eDiscovery Daily Blog
I Rarely Do This, But Today’s Post is Not About eDiscovery
Late last week, when several of us knew that Hurricane Harvey was bearing down on Texas and was expected to cause major flooding in the Houston area, a friend of mine made a joke on Facebook about seeing a six foot rabbit in the Gulf of Mexico. It was a great Jimmy Stewart reference and a clever joke.
But, Hurricane Harvey has been no joke. When the TV weather people (as early as mid-week last week) talked about major flooding and as much as 25 to 35 inches of rain expected on and near the Texas Gulf Coast, many people scoffed and figured that the TV news stations (as they often do with weather events like this) we’re overreacting and that it wasn’t going to be as bad as they predicted.
They were right. It appears to be much worse than they predicted. And, it may not be over for days yet.
According to The Weather Channel, over 27 inches of rain fell in southeastern Harris County (where Houston is located) from early Friday morning (as Hurricane Harvey approached and eventually made landfall that night) through early Sunday morning. It has rained most of Sunday throughout the area as well. The current prediction (as of 6:30pm on Sunday) is as much as 50 inches of rain total and Harvey may dump rain on some part of Texas for as many as 9 days. It’s unprecedented.
When you get that much rain, obviously there is widespread flooding. Here are just a few pictures, courtesy of Reuters, to give you a little sense of what’s going on here.
Flights at both Houston airports are grounded at least through tomorrow and probably longer. Most Houston area school districts are out all week. And, flooding even knocked our CBS affiliate (KHOU Channel 11) for most of the day so far (not back on the air as of 6:30pm after going off the air at around 10am). But, not before a Channel 11 reporter flagged down a Harris County Sheriff to rescue a man from his flooded 18 wheeler truck (footage of both events here).
How extensive is the property damage? Insurance experts have warned that flood damage across Texas from the bad weather may equal or exceed the trail of destruction left by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which was the most expensive natural disaster in US history. It’s not a record you want to set.
Thankfully, there have been few deaths, only 3 reported to date. But, tens (if not hundreds) of thousands have experienced flood damage and had to evacuate. And, more still may, given that we expect to continue to receive rain for the next two to three days at least.
What can you do to help? Consider donating online to the Houston Food Bank, Galveston County Food Bank or Corpus Christi Food Bank. Or the Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group. And, if you’re in the Houston area, you can volunteer at the American Red Cross here or by calling 713-526-8300. Several in the Houston area have already donated their time and helped with boats to evacuate those stranded by flooding. It’s just one of the signs of what makes our city so great — Houstonians helping each other.
Stay safe, Houstonians!
Hopefully, we’ll be back to a regular eDiscovery post tomorrow.
Top Image Copyright (C) Universal International Pictures.
Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.