Houston, we have a problem.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32888733

Serious flooding.

[Staggerwing]

Not good at all. More rainfall predicted as well.

Banzai and anyone else in the area stay safe! Especially driving, with those flash road floods!

[Steelgrave]

A lot of folks don't realize Houston is below sea level and built on swampland to boot. I've been in Houston in a flood. Scary stuff. Ya'll stay safe.

[Centurion40]

Yikes!

[Centurion40]

Not good at all. More rainfall predicted as well.

Banzai and anyone else in the area stay safe! Especially driving, with those flash road floods!

Yeah, they say that cats aren't good swimmers.

[BanzaiCat]

A lot of folks don't realize Houston is below sea level and built on swampland to boot. I've been in Houston in a flood. Scary stuff. Ya'll stay safe.

Houston isn't below sea level - we're about 70-80 feet above it, actually. Our water table is very high, though, and Houston's drainage sucks all kinds of balls, so every time there's a stationary storm, everything floods. We might as well be below sea level like New Orleans, though, when storms like this come through.  :-\

Monday night, the storms were BAD. Loud, obnoxious, sticking around and not going away. The booms woke me up several times, but I usually always sleep like a baby through storms otherwise. My wife, not so much. Schools were closed yesterday because so many roads were underwater near midtown and scattered throughout the city.

Yesterday, it was rather sunny, then cloudy, then sunny. The sun tried, but Poseidon apparently had other ideas. Right now there's another huge band of rainstorms coming in from the north. I just managed to make it in to work before the sky started to fall. Fortunately I work near home on the north side of town so hopefully by the time I leave today all this shite will be cleared out.

The local news LOVES this kind of thing, though. They park by flooded intersections and try to be all serious about how terrible it is and even walk out into the water that's (GASP) up to their ankles! To be fair, there ARE places where it's several feet deep and there's plenty of images and video of flooded cars, and the news acts like they're shocked. This shite happens EVERY TIME there's a huge rainstorm. They could be showing stock footage for all I know. God what a bunch of idiot poseurs. They also had "AT LEAST ONE DEATH ATTRIBUTED TO RAINFALL" on their news banner ALL day yesterday. They really tried to ratchet up that death to make it sound like there might be bodies floating everywhere. Jackasses.

Anyway...it's not so bad. Nothing like when we had to evacuate several years ago. And I'm driving a car that's relatively low to the ground; I ain't going through no low water crossings!  O0

[LongBlade]

Further north there could be a problem. Apparently a dam in/near Midlothian, TX is about to fail. I'm not sure who might be in its path if it does, but I do recall my wife was in consideration for a job in Midlothian several years back.

[BanzaiCat]

Further north there could be a problem. Apparently a dam in/near Midlothian, TX is about to fail. I'm not sure who might be in its path if it does, but I do recall my wife was in consideration for a job in Midlothian several years back.

Good news for them, just announced about 40 minutes ago: http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/2015/05/27/midlothian-dam-expected-to-break-at-any-moment/28000473/

[Steelgrave]

A lot of folks don't realize Houston is below sea level and built on swampland to boot. I've been in Houston in a flood. Scary stuff. Ya'll stay safe.

Houston isn't below sea level - we're about 70-80 feet above it, actually. Our water table is very high, though, and Houston's drainage sucks all kinds of balls, so every time there's a stationary storm, everything floods. We might as well be below sea level like New Orleans, though, when storms like this come through.  :-\

You're right. All my life I was told Houston was below sea level but never bothered to check it out for myself. The flat landscape doesn't help the flooding situation though. And yeah, I laugh at Houston news reporters scurrying around for a story. Guess they get tired of reporting murders.

[BanzaiCat]

Murders are mostly the southwest side of town...that's where most of the Katrina refugees fled to. I'm sure there's some decent people around there, but the area got a LOT rougher after that mass immigration and has only gotten worse with time.

Houston is in general a craphole. I hate this city. My career and kids are here, though, so I don't have much choice. Until they're both off to college/on their own, I don't have options. I'd rather live in San Antonio, or in another state entirely.

[Steelgrave]

Murders are mostly the southwest side of town...that's where most of the Katrina refugees fled to. I'm sure there's some decent people around there, but the area got a LOT rougher after that mass immigration and has only gotten worse with time.

Houston is in general a craphole. I hate this city. My career and kids are here, though, so I don't have much choice. Until they're both off to college/on their own, I don't have options. I'd rather live in San Antonio, or in another state entirely.

Houston is someplace I told my wife I will not move back to under any condition or circumstances. I feel like I escaped Houston after a 23 year sentence. We still have some very old aunties near Magnolia we visit twice a year, but that's it. And frankly, when they pass I'll probably never be back. When I was living in Houston, it was often as not the murder capital of the USA, usually competing with New Orleans for the "honor". I've no doubt Katrina refugees haven't improved the situation any.

I like San Antonio and love Austin, but OKC is gonna be home. San Marcus and New Braunsfels are awesome little towns, I was sad to see how badly San Marcus was hurt in this weather.

[Centurion40]

I like San Antonio and love Austin, but OKC is gonna be home.

I get Austin, but I know next to nothing about San Antonio.  I was just shocked to read the it is the 2nd largest city in Texas! What is so sweet about it?

Are you gonna have a tornado shelter in OKC?

[Steelgrave]

I like San Antonio and love Austin, but OKC is gonna be home.

I get Austin, but I know next to nothing about San Antonio.  I was just shocked to read the it is the 2nd largest city in Texas! What is so sweet about it?

Are you gonna have a tornado shelter in OKC?

Yes I am, and I'm working out a cost share with my sons to both do the same. As far as San Antonio, it has a great Hispanic culture with lots of wonderful restaurants, a vibrant Riverwalk, tons of things to see and do, and it's the gateway to what I consider the prettiest part of the state, the Texas Hill Country. It's an easy drive to Austin, New Braunsfels, Fredricksburg and lots of small towns with a lot of flavor and history. Heck, it's not even that far from the beaches of Corpus Christi.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I like San Antonio and love Austin, but OKC is gonna be home.

I get Austin, but I know next to nothing about San Antonio.  I was just shocked to read the it is the 2nd largest city in Texas! What is so sweet about it?

Are you gonna have a tornado shelter in OKC?

San Antonio is a well laid out city. There are 2 full loop highways around it, with spokes going to the downtown core. You can get around very quickly. The river walk down town is very scenic. There are emergency drainage canals to take the water away if the river floods. More cities should be as well planned.

[GDS_Starfury]

Austin is pretty well serviced by its highway network as well.