Tropical Storm Erin

[giester2]

we are still receiving rain in the Houston area...3 freeways are closed due to flooding (not unusual).  rain expected to continue throughout the evening and clear out tomorrow.

[giester2]

rain has mostly ended today...blue skies this morning but they are forecasting 1-3" more this afternoon.   Downtown Houston received 9.57 inches of rain and 7.05 inches fell in the Texas Medical Center.

Now we wait for Hurricane Dean

[Leonardcrl]

Good! Was the rain you got useful, or too much.

Diane:  In a couple of words It's too much 

We were just starting to recover from 50 some odd days of rain from May through July when we
normally get only 4 or 5 days,  This last contribution is a bit more than we need.  We are currently 26 inches
above normal rainfall

San Antonio sits on top of aquifer that has never had a surface reading of higher 650 - 665 in the 13 years I've
been here.  Now it is starting to stay above 670 and today it is at 697.  The result has been that springs that
been dry for 20 years are starting flow again.  San Antonio has been undergoing a population explosion and those
springs had been built over.  After all it was just stories from old timers who kept insisting that the springs ever existed.
  And everybody knows that those old geezers were just against developers getting their God given rights to make
money. Some impacts:

• The Natural Bridge Caverns has lost access to it's lower levels as the water has risen 51 feet inside the cave
• A South San Antonio school district has had the ground floor of a high school washed out. 
• My shortest access to the local freeway system was washed out for ten days.  And still is doubtful after a heavy rain
• Buyers, developers and planning commissions are all pointing fingers at each other as newer developments are getting
  flooded when areas are not in the official "flood plain"

[kdfrawg]

Sounds like your Texas government at work, Leonard.

[Janet Harrington]

Too much cement and not enough soil to take on the water.

[Diane Amberg]

 Wow, I thought I had read that the Houston area was having record rains this year. It sounds like a lot of the old recharge areas aren't there any longer, and the water is going where it can.  It always seems to be not enough or too much. My area here is hilly and we have lots of springs too. Some will be quiet for a few years and then up they come.