Good luck - Hurricane Harvey

[TBoneTX 45,075]

Forgot to mention, see man:

 

Mrs. T-B. had evacuated many easy-open canned goods upstairs.

It fortunately came time to replace them in the pantry.

Rather than simply re-cram them in there, I decided to take inventory of, and organize, that unnavigable locale.

Ended up finding 62 canned goods and 6 boxes of chocolates to donate to the local Himmicane Relief agency.

Loaded them in the T-B.-mobile Friday night and donated them Saturday.

[TBoneTX 45,075]

More good communication from Mini-B.'s Superintendent of Skools below.

We separately received word from Mini-B.'s skool principal that his skool wasn't damaged.

---

Dear ISD Parents and Guardians,

 

Right now, we are celebrating the cresting of the Brazos River at 55.1 feet, which was lower than expected. I encourage you to continue to follow the advice of our local emergency management officials as you decide when to begin making your way home. As things continue to evolve, I am writing to provide one more important update this week.

 

Back to School

During the last 24 hours, we have continued to hear from many members of the ISD community, including teachers, about how they have been impacted by the storm, and how the ISD can best support their return to the classroom. And upon further consideration, we have decided it will be in everyone’s best interest to provide a teacher work day on Monday, September 11. This means students would return to school on Tuesday, September 12.

 

This decision was not taken lightly. We understand that families who have been untouched or unaffected by the storm are also eagerly awaiting a return to normalcy. However, we know that the success of our students is based on the emotional strength and preparedness of our teachers and staff, and it is important that they have a day to collaborate with their colleagues and administrators so they are prepared to support their students. Our teachers are caring, and we know many will be dealing with struggles of their own. Therefore, we want to do what we can to support our staff as our district gets back to the business of teaching and learning.

 

Please note that the Extended Learning Department will open Extended Day and Club Excel on Monday, September 11 at select locations from 6:30-6:30 for all students currently enrolled in these programs. School-aged children of ISD employees will also be able to register.  No fees will be charged for morning-only or staff children. Advanced registration will be required. Information about locations and registration will be on the website by 3 p.m. Tuesday, September 5.

 

Condition of Schools

It is important for you to know that our Facilities staff has been working hard to assess the condition of each school. In many cases, repairs are already underway. Overall, I am pleased to report that our preliminary assessment shows our schools are in generally good shape – in most cases, our schools will take some cleaning and minor repairs to be ready for school to resume.

 

We do have two schools that we know will not be ready for use by September 11:

• ___ ES experienced extensive flood damage throughout the school that will require extensive renovation. We are developing a plan to house students and staff temporarily at nearby schools with available space. We will share these plans during the week of September 4.
• ___ ES experienced moderate flooding in parts of the building that will require significant renovation. Again, we are developing a plan to house students and staff temporarily at nearby schools with available space. We will share these plans during the week of September 4.

We also have a number of schools that we believe will be ready for use by September 11, if all goes as planned. We will continue to monitor the condition of these schools and provide updates next week:

• ___ ES experienced some flooding in parts of the building; water extraction and drying of the building is currently underway.
• ___ ES is currently without power; at this time, we expect power will be restored by Monday, September 4.
• ___ ES and the neighboring community are currently experiencing sewage issues due to flooding in the area; if this issue is resolved next week, the building will be ready for use by September 11.
• ___ HS is currently closed for mold remediation and work at the school has continued throughout the past week. There were no significant issues related to the storm and flooding.
• Additionally, there are currently 15 schools with HVAC issues that are being diagnosed and/or repaired. At this time, we do not expect these issues to keep the schools from opening on September 11.

News from TEA Regarding Missed School Days

TEA Commissioner Mike Morath has announced he will approve waivers submitted by districts that cannot hold school the week of September 4. This means that he will approve waivers for all days missed from August 25 to September 8. Even more importantly, it means that we would not have to make up those missed days. At the September Board Meeting, I will ask the Board of Trustees to approve our waiver request for these missed days so that we can submit our application to TEA for approval as quickly as possible.

