Natural Disasters

Possible Tornado Touches Down Outside Willis; Rain Hits Houston

A potential tornado appears to have touched down outside Willis earlier this afternoon. Following a tornado warning issued around 1:30 p.m., Texas Storm Chasers Tweeted a photo that shows a nearby storm cycle, with an "interesting feature" touching the ground. Willis Police Department said they h ... More >>

Gritty Local Bands Plug In For Superstorm Sandy Relief

The Journey Agents, Knights of the Fire Kingdom, etc. Dean's and Notsuoh January 20, 2013 It's only been since October, but Hurricane Sandy already kind of feels like it happened forever ago. Hell, we've weathered a fiscal cliff, a school shooting and a Texans playoff loss since then. The news crew ... More >>

Capsule Art Reviews: "Demiak: The Big Blow," "J. Todd Allison: Unresting," "Jerry Jeanmard: Collages," "Peat Duggins: Wreaths," "Staring at the Wall: The Art of Boredom"

Capsule Art Reviews: "Demiak: The Big Blow," "Flying Solo," "J. Todd Allison: Unresting," "Jonathan Faber: Surface," "Peat Duggins: Wreaths"

Cover Story: We're All Screwed In a Hurricane Katrina-Like Way If Addicks and Barker Dams Are Breached

Last week's rains and floods might be child's play compared to what could be in store for Houston if Addicks and Barker dams were to crumble into dust. Located near the intersection of Interstate 10 and Beltway 8, the two flood-control mechanisms have been at an "extremely high risk of catastrophi ... More >>

Calculate Your Hurricane Risk with New Web Site

The city of Houston and Rice University have produced a risk calculator that tells you your chances of getting flood or wind damage from a direct-hit hurricane. The Storm Risk Calculator isn't the fastest thing around, but you can enter your address and eventually it will show you your risks for r ... More >>

Spring Has Sprung: Cold Weather and the Drought Come to an End

Despite warnings to the contrary, our Texas winter was about as wet as normal. Last week alone, we had almost five inches of rain in the Houston area -- more than our entire summer in 2011! With that dose of heavy rain came an end to our area's drought, something we said might happen in December. As ... More >>

Comment of the Day: A Hurricane to Break the Drought?

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Tuscapalooza: As if You Needed an Excuse to Drink Beer

groovehouseAll-You-Can-Eat crawfish for a cause.​The string of tornados that tore across the Southern states on April 27, 2011 inflicted damage comparable to a category-five hurricane. It killed more 300 people and left thousands more homeless. The impact was especially severe in Tuscaloosa, a ... More >>

Best Month For Weather In Houston? We Say October

No gloom yet in Houston​Los Angeles is broiling, Florida and the Carolinas are still stocking water and batteries for the weeks of hurricane season still remaining, and we here in Houston are basking in our first coll front.Not only does it mean no more hurricanes, it means goodbye to humidity and ... More >>

Hurricane Heist

Things gets illustrated in Dark Rain

The Annual Christmas Boat Lane Parade on Clear Lake

This yearly flotilla lights up the Gulf Coast

House of Yes

Play proves there can be humor in incest, assassinations

Gulf Coast Museums Prepare for Hurricane Season, At Least One With Liquor

If you think you've got a lot to do getting ready for the season's first hurricane, imagine if you had a museum full of millions of dollars in art you had to protect. Gulf Coast area museums don't have to imagine -- they do. Among the most prepared is the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, but it's ... More >>

USS Stewart Finally Back On Duty With The Submarine Cavalla

Photo courtesy Historic Naval Ships AssociationIn April Galveston's popular World War II sub the USS Cavalla reopened after fixing damage caused by Hurricane Ike. Its companion ship, the USS Stewart -- a destroyer escort -- was still closed, however, due to the storm surge that lifted the boat ... More >>

Natural Disasters

Two plays, two comedic takes on the damage people do to each other

Have a Nice Summer!

Panic, FEMA, empty shelves — here's the only Hurricane Guide you'll need this year.

The Story of Burford, Category 5

Radio Music Theatre gets ready for hurricane season

Trying to Put Humpty Dumpty Together Again in Galveston

Got a historic photo that shows what Galveston looked like before Hurricane Ike came through town? How about any documents pertaining to commercial or residential properties on the island? The Galveston Historical Foundation is putting out the word that anyone in possession of either of these thing ... More >>

Slideshow -- Ike's Still Here

Hair Balls made a tour of downtown and some inner-city neighborhoods and found that evidence of Hurricane Ike's destruction is still very much evident. It's nothing like what Galveston and other beach-front communities are facing, of course, but plenty of Houston  businesses and homes are stil ... More >>

Galveston's O'Connell High May Close

We Get Ike, Dallas Gets A Minor Earthquake

Pit Bull Laundering By The Houston SPCA

Rice Shuts Down Valhalla, Panic To Ensue Among Cheap-Beer Drinkers

Gatemouth Brown Gets Hit By A Third Hurricane, Doesn't RIP

This Just In: You(genious) Not Dead, Is Awesome

Brennan’s of Houston Gutted by Flames

Houston Libraries Begin To Re-Open, With Computers For Victims

Astros-Pirates: Houston Gains on Milwaukee in Wild Card Race

One Definite Effect of Ike

Hurricane Gustav -- Already A Disaster

Oh No! Lots of "Hello Dolly" Puns!

A Prison Cover-up During Hurricane Rita

For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.

Chris Rose

1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina

Radio Houstoned: Chris Rose and Hurricane Katrina

Political Storm

Performance artist Jose Torres Tama brings us his story of Katrina

Hurricane Forecasts, Telemarketers, Evacuation Plans

Hurricanes a-comin'

Matt Lemmler

The Music of New Orleans

Weird and Wonderful

A True Horror Classic

What Happened?

We were promised killer hurricanes!

Freakin' Sweet

Worldly Moves

Mogwai

Mr. Beast

Displaced in the Diaspora

New Orleans mayoral candidates are looking for votes -- and finding them in Houston

Against All Odds

A group of unsupervised mental patients running from Katrina made it from New Orleans to Houston. Victor Fruge led the way.

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

The Long Goodbye

It sounds so simple: FEMA purchasing homes flooded by Tropical Storm Allison. Then come the bureaucratic blizzards and personal angst over giving up and getting out.

Last Man Standing

Kim Wilson is the sole T-Bird on the band's best release in years. But is anyone listening?