Monday, June 19, 2006

Flash Floods Hit Houston

My former hometown of Houston had a nasty-but-hardly-atypical flood event this morning. Six inches of rain fell on Hobby Airport in just 75 minutes. Water rises pretty quickly when rain falls that fast. Once the bayous fill up, there's nothing for water on a flat surface to do but pool in ever-larger circles.

It's easy to wind up stranded by rising water in Houston. Sometimes you get stuck in traffic with the water creeping ever closer to the bottom of your car door.

The street I grew up would usually flood once a year, forcing us to park in the church lot at the end of the block and wade home. Fortunately, we never had water in the house.

1 comment:

snax said...

My mom called me this morning, agitated from the flood event. Or maybe just buzzing from the caffeine she had while waiting out the floodwaters at a coffee shop (she doesn't drink coffee often). She was trying to get back home after summer school was cancelled - she teaches in Pasadena, but lives in Stafford.
Frankly, I think the flooding in Houston will only get worse with the increase in impervious cover...