 

Student Activities

In the coming days, we will be working with our principals and teachers/coaches to determine if some of our organizations may be able to get together for practice or scrimmage, if students and staff members are able to participate and as facilities allow. These decisions will be made at a campus level and in conjunction with the Facilities staff, with the idea that we want to keep our students engaged and help them begin to return to normalcy as quickly as possible.

We will continue to keep you updated if there are any changes. I continue to keep all of our staff, students and families in my thoughts.

[TBoneTX 45,075]

Mosquitoes... lots... more than lots, bite me man.

Control not starting till Tuesday... won't last... help man...

 

One mosquitos whiffs me from a block away, he shouts to his colleagues, "All-day buffet, si man!"

Edited September 4, 2017 by TBoneTX

[Dashinka 24,420]

1 hour ago, TBoneTX said:

Mosquitoes... lots... more than lots, bite me man.

Control not starting till Tuesday... won't last... help man...

 

One mosquitos whiffs me from a block away, he shouts to his colleagues, "All-day buffet, si man!"

Don't talk about mosquitos, I have about seven bites from Russian mosquitos that I am dealing with.  I think they recognized me as more appetizing as Katya doesn't have any.

[Ban Hammer 13,275]

4 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

Don't talk about mosquitos, I have about seven bites from Russian mosquitos that I am dealing with.  I think they recognized me as more appetizing as Katya doesn't have any.

russia - where even the mosquitoes love foreigners. 

[TBoneTX 45,075]

In catching up on a week's worth of newspapers, I learned that Harvey soaked an area the size of West Virginia and dumped as much water as Lake Michigan holds.  Holy cow, mackerel, and Toledo.

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

We eventually need to have a grown up conversation in this country about  the effect of climate change on the increased intensity of these storms.

A Katrina|andrew|Harvey storm over the next 5 years is the likely new  norm with increased impacts to large cities.

This bill will be more than 100 billion to the Federal government. Soon mitigation and recovery will just be an annual line item.

 

 

 

[TBoneTX 45,075]

More urgently, perhaps caucus about building the nation's 4th-largest city atop a swamp, continuing to pave over every potential drainage area in sight, and not rehabilitating two of the most dangerous dams/reservoirs anywhere.

[Dashinka 24,420]

24 minutes ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

We eventually need to have a grown up conversation in this country about  the effect of climate change on the increased intensity of these storms.

A Katrina|andrew|Harvey storm over the next 5 years is the likely new  norm with increased impacts to large cities.

This bill will be more than 100 billion to the Federal government. Soon mitigation and recovery will just be an annual line item.

 

 

 

What kind of debate?  Will it include real scientific data or just innuendo?  Some of the deadliest tropical cyclones have occurred well before Katrina, and Harvey so far has only been credited with 45 fatalities.  I would argue that loss of life numbers are much more important than property damage as you cannot put a price on a life, but from everything I have read, the hurricane frequencies and intensities is no more or less today than 100 years ago.

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

4 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

What kind of debate?  Will it include real scientific data or just innuendo?  Some of the deadliest tropical cyclones have occurred well before Katrina, and Harvey so far has only been credited with 45 fatalities.  I would argue that loss of life numbers are much more important than property damage as you cannot put a price on a life, but from everything I have read, the hurricane frequencies and intensities is no more or less today than 100 years ago.

I thought there was no debate that the ocean was warmer, and there should be no debate that a  warmer Atlantic intensifies storms.  My point is we need to address the effects of a warmer planet.

Edited September 4, 2017 by Il Mango Dulce

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

33 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

More urgently, perhaps caucus about building the nation's 4th-largest city atop a swamp, continuing to pave over every potential drainage area in sight, and not rehabilitating two of the most dangerous dams/reservoirs anywhere.

Word...

[Dashinka 24,420]

13 hours ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

I thought there was no debate that the ocean was warmer, and there should be no debate that a  warmer Atlantic intensifies storms.  My point is we need to address the effects of a warmer planet.

