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Originally posted by Georgeair:

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But I can't understand effectively doing nothing for a category 4 hurricane with 40 plus inches of rain forecasted. "Shelter in place". I lived on the coast and went through several hurricanes, providing Emergency Services during and in the aftermath. I just can't fathom that directive with the information they had.

I believe the fact that Houston is actually 40 miles inland made a huge difference in the impacts of the hurricane, from wind and surge anyway.

The rain is a different matter, but as others have said evacuation of the 4th largest metro area in the country is nearly impossible.

I was in the "stay put" camp initially for Houston, but reading about the dams that are going to be opened to avoid potential collapse due to the amount of rain made me reconsider.

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Originally posted by JALLEN:
In areas where there are facilities, there are already people. In areas where there are no people, there are no facilities.

That's why God made tents.

I bought a couple big ones at Costco a few years ago. Sort of a backup house.

I am going to prove my powers to see the future:

The Media will depict the response to Harvey as "chaotic disaster" and "incompetence", and there will be numerous charges of "RACISM!!!" regarding the allocation of resources.

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Originally posted by parabellum:
Does any here- anyone at all- think for a single second that the news media would have ANYTHING positive to say about the President or his handling of ANY situation? That's nothing but a fantasy.

Sometimes they're forced to do it in a backhanded way. When the media was trying to hype up the storm (you know, to sell papers and advertising space), it had to announce that both the President and Governor Abbott of Texas declared East Texas a disaster area before the storm hit. Those declarations trigger or release all kinds of government assistance with both the storm and the recovery from the storm. IOW, both signally failed to repeat what the media swore was Bush' biggest mistake in dealing with Katrina.

The problem, of course, is that a reader/watcher would have to dig the reference out and connect the dots for themselves. "Help is on the way" just doesn't sell newspapers or advertising spots.

I attended many disaster management training courses in the 80's and 90's, including several at the FEMA academy. There was a time when we did exercise scenarios at FEMA where the scenario was exactly what happened in NOLA during Katrina-15 years before it happened. The experts knew what would happen if a big storm came in that way and the local and state officials had ample warning. Corrupt politicians appointed unqualified people to key positions and as a result of incompetence local and state government fell flat on their faces. The Federal government sent them everything they asked for

It's easy to say everyone should leave ahead of storm. It's easy to plan an orderly evacuation. I'm not trying to be an ass, but reality is different. As an example, my mids go to a small Christian school. Maybe 200 families. The school has a plan and procedure for parents to follow when dropping off and picking up the children. One would think Christian parents could follow the plan. Nope. Inevitably, a dozen or more special snowflakes screw it up for everyone following the plan. Multiply that by 200,000. There isn't enough manpower available to implement and maintain an orderly evacuation of 2 to 4 million people. Even if you could, where would they go? JALLEN hit the nail on the head,
"In areas where there are facilities, there are already people. In areas where there are no people, there are no facilities."

I stayed put during Hurricane Charely. I made that decision based on the information I had at the time. It was supposed to go 90 miles north of here and we were supposed to get flooding. At the time, I had a house that was at a 7 foot elevation. When it was built in 1974, that was what was required. Since that time the flood plane bas been revised and new homes in that area are required to be built 11 feet up. I spent days putting my most valuable possessions on shelves in my closets and on the counters in the kitchen and bathrooms. I moved cars to my parents' house because their home was newer and higher. I didn't put the storm shutters up as we weren't supposed to be getting much wind. We were supposed to get a storm surge that would put a couple feet of water in my house. My plan was to stay at my parents' house during tbe storm as it was higher and also two story so even if it flooded more than expected, I'd be ok. If it had been forecast to make landfall here, I would have put the shutters up and gone to my parents' other house in Naples which is 90 miles south of here.

It made landfall here. 140mph winds recorded across the river from my house. No flooding. My house is on an east west street and the strongest winds came from the east, so the house at the end of the street took the brunt of the damage and blocked the wind for the rest of us. People with houses on north south streets weren't as fortunate. We spent a month without power cleaning up. It took years to get things fixed that could be fixed. Even five years later, would could still see the results of Charley. We had people coming from all over offer food and water (and of course we were thankful, but we were prepared), but no one wanted to help with the actual work of cleaning up.

