Please pray for flood victims in Texas

@Diotrephes The area is accustomed to flooding, but not to this extent. The river rose far too fast for some people to escape at 3:30 in the morning.

@Diotrephes Lots of unpredictable events can set the stage for a disaster. Like how soaked the ground may already be, or whether retention basins are already full or not, where the rain is falling, etc. Also urban development. Like paving over 200 acres for a shopping mall parking lot can contribute to a downstream flood 10 years later. Also, reducing flood risk in one area can lead to an increased flood risk elsewhere. There's been lots of development in that area over the past 50 years. It will be interesting to see an analysis of all the contributing conditions that created this disaster.

@Heartlander The primary factor for this flood was an almost unprecedented amount of rain in a short period. The hills funnel the water down to the rivers very quickly.

@exexec Oh yea. Years ago when we were enjoying the novelty of owning a Prius hybrid, we paid detailed attention to the miles-per-gallon as related to assorted situations, like road surfaces, grooved highways Vs un-grooved, weather, speed, pulse driving, tailgating behind a 16 wheeler, hills, etc. In the Texas Hill Country we were able to get 65+ miles per gallon thanks to the roller-coaster driving conditions. EPA estimate was but 51 mpg. It's why they call it the hill country. Lots of hills and valleys.

In our (KC) flood of 1977, the set-up was a week of steady rain. Then came an intense rain with the ground already saturated and the half dozen creeks already at capacity. Suburban development over the previous years all rushed the waters tp the creeks for eventual deposit in the Missouri river. It was like overfilling a funnel, or a bath tub.

@Heartlander Overdevelopment is a real factor around here, but with Hurricane Harvey, we got 51 inches of rain. No drainage system could handle that.

@Heartlander OK, the area is in a flood plain so everyone should have had flood insurance.

In my area the tv news stations always show where the storms are likely to be and when they will arrive at a particular place. Do the Texas tv stations show that as well? Do they even cover the weaher forecasts?

It is never a good idea to sleep right next to a river, especially when rain storms are forecast. The parents should have been monitoring the weather forecasts and told their kids to leave.

@Diotrephes A Flash Flood Watch was issued Thursday, but these are common alerts in the Hill Country. When the storm cell stalled, rain amounts were far above what was expected, so a flood Warning was not issued until after midnight Friday morning. By the time an Extreme Warning was issued, it was too late to escape. Some places had not flooded in over 100 years, so they felt safe. Most people in Texas who have flood insurance live on the coast. That's why we have it.

@exexec Thanks for the information. I hope that all intelligent people will consider the hazards of their areas and always take them in consideration.

@Diotrephes I agree. They are still building subdivisions in flood plains in our area.

@exexec When we pile on years of no flooding it's like everyone looses track of where the hills and valleys are. And then when 500 year floods start happening every 50 years they still don't take the hint, until that 500 year flood revisit within 10 years.

@exexec I've been spared disasters from fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, riots, lightning, crimes, and floods. I have no idea how I would cope if I had to face such disasters. But I do try to learn from what countless others have experienced so I try my best to avoid such situations.

It's best to learn from other people's experiences. Always try to protect yourself.