Energy Prospectus

It is bad in Houston and getting worse. We are safe in Sugar Land. Center of Harvey is moving east and may move right over our area on Tuesday, which is a good thing because the heavy rain is on the east side of the circulation. It is raining hard in Sugar Land right now.

We lost power for 13 hours yesterday, so just hoping it stays on. As long as we have power we should be fine. Amazing that we still have internet.

Sabrina lives in an area that may flood. We talked to her this morning and her home is fine for now, but several homes in her area do have water in them.

Christian Rumscheidt, our tech guy, has left his home and is safe.

Harvey has dropped over 650 Billion gallons of water in Harris county and it is still raining. This will be an historic disaster, so keep the people of Houston in your prayers.

There is also going to be a lot of flooding in South Louisiana.

National weather service:

A catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding event is
unfolding across southeast Texas this morning. Five flash flood
emergencies have already been issued for the Houston Metro area
overnight, some of which remain in effect this morning. Bands of heavy
rainfall will continue to drop devastating amounts of additional
rainfall across the area over the next several days. Tornadoes have
also been occurring across southeast Texas over the last day or so and
will continue through the next several days. Coastal flooding may be
an ongoing issue along the coast where winds will continue to push
water onshore, particularly south of Sargent. Elevated tides will
cause the recession of coastal flood waters to be slow, likely lasting
into the first part of the week. Wind gusts to tropical storm force
are still ongoing, primarily in the southwestern portions of the area
towards Matagorda Bay. Though there are currently multiple hazards
present across the area, the greatest threat to life and property
remains the ongoing extreme rainfall and subsequent prolonged and
catastrophic flash flooding.

The National Weather Services has forecasted that the Brazos River at Richmond gauge might reach 54.6 feet around 7 a.m. on Aug. 28. The current river level is at 22. 3 feet. The projected water level is above the major flood elevation of 50 feet, and is anticipated to near the record level of 54.7 feet that occurred in June 2016.

In anticipation of the river reaching flood stage, levee operators in Sugar Land will have to close their flood gates as the river rises. When the gates are closed, levee operators will begin using pumps to remove rainfall that falls within the levees. The National Weather Service is forecasting rain amounts that may exceed the capacity of the pumps. Should this occur, the drainage channels and storage areas will fill up, storm drains will back up, and streets will flood, essentially holding water as they’re designed to do during extreme conditions. The duration and intensity of rainfall will determine the impact for communities within the levees.
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Sugar Land is northeast of Richmond, about five miles. In June, 2016 when the Brazos River reached record level, the park near our home flooded. There is a levee between us and the river.