


> Best wishes to all affected. I apparently still have a house. I've been told my carport is gone and my boat barn collapsed. That's fine. Our town's transformers are shot, and electricity outage is expected to be greater than three weeks. Our water tower collapsed, so city water supply is suspended until electric pumps can be operated. The important thing is that my family is safe. We will be heading "home" to assess damages tomorrow.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app



Safe travels, Clark.


----------



## Edgar (Aug 28, 2017)

magpens said:


> Does anyone know how things are in Cypress, a suburb of Houston north west of the main city ?
> 
> I have good friends there but I expect they have gone to their daughter's place in Austin. . Can't contact them in either place.
> 
> Monty must be in the "thick of it" at Pearland.



Cypress got heavy rain today, but I don't think there is much flooding in that area. There have been several tornadoes in Cypress, but damage has been relatively light. Several houses have lost parts of their roofs & only one house that I know of has had heavy damage 

There have been quite a few tornadoes in the Houston area, but they have been small & very localized.


----------



## TellicoTurning (Aug 28, 2017)

Saw some pictures on the web this morning of the Forest Cove and Kingwood area... if they let water out of Lake Conroe and Livingston, then Lake Houston will flood also and the north side of Houston will get some water.  Years back my wife and I looked at a house on Hamblen Road in Forest Cove... the flood of '95 inundated that house and they wound up taking all the houses along there down... picture I saw this morning showed the same road under water. 
I lived in two different subdivisions of Atascocita along Lake Houston and over in Huffman about 1/2 mile off the lake... Atascocita doesn't flood so much but Huffman was under water in '95...
Allison put a foot of water in my front yard in Atascocita Forest which is about a mile off Hwy 59 in Humble.


----------



## MRDucks2 (Aug 28, 2017)

My daughter lives near the Vintage area across 249 from Cypress.  The streets and low areas are flooding but the creeks are mostly managing the water through last night.  Update at 12:44am central was that they were getting hammered pretty hard with rain again and no updates since then.  North in the area from Magnolia to Conroe (area I used to live) things are pretty good with 30 minute breaks between rains allowing drainage to keep up so far.


----------



## MRDucks2 (Aug 28, 2017)

On phone now with Conroe, 7 inches of rain last night between Conroe and Lake Houston.  Lake Conroe releasing water to the San Jacinto contributing to downstream flooding as rain through there increases.


----------



## HeartofaPen (Aug 28, 2017)

Just wanted to provide an update for where I am at.  I am located in Hockley TX. just NW of Houston and only a few mile past Cypress.  We have had a lot of rain, if my gauge had not quit working I would estimate it would have said we have had between 20"-30" of rain.  Fortunately I live on a 5 acre lot with some low ground in the back part.  Watching the news this morning though, in north Harris county, where Houston is located, the are doing boat rescues in the Ponderosa Forest sub division.  Please pray for everyone in the Harris County and surrounding area because damage is very extensive all over.

I am attaching a couple pictures of my lot and shop just to show how much we have had.  If not for being so open, we would have been in just as bad of shape as those in the sub divisions. The old portable school house is my shop.  Water under it but not in it and fortunately, none of the leaks in the roof caused any damage inside.


----------



## Edgar (Aug 28, 2017)

Thanks for the post, Chris. Stay safe!


----------



## Dehn0045 (Aug 28, 2017)

It's really unfortunate that the weather reporters spent so much time hyping the conditions Friday afternoon when it was still rather mild.  That's not to say they shouldn't have reported about what was coming.  But watching a guy standing in a run-of-the-mill rain shower, or making a big deal about 3 inches of "storm surge", actually made me laugh out loud.  I think people saw this as the media trying to make ratings, leading people to ignore many of the warnings.  For those of you that are outside the area, this is NOT media hype anymore.  The reporters can't even show a fraction of the actual extent of the damages.


----------



## Edgar (Aug 29, 2017)

The storm has moved out of the Houston area - devastation is unimaginable. Some downstream flooding will continue for up to a week as swollen rivers & bayous slowly drain to the gulf.

We had a total of 35.1" at my house & could not have stood one drop more. At the worst point, water was lapping at our foundation but never entered the house. We were extremely fortunate this time.


----------



## More4dan (Aug 29, 2017)

Great news Edgar that you kept dry. We had just over 38" of rain in Katy. We have also been spared this time. The Reservoirs have breached their levees and flooding continues in our communities. There's a lot a work ahead. Prayers for those suffering an enormous loss and for all those sacrificing to help. This is who we really are as a people and a nation. 


