----- Original Message -----
From: "dendriite" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2001 8:12 PM
Subject: Tropical Storm Allison
> According to the news we got 7 - 9 inches of rain in the last 4 hours in
my
> part of town.
> The highest winds here I estimate to be 25 - 30 MPH.
> The storm is about 70 miles south of me at this time and stalled in place.
> What a wimpy storm! <G>
>
Allison almost immediately degraded into a tropical depression. The problem
is that it was trapped between a front from the north and pressure from the
south, so the storm pretty much has hovered over the Houston area since it
started. We have in excess of 20" of rain over the last few days.
Houston is crisscrossed with bayous and creeks, all of which have overflowed
their banks. The entire city is completely paralyzed. The freeway system is
blocked by floodwaters from a surprise storm that drenched the city in the
middle of the night. There is almost no traffic in or out. People who were
working graveyard shifts are marooned at work and the morning shift workers
cannot get to work.
Only two hospitals in the Texas Medical Center are still operating. The rest
lost utility power and ran on generators until the generators failed.
The hospital I normally work at has water flowing into the emergency room.
If we get much more rain, and it appears that we will, it will not be long
before the National Guard will be called in for rescue ( this is already
being handled by the fire and police departments, but they are strained),
and to shoot looters.
Yes Allison was a wimpy storm, but it had tons of rain behind it.
xponent
rob