The link to more intense storms is tenuous at best.  As I said, the most destructive storm in history happened in 1900, and I believe the top three or four were before 1950.  We are told time and again when there is a snow storm in April, or a deep freeze in September to not try and connect specific weather to the whole global warming issue, but every time a hurricane hits we get predictions of it is only going to get worse.  2005 was exceptional with 4 major storms making landfall in the US, and the global warming crowd was proclaiming it was just going to get worse.  Well did it?  From 2005 through 2015 we did not have a major hurricane (cat 3+) make landfall for almost ten years which was a record.  Weren't some of those years the "warmest on record", what explains the lack of major storms for almost ten years?  Global warming?  On average the US sees about two major storms make landfall every three years, and this has been fairly consistent.

 

Regardless of the proof or lack thereof, the left wing media will keep pushing the man made global warming narrative religion.

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

59 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

The link to more intense storms is tenuous at best.  As I said, the most destructive storm in history happened in 1900, and I believe the top three or four were before 1950.  We are told time and again when there is a snow storm in April, or a deep freeze in September to not try and connect specific weather to the whole global warming issue, but every time a hurricane hits we get predictions of it is only going to get worse.  2005 was exceptional with 4 major storms making landfall in the US, and the global warming crowd was proclaiming it was just going to get worse.  Well did it?  From 2005 through 2015 we did not have a major hurricane (cat 3+) make landfall for almost ten years which was a record.  Weren't some of those years the "warmest on record", what explains the lack of major storms for almost ten years?  Global warming?  On average the US sees about two major storms make landfall every three years, and this has been fairly consistent.

 

Regardless of the proof or lack thereof, the left wing media will keep pushing the man made global warming narrative religion.

I specifically left out the causes of water surface temperature increases and just stated the fact that is is occurring.  Now it appears that even talking about the water temperature triggers folks. Why don't we just stop pretending we believe in scientific discovery and burn everything relating to climate sciemce. While we are at let's bring back bloodletting to remove the evil homours ? I suggest we take this discussion to another thread.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Il Mango Dulce

[Dashinka 24,420]

7 minutes ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

I specifically left out the causes of water surface temperature increases and just stated the fact that is is occurring.  Now it appears that even talking about the water temperature triggers folks. Why don't we just stop pretending we believe in scientific discovery and burn everything relating to climate sciemce. While we are at let's bring back bloodletting to remove the evil homours ? I suggest we take this discussion to another thread.

Not triggered, just wondering where the scientific facts are.  Every article I read showed very weak links or out right guesses between the surface temperature of the Atlantic and the intensity or fequency of large storms.  For some reason they cannot seem to explain any anomalies which means any hypotheses are tenuous at best.

[TBoneTX 45,075]

First day back at work.

No one sustained any ill himmicane effects except for one sweet young girl.

If we all had one element of what happened to her, there'd still be some left over.

 

Her apartment complex began to flood.

Terrified Mexican immigrants fled to her second-floor unit.  None spoke English.

One was heavily pregnant, and another had a newborn.

 

The water rose to her level.

Some rednecks from Beaumont came in a motorboat.

She let the others go first, then was taken.

 

She spent 3+ hours under a tarp, waiting for a bus to the chief evacuation center.

She let children, elderly, & families go first.

Her bus began to flood along the way, but she made it.

She spent one night at the evac center, then went to a hotel.

 

She returned to her unit.

Management had replaced the sheetrock without letting things dry.

The place stinks of mold and is infested with mice.

Management won't cancel her lease unless she pays in full through April.

Lawyers aren't optimistic about her chances for remedy.

She has many irreplaceable books that she's worried might be ruined.

 

She had a long-awaited trip to China planned (tickets = approx. $3,000).

Her travel-insurance co. denied her claim because her travel partner (coming from Wisconsin!) was able to go.

 

Last year, an incompetent welder started a fire with her apartment as the epicenter.

She lost nearly everything.

After repairs, management raised her rent because of "improvements to the unit."

Then, she lost her car in the Tax Day flood.

 

I was able to find a travel agent who might help her in dealing with the airline.

I recommended places to find moving-boxes.

However, the residence situation is far harder.

Texas landlord-tenant law favors the landlords.

Her finances have been so depleted that she doesn't qualify for an unflooded condo that she was interested in.

 

Does anyone have ideas?