With the