It was hard at the time, but life moves on. I got engaged after Charley, then married and have three kids who go to a good school where parents can't follow basic directions.

As far as the politics, just once I'd like to see a Rep say a Dem made the right call or a Dem say the same to a Rep after an event like this and then have both roll up their sleeves and get things done to help the people. That won't happen. But when I see a line of trucks towing boats heading to help people and I know the people in the trucks have different views and the people that need help have different views and yet they can set aside those difference and do the right thing, I am proud to be an American.

We are praying for everyone affected. May God bless Texas and all Americans.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

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s far as the politics, just once I'd like to see a Rep say a Dem made the right call or a Dem says the same to a Rep after an event like this and then have both roll up there sleeves and get things done to help the people. That won't happen. But when I see a line of trucks towing boats heading to help people and I know the people in the trucks have different views and the people that need help have different views and yet they can set aside those difference and do the right thing, I am proud to be an American.

Yup. Thank God for Texas! Says the Californian.

As has already been mentioned, the corrupt media is going to try and trash the president in the aftermath of this storm. However, I think they're going to have a real uphill battle doing it so long as the governor, his staff, and the current administration continue to work in lockstep on addressing the aftermath. The reality is, FEMA is a cluster regardless who the president is. At least in this case, we have adults running the response both at the state and federal levels, instead of the incompetent liberal buffoons who were in charge during Katrina.

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Originally posted by Georgeair:

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But I can't understand effectively doing nothing for a category 4 hurricane with 40 plus inches of rain forecasted. "Shelter in place". I lived on the coast and went through several hurricanes, providing Emergency Services during and in the aftermath. I just can't fathom that directive with the information they had.

I believe the fact that Houston is actually 40 miles inland made a huge difference in the impacts of the hurricane, from wind and surge anyway.

The rain is a different matter, but as others have said evacuation of the 4th largest metro area in the country is nearly impossible.

Seems like it would be fairly easy to predict exactly where the flooding would be worst based on X amount of rainfall and suggest people leave those areas most likely to flood. In other words, don't necessarlly call for the entire city to evacuate, just certain areas.

As far as political fallout, you can bet the media will be blaming the government.

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Originally posted by parabellum:
Does any here- anyone at all- think for a single second that the news media would have ANYTHING positive to say about the President or his handling of ANY situation? That's nothing but a fantasy.

You know the answer. If they're behaving exactly as we know they will act and we know that they have no capacity to do differently, why is anyone surprised??

Ever since he won the Presidency (and perhaps before, when he won the nomination), Trump has not received one single positive headline in the MSM. Yes, I don't spend time watching or reading The NYT, WashPost, CNN, etc. But I have seen enough headlines to see that the MSM's sole mission is to give Trump 100 times more shit than they did for GW Bush. And that goes for his wife, children, friends, associates.

If Trump parachuted into Houston, risked his life to rescue hundreds of people from the flooding, the MSM would STILL blast him for not helping enough, or not helping enough Mexicans or Blacks, etc. They truly would.

The governor of Texas "loaded heavy praise Sunday on President Donald Trump and the federal government for its response to Hurricane Harvey, describing an “A-plus” effort with the storm only just beginning to take its catastrophic toll."
Another report had "President Trump's response to the crisis has been "extremely professional, very helpful," the governor assured, adding that the two spoke on the phone several times.

"He called and said, 'Governor, whatever you need, you've got.'"

The President: "promised to travel to Texas “as soon as that trip can be made without causing disruption”

The governor has mobilized ALL of the Texas Nation Guard.

Then we have the "Cajun Navy" deployed as well as many individual acts of kindness and rescue.

Really don't recall any of this with Katrina. It seemed to be all "Where is FEMA?" and fake news from the super bowl


Given, small minds and their petty agendas will peck at America's ankles. They however are just an irritant.

Politics? The governor is re-elected. Texas votes for Trump in 2020.