Ominous image of what will eventually occur on the TX coast

[HurricaneBill]

Another ominous thing that will eventually occur is a storm like Hurricane Carla in 1961.

[southerngale]

Hello All! Newbie here! Fired up and ready for the new season!!!

Welcome to Storm2k, neighbor.

[Sjones]

Welcome to Storm2k, neighbor.

Thank You Southerngale Ready for the new season?

[Extremeweatherguy]

I remember hearing that the damage to DT Houston couldn't be blamed solely on the winds. At the time, many buildings there had ballast roofs which converted into projectiles that broke all the windows. Now Houston has typically had a laissez fair attitude towards the construction industry. I doubt building codes have improved much over the years. They are certainly nothing like those in Florida. I think the damage from the next big storm will the fault of humans, and not from some superstorm that refuses to die over land. How do you know if the damage from Claudette shown in the picture wasn't caused by a tornado?

Sure, that picture could be of tornado damage. I don't know for sure. However, if you check out this website.. http://www.palaciosbeacon.com/home/claudette.shtml ..then you will see that there are plenty of other pictures showing similar damage.

Damage like this just does not look like Cat. 1-level to me:



It fits more in line with the S.S. scale definition of a Category 2 storm.

[HurricaneBill]

Another thing to note about Claudette is that evacuation orders were never issued. That means no hurricane shelters were open and people had to weather the hurricane in their homes.

[Ptarmigan]

Another thing to note about Claudette is that evacuation orders were never issued. That means no hurricane shelters were open and people had to weather the hurricane in their homes.

I remember that well. Hurricane Claudette was forecasted to hit as a tropical storm.

[Stratosphere747]

Another thing to note about Claudette is that evacuation orders were never issued. That means no hurricane shelters were open and people had to weather the hurricane in their homes.

I remember that well. Hurricane Claudette was forecasted to hit as a tropical storm.

Incorrect...

Claudette was forecasted to possibly come in as a hurricane far in advance of landfall. The location was off, but hurricane watches were up as early as Sunday for South Texas. The discos stated this, though a few discos backed off a bit when the track shifted more to the north.

[Ptarmigan]

Incorrect...

Claudette was forecasted to possibly come in as a hurricane far in advance of landfall. The location was off, but hurricane watches were up as early as Sunday for South Texas. The discos stated this, though a few discos backed off a bit when the track shifted more to the north.

I wonder why no evacuation was even ordered that time. I remember was that Claudette was hard to predict where it would make landfall.

[Stratosphere747]

Incorrect...

Claudette was forecasted to possibly come in as a hurricane far in advance of landfall. The location was off, but hurricane watches were up as early as Sunday for South Texas. The discos stated this, though a few discos backed off a bit when the track shifted more to the north.

I wonder why no evacuation was even ordered that time. I remember was that Claudette was hard to predict where it would make landfall.

Well for one, it moved in a bit quicker that first thought and was only forecasted to be a minimal hurricane, though if I remember correctly the GFDL was consistent with a 90kt landfall.

So with the prediction of a minimal hurricane and slower track no widespread evac was called, and at that time would never have been heeded anyways. Mandatory evacs for Texas did not start till the 05 season.

Only reason mandatory evacs will be successful these days, is that 04 & 05 are still fresh enough in peoples mind. That is for the coastal counties and those that are in the actual evac zone. Houston and the State, has done a crappy job in addressing the issues of who needs to leave and those that should stay, though I have noticed a few news reports lately that Bill White and the new county judge are bringing this up while talking about the upcoming season. We are really no better prepared this season to handle a Rita type of evacuation IF those that are not in the surge zone clog up the roads before the coastal residents get out.

We were lucky with Rita in the fact that there was plenty of time to prepare and leave with her development off of Florida. Gosh forbid a Bret or Alicia type of storm happens.

[Sjones]

IF those that are not in the surge zone clog up the roads before the coastal residents get out.

Yes, when we (coastal residents) were called for mandatory evacuation, it's almost as if the entire Southeast Texas decided to evacuate too at the same time before we ever had a chance to clear out! That resulted in the coastal residents only being able to leave and drive for maybe 20 miles before coming to a dead stand still in traffic for at least 6 hours or longer. I think alot of the decisions people had for leaving was due to seeing the effects of Hurricane Katrina, and most people knew that it was a possible scenario for us here. A friend of mine left during mandatory evacuation, but only to be able to go to the next city and was sitting in traffic for 4 hours, so she turned around and went back home. She waited for the roads to clear, and then she left in the middle of the night with no traffic. Seems like the thing to do in that kind of situation...LOL...I do hope that the next evacuation will be in better order.

[weatherrabbit_tx]

Another ominous thing that will eventually occur is a storm like Hurricane Carla in 1961.

its been 46 years for that one!