Hey Texas people

[Guest Godless]

1 hour ago, Ironhold said:

I use my personal vehicle for work, so I have to keep the tank filled. 

Cue me trying to run to the station yesterday to fill up. The station in question only had diesel and premium, and the pumps were dispensing the premium so slowly that I lost grip strength in both arms holding on to the fuel nozzle. I finally gave up after a mere 3.454 gallons, at which point the station workers were already mothballing pumps to conserve what was left. 

After this morning's run, I went in to gas up again. Turns out that at some point after I left, they finally got a shipment. They had everything and in quantity, such that I got a full 5+ gallons without issue. 

There's a large gas station on my way to work. There was a line about 30 cars deep going down one of the lanes of traffic on that road this afternoon when I went by. And prices jumped 10 cents overnight. Looking back 10 years, we're still slightly under August 2007 prices (and those prices went up drastically in the following months). I'm curious what the final damage will be on pricing when everything blows over.

[Grunt]

11 hours ago, Godless said:

There's a large gas station on my way to work. There was a line about 30 cars deep going down one of the lanes of traffic on that road this afternoon when I went by. And prices jumped 10 cents overnight. Looking back 10 years, we're still slightly under August 2007 prices (and those prices went up drastically in the following months). I'm curious what the final damage will be on pricing when everything blows over.

Gas went up 50 cents over the course of a day here.

[jewels8]

So sad to see all the flooding, and the temple too.  But good to see people helping each other.  Prayers for those in need.

[Guest]

Recent news in Houston.

• Gas prices are up from 15 cents to $1.00 per gallon depending on the location around the Houston area.  Some stations only have the regular stuff.  I don't know if it is because the premium is being used more of if they aren't getting anything in.
• Heard on the news that TPTB are learning their lessons from Katrina and Rita.  They have a good background of what NOT to do.  So, they believe they will recover a lot faster than other communities would have.
• The Bayou area still has an elevated water level because they are pumping all the areas of Houston into it.  They learned which areas are more critical than others.  Their priorities are different than they were 20 years ago.  Streets are drying up really fast.  Some of the lower elevations (around 50 ft or so) are still under water.  Some thoroughfares are still under water.
• Relief efforts are underway.  People are being taken care of.  The death toll, last I heard was somewhere around 10 people.  For as widespread as this was (not just Houston) that is a miracle.
• Some neighborhoods were given a mandatory evacuation even though there was no danger.  This was apparently an effort to reduce vandalism and looting.  They let people out of an area.  But they won't let people back in.  So, they're stuck inside their homes even when relief workers want to give them supplies.
• The Houston Temple streets are all dry now.  I haven't heard anything about the inside of the temple itself.
• Pres Uchdorf (and several other general authorities) came here to help with the relief efforts.  He's actually got the yellow T-shirt on and is digging in with his own hands.
• I've been tapped to help the City of Houston with some of the damage assessment and provide estimates for repair work.  I'll give you some updates on that as I get reports in.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Guest

[Guest]

[NeuroTypical]

https://www.justserve.org/projects/857d20a4-d034-452e-b1ab-823e1d0846a7

[Guest]

Just found out that the estimated date for the Houston Temple is that it will be closed for the rest of the year. 

[anatess2]

Pretty soon we'll be saying, Hey Florida/South Carolina people. 

[Guest]

So, Pres. Uchdorf went to visit the Houston Temple to survey the conditions there.  A repair company is already working on it.  The temple will require re-dedication.

As expected the Dec 31 date is only tentative.  So, we'll be praying for an earlier date for re-opening.  I asked around if there was any sign ups available to help with clean up of the temple.  None have been announced to my ward or stake.

Pumping into the Bayou has throttled back.  This is because they're finally getting to elevations that are almost matching the currently perched water level of the bayou.

Buildings owned by the City are actually not really affected by the storm.  Architectural elements like drywall damage is pretty much the extent of it.  Pumps are in need of repairs.  Some were not designed to be submerged.  Yet they were.  This did not mean a compete replacement.  Often only a circuit board is replaced.  The mechanics are still intact.  They may need to be cleaned in some cases.  It is interesting how they really want to get all they can out of insurance.  I had to note many items that were deficient, but were previously existing conditions that had nothing to do with the flood.

One building is one they're planning to abandon in two years.  But they're hoping to get monies to supplement the funds they had to build a new building.

There were some semi-flooded streets I have to drive through.  But not too bad.  Despite all this, no talk of doing anything with the overall flood plan, adding pump stations or anything like that.  There really isn't much more they can do.  It is too crowded to add anything new.  And the bottom line is that most of Houston is less than 100 ft above sea level.  Not much you can do to raise the entire city.

Edited September 7, 2017 by Guest

[anatess2]

The pianist in my sister's Catholic Church lost everything.  Their house got 8 feet of water inside it for 3 days.  The water finally receded but the smell inside the place is like nothing they've ever experienced.  The dry wall is like scraping out mud and it stank.  Their clothes are still hanging in the closet after the water receded but the gunk hanging on the clothes is just too yuck.  They were wanting to save all these canned goods that they have in the pantry but people were telling them to just throw them all out.  They had documents in a fireproof safe that they thought was also waterproof.  Well, I guess that meant only that it is waterproof from a fireman's hose but not when submerged for 3 days.

But she's getting tons of help from tons of sources.  It's quite amazingly actually.

[Guest]

I just got off of a very telling phone call.  One customer of mine has two offices in the Houston area.  But they've been unable to get equipment back and forth to each other.  But they have been able to get things to and from Denver.  That would be almost amusing if that weren't so sad.

[Ironhold]

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