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


----------



## Edgar (Aug 30, 2017)

Amen, Dan! Well said. Glad that you stayed dry too.


----------



## aldjmc (Aug 30, 2017)

Stay safe


Sent from my iPad using Penturners.org mobile app


----------



## Monty (Aug 30, 2017)

Dan and Ed, Glad to here you made it through OK. 
I probably had about the same amount of rain as Ed. Don't know for sure as my weather station was on the fence that was blown over. That was the only damage I had.


----------



## Sataro (Aug 30, 2017)

Glad to hear that some of you stayed safe & flood waters caused you minimum damage. Prayers sent out to the ones that suffered and are going through this disaster...


----------



## mark james (Aug 30, 2017)

Just a bump for any updates.  Many IAP members are affected, and many, many others also - Been through a 4' flood in my business a few yrs ago, so I am concerned.


----------



## Edgar (Aug 30, 2017)

I'm high & dry now - all the water in our yard drained out overnight & our ditch is almost empty. I'm going to send a pen to my county commissioner - the ditches worked wonderfully & his crews mowed all our ditches 2 days before the storm.

My daughter lives in the Cinco Ranch area (not the part in the reservoir inflow area) and had no problems. One of her good friends lives near Buffalo Bayou in the Spring Branch area. She did not have any flooding from the storm itself, but her house is now getting flooded from the reservoir releases. It's a sad situation, but the reservoirs are dangerously full and the Corps of Engineers has little choice but to release some water with certain flooding to some in order to avoid a catastrophic dam failure.


----------



## thawkins87 (Aug 31, 2017)

I grew up in Spring and still have several family friends there who have experienced substantial flood damage... Sounds like a large portion of my old neighborhood was under water. Thoughts and prayers for everyone trying to put the pieces back together...


----------



## Dehn0045 (Sep 1, 2017)

The support that we have received from our fellow Americans has been unbelievable.  Texas is proud and strong, but the support from outside of the state that has come pouring in has made things so much better.  I was working at a friends house yesterday who got a few inches in his house, enough to do plenty of damage.  His mother stopped by on her way home from working at the hospital since last Friday.  She told her son while looking at the damage to his house "this is only money, we have everything that's important, a lot of people died, a lot of people."  Harvey has been a harsh reminder about what is important.


----------



## Cmiles1985 (Sep 15, 2017)

Well, we certainly did not see the flooding that Houston did. My rain gauge only showed 0.87", but I'm pretty sure that most rain blew right past as the peak gust was measured at 174 mph. Our home was pretty badly damaged as our roof took a pretty major hit from the carport passing by. We have ceiling water damage in every room. On a happy note, all of my animals (except the fish in one of my ponds) survived. It was very hard to leave them behind (not the fish, but the pig, all of our cats, three turkeys and thirty something ducks), but it was a case of "us or them." My shop survived very well structurally. A hole that had been previously covered and sealed blew out, and everything inside of my 1200 s.f. shop got rained on...from a hole that's about 6" in diameter. We shall see what insurance has to say as the adjuster finally made it over on Wednesday. I'm glad to hear that everybody here was safe! Here's a few pictures for your enjoyment:


----------



## Edgar (Sep 16, 2017)

*Another Harvey Uodate*

While we did not have any flooding or damage at our home in Alvin, our pecan farm in Columbus took quite a hit.

The Columbus area got over 20" of rain causing the Colorado River to flood. It crested at 50.2 feet, just shy of the record of 51.6 feet set in 1913. Many homes & businesses in and around Columbus were flooded.

Our pecan orchard is on rolling trerrain & water was anywhere from 4' to 12' deep through the entire orchard. We have a mobile home, travel trailer & tractor shed about 100 yards from the river & about 15' above the river flood stage. Water was 4' deep in that area. The TT & mobile home both had 14" of water inside them. Water was nearly up to the seats of both of my tractors. Everything in the tractor shed was tossed around or washed off to other parts of our property. Our fence line stopped most of it from totally washing away.

We are fortunate that this is not our primary residence & just a sideline business. For us, it's just a minor inconvenience and an unexpected expense. Many others have lost so much more.


----------



## Cmiles1985 (Sep 19, 2017)

Without a doubt, Harvey was an impressive storm. Best of luck to you on the cleanup and restoration of your farm Edgar. I may need to track down some Dohmann pecans when things settle down a little!


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


----------

