General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAerial Views of Flooding Along the Brazos River
Not aerial:
Horses on house-porch
kentauros
(29,414 posts)And to remind y'all that major stuff is happening that's not related to politics
malaise
(267,823 posts)Unbelievable
Rex
(65,616 posts)nt
Separation
(1,975 posts)Why isnt there a way to build an aqueduct that can channel this water and channel it out to the west where it is needed. Same thing for the Ohio Valley area where flooding is a yearly experience. I mean for fucks sake, the Romans did this over a thousand years ago!
Anyone know why this isnt an option today, I really am curious?
kentauros
(29,414 posts)usually much less than that (where I live in Houston has a nearby benchmark of 66 feet.) It takes a lot of energy to lift that water up in elevation, not to mention the distances involved. Texas is a good 800 miles across before you even get out of the state. To get that water then over the Rockies would take more energy than it would to desalinate the same amount on the west side.
Better, would be to find a way to channel that water faster to the Gulf so we don't flood so often.
Separation
(1,975 posts)Obviously they had slave labor to do this, but elevation is not an issue.
I do agree with your second comment though about getting it to the Gulf though.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Also, we wouldn't build it the way they did, with elevated aqueducts. Plus, they started with water that was at a higher elevation and let gravity do the work. You're talking about going the opposite direction.
1939
(1,683 posts)normally doesn't get that much rain. It would be cost prohibitive to pay for means to alleviate such conditions which normally occur only every couple of years for a couple of days. The problem is that the soil there is like cement. It doesn't absorb the water and most of the water just runs off though the normally dry washes. A hard rain changes them to raging torrents. Most of the time, they are bone dry.
Rex
(65,616 posts)My small town looks like a series of large ponds and lakes.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)I tend to get my news on this from Weather Underground, as they seem to be better at that kind of news gathering. I like using their "WunderMap" because I can get river data from the NWS right on the map.
However, I noticed last night that there wasn't much in the way of gage sensors for South Texas. I hope you have a way of monitoring that. It really does help, because even after the rain stops, a river or creek can keep swelling for days after. Those NWS graphs often show the projected gage several days out.
I hope the flooding stays away from you.
Rex
(65,616 posts)The Medina, Hondo and Guadalupe rivers are all so dangerously over their safety zone that I worry about one of the dams breaking and flooding out entire towns. It is THAT bad right now.
The ground refuses to absorb any more water. And we have more rain due tonight.
People stay safe, especially around the Houston area. That entire city could end up underwater.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Kingwood is underwater, and I see flood-stages for all of the rivers and creeks on the east side of Houston (Trinity, San Jacinto, Menard Creek) and the Neches and Sabine rivers in Beaumont. The Brazos is out of its banks almost everywhere, especially Richmond, Rosenberg, and Rosharon.
There are flood warnings along the creeks in Dallas/Fort Worth and north Texas. East Texas is getting flooded. And that sub-tropical jetstream is hugging the Texas coast, flooding everyone all along it. Central Texas is flooding, though things are receding a bit there. Lake Travis NW of Austin is still five feet over flood stage. A couple of days ago, the Pedernales was outside of its banks in Johnson City. And San Antonio is getting hit on all sides.
It's a mess over the whole state. And it's kind of fascinating to watch the time-lapse of that low-pressure zone rotate over the state. Louisiana is starting to get what we had a couple of days ago, though it's probably going to rotate right back into us.
I've had to cancel plans to visit family in Dripping Springs for two weeks in a row now. I do hope the rain stops for a month or more. This is worse than a tropical depression stalling halfway onshore.