The Flood of a Lifetime
Houston, Texas
June 5th - June 9th, 2001
dear mom, send galoshes. love, allison
Tropical Storm Allison struck Houston on June 5, 2001. Just as people were beginning to put flooded homes back in order, Allison returned. The "bad penny" of storms, she dumped more than 35" (INCHES) of rain on Houston and surrounding areas. The amount of flooding seen was unlike anything Houston had seen before. Cars, on their way home during rush hour traffic, were caught in quickly rising waters. Abandoned, these vehicles were quickly submerged in some areas. Homes were lost, cars were lost, and unfortunately, human life was lost.
Braes Bayou was almost up to the doors at our townhomes at one point... thankfully, it never got any higher. Prior to this, the water had never come into the complex during a flood. The fence and gate, which face the bayou, were about halfway underwater during the worst of Allison. We kept seeing this red flat surface bob to the top of the water and couldn't figure out what it was. We later found out...it was my neighbour's car :| She got caught in flood waters trying to make it into the complex and couldn't get her car out of the street in time. On the side street, the water was about 3 1/2 feet deep. And it was COLD in that water too! (Someone (me) was too busy lookin' thru camera lenses and kept stepping into the water.)
As the rains ceased, we ventured out for a look around the city and to see if we could be of any help to anyone. My extra pillows and sleeping bags went to use by HPD officers, caught at the Texas Medical Center, who were in desperate need of sleep. Some of these men had been working for 24+ hours and counting. To all of our HPD, HFD, Public Works guys, and everyone else who worked (or are working) to bring Houston through it's hour of need...a resounding THANK YOU. We couldn't do it without such people.
People were out in force. Everyone we passed seemed just a little dazed... almost shell-shocked. Driving was quite adventurous...people weren't thinking about what they were doing. They were worried about homes, family, friends, work... everything except their driving. Approximately 30,000+ homes and 30,000 business had some type of flood damage. They expected almost 1 million people to be affected by the floods.
8 hospitals in the Texas Medical Center lost power during the storm. Their backup generators, located in the basements, were submerged, making them inoperable. The resulting loss of power caused many patients to be evacuated to other area hospitals. Years of research, which was conducted and stored in the hospital basements, were also lost. The devastation to the Texas Medical Center will have long-reaching effects.
The tunnels beneath Houston's downtown buildings suffered similar fates: flooded.
The Dunleavy Bridge that spans Highway 59 is about 1 block from my brother's home. Highway 59 sat in 20 FEET of water.
On the Shepherd Bridge over Interstate 10, as far as you could see, up and down the interstate, there's nothing but water. The waters rose so quickly in that area, that many people didn't have time to get away from their cars before the waters engulfed them. The waters were high enough to FLOAT these big 18-wheelers. At this location, it's believed everyone DID make it to safety; however at Interstate 10 and Loop 610, which were under 40 FEET of water, not everyone made it.
The following are pictures taken the night of the flood around our townhouse and the next day around the city (once we were able to see street again):
Houston, Texas
June 5th - June 9th, 2001
dear mom, send galoshes. love, allison
Tropical Storm Allison struck Houston on June 5, 2001. Just as people were beginning to put flooded homes back in order, Allison returned. The "bad penny" of storms, she dumped more than 35" (INCHES) of rain on Houston and surrounding areas. The amount of flooding seen was unlike anything Houston had seen before. Cars, on their way home during rush hour traffic, were caught in quickly rising waters. Abandoned, these vehicles were quickly submerged in some areas. Homes were lost, cars were lost, and unfortunately, human life was lost.
Braes Bayou was almost up to the doors at our townhomes at one point... thankfully, it never got any higher. Prior to this, the water had never come into the complex during a flood. The fence and gate, which face the bayou, were about halfway underwater during the worst of Allison. We kept seeing this red flat surface bob to the top of the water and couldn't figure out what it was. We later found out...it was my neighbour's car :| She got caught in flood waters trying to make it into the complex and couldn't get her car out of the street in time. On the side street, the water was about 3 1/2 feet deep. And it was COLD in that water too! (Someone (me) was too busy lookin' thru camera lenses and kept stepping into the water.)
As the rains ceased, we ventured out for a look around the city and to see if we could be of any help to anyone. My extra pillows and sleeping bags went to use by HPD officers, caught at the Texas Medical Center, who were in desperate need of sleep. Some of these men had been working for 24+ hours and counting. To all of our HPD, HFD, Public Works guys, and everyone else who worked (or are working) to bring Houston through it's hour of need...a resounding THANK YOU. We couldn't do it without such people.
People were out in force. Everyone we passed seemed just a little dazed... almost shell-shocked. Driving was quite adventurous...people weren't thinking about what they were doing. They were worried about homes, family, friends, work... everything except their driving. Approximately 30,000+ homes and 30,000 business had some type of flood damage. They expected almost 1 million people to be affected by the floods.
8 hospitals in the Texas Medical Center lost power during the storm. Their backup generators, located in the basements, were submerged, making them inoperable. The resulting loss of power caused many patients to be evacuated to other area hospitals. Years of research, which was conducted and stored in the hospital basements, were also lost. The devastation to the Texas Medical Center will have long-reaching effects.
The tunnels beneath Houston's downtown buildings suffered similar fates: flooded.
The Dunleavy Bridge that spans Highway 59 is about 1 block from my brother's home. Highway 59 sat in 20 FEET of water.
On the Shepherd Bridge over Interstate 10, as far as you could see, up and down the interstate, there's nothing but water. The waters rose so quickly in that area, that many people didn't have time to get away from their cars before the waters engulfed them. The waters were high enough to FLOAT these big 18-wheelers. At this location, it's believed everyone DID make it to safety; however at Interstate 10 and Loop 610, which were under 40 FEET of water, not everyone made it.
The following are pictures taken the night of the flood around our townhouse and the next day around the city (once we were able to see street again):
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