Oh, we (I mean the collective American ‘we’) are good at criticizing, all right. Not so good about learning from past mistakes. To quote Gore Vidal, America is the United States of Amnesia 
Once the waters recede, there will be plenty of time to determine what went wrong, what could have been done to improve things/lessen the damage, what could have been done better during the storm and its aftermath, etc. If done in a political way, I wouldn’t expect much to be accomplished. If politics can be pushed aside, I would hope Houston, the rest of Texas and the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts and really other parts of the world can learn from it. But now isn’t the time for that.
You see pictures of what is happening and it looks like a third-world country. But I think that is really just a statement on the frailty of our modern life against the power of nature. We can build things to withstand the 1,000 flood but we cannot build everything to do so. And when the 1,000 year flood (or other extremely rare occurrence) happens, it will unfortunately be ugly. Seems to me you do the best you can to rescue/recover and carry on trying to get better.
FYI this was passed along to me by a friend at ADAPT. http://www.portlight.org/ It’s an organization that partners with FEMA (& others) during hurricanes and other natural disasters to address the needs of the disabled. They stay afterwards and help restore vital resources like wheelchairs.
I encourage donations. I really cannot imagine going through something like this- let alone with my wheelchair. And I’m relatively able-bodied compared to many trapped in this tragedy.
I really don’t know yet. I’m sure it will take time to analyze. You watch the news and wonder why they did or didn’t do something, but really, we’re just getting a snapshot of whatever a reporter wants to show us. People who are there have a much more nuanced perspective, but I’m sure they’re too busy trying to be safe to think about anything else. I do think the building issues were insanity, then again, maybe what I read is incorrect. It will all come to light soon enough, and I hope other communities all listen and learn.
I think @doschicos said it really well:
500 year, 800 year, 1,000 year flood. I’ve heard them all. Tired of the labeling in this way, frankly. It’s just BS when flooding happens more frequently. Time to adjust expectations and labeling given changing conditions.
“But now isn’t the time for that.”
IMO, this is a little self-righteous. The reality is that for those of us not there or within easy distance to help directly ala the Cajun Navy (thank goodness for their help!), other than wishing all well (which might feel good but really won’t make a difference) and donating (which will help a little), there isn’t a whole lot we can do. What we can do, however, is have honest discussions about how human actions - both individually and through policy - compound the destructive forces of Mother Nature. When’s a better time to seriously discuss them? How will change come about without understanding the forces at work and putting that understanding to work in how we act, how we vote? Now seems like the perfect time to me while we are watching the suffering. As a country, we tend to move on from one event to the other without analyzing or changing. The attention span of a gnat.
Maybe you have detailed info on the dam/levy systems in Houston area, what building regulations have been in place the past several decades, etc. But I do not. Thus my having a discussion of what went wrong and how it can be better prevented next time isn’t helpful.
You can still inform yourself by reading up, right? Why bash someone else who wants to discuss it and learn more in the process? Any increase in knowledge in that regard isn’t wasted, IMO.
Pretending this is just Mother Nature without being worsened by actions that were within our control seems like just throwing one’s hands up in the air, IMO.
You are better than that. That isn’t what I have been saying at all.
Once again, @doschicos nailed it in her post #264. I don’t see why it irritates some to discuss this, those of us at a distance can’t do much more than donate and send well wishes. If these kind of serious issues aren’t discussed now, they probably never will be, as we move on to the next offensive tweet or Kardashian photo shoot.
As individuals, it’s easy to feel like we can do nothing. But enough individuals talking about these problems does make a difference.
Oh, my, sometimes I believe in miracles. My parents’ condo, a first-floor unit right on the beach on Mustang Island, sustained very minimal damage. A couple of busted windows and two or three feet of wet carpet. That’s it!! I really thought all the contents were going to be a complete loss. I was already planning on flying down to help Mom and Sis pick out replacement items. A neighbor who looked at all the units said my folks’ was the least damaged one in the entire complex.
@MaineLonghorn, that is awesome!! Wonderful to finally hear some good news. 
It’s bad enough getting through rush hour traffic around some cities. Now imagine trying to get through that kind of volume but magnified by the number of evacuees.
How early do you want them to leave? How easy and orderly do you expect? Who protects what they leave behind?
I don’t think, as a country or a state, that we can screw it up to talk about these problems in a meaningful way. People want their new homes, they still want to live in NO despite levee issues, or SC or CA or Tornado Alley, fire zones, etc.
And with an impending crisis, how do you make them choose Astrodome conditions or Osteen’s floor?
I just heard on TV that only 1 out of 6 homeowners in Houston have flood insurance. It is going to be hard to rebuild/repair those homes. My heart goes out to all of those people.
Great news, @MaineLonghorn !
@doschicos @busdriver11 I am not criticizing either of you for wanting to talk about what went wrong, what should have been done differently, etc… Nothing irritates me about that at all. Just that to me, you need people with expertise/info to have a fruitful discussion. From what I have seen in this thread, we do not have much of either here. And that includes me so no disrespect. Its a lot of armchair quarterbacking from a far from what I see. And there is value in that no doubt. But to me the folks with the expertise/info necessary to have productive discussions are otherwise occupied right now.
In terms of how we vote, the reality is this board has a no politics policy. So I am not sure how any of those discussions are possible here. I participate in politically active boards and they are buzzing like crazy right now. Just not the purpose of this board.
Just saw that Galveston, which I thought was spared, is getting slammed and the Strand is two feet underwater. This is tidal surge, explains why the rivers and bayous aren’t emptying.
Harvey, you have over stayed your welcome (not that you were really welcome in the first place!) and it’s time for you to leave!
@saillakeerie, I doubt that when the experts on urban and environmental planning, and hurricane preparations are through with their current crisis, that they are going to come on this forum and clear things up for us. Nor will the people with the power to influence policy. We got what we got. This is not a forum where only specialized experts are allowed to comment and give their opinions, and if it was, it would be a pretty low traffic forum.
I don’t think politics is an issue on this subject.
Sometimes the unexpected happens. Back in 2011, we had that October snowstorm. Leaves were still on the trees…and thousands…yep…thousands of trees came down…many on power lines…some on buildings. Many across roads. We had good warning about the storm coming…but no one would have been blue to guess the damage…and recovery time for that snow.
And this storm…just keeps hammering and hammering away…it’s been days now. Again…they knew it was coming… up who would,have guessed it would linger for days and days.
I’m just proud of,the many folks who are chipping in to help,those in need.
On Thursday, weather experts were predicting Harvey would dump 48 inches of rain in some areas. Three to four feet, they said. They said it would come ashore and linger.
So, a couple of days before the event, they knew it would linger for days and days and drop torrential rain. I’m not second guessing the evacuation decision; I think it was probably right. But before Harvey came ashore, the experts had accurately predicted what would happen.
This article mentions the fact that not only is Houston in a flood plain, it has been sinking for years:
"…So far, it appears some of the hardest-hit flooded areas, such as the Jersey Village nieghborhood, are also the ones affected by subsidence, he said.
In the 1930s, a new residential subdivision was built in the Brownwood neighborhood, which at the time was 10 feet above sea level. Forty years later, it was less than 2 feet above sea level, a subsidence blamed on ground water pumping along the Houston Ship Channel. The neighborhood was destroyed in Hurricane Alicia in 1983 and is now the Baytown Nature Center…"
It also says that a 100 year storm is based on the statistic of 13 inches of rain in 24 hours. This has happened eight times in the last 27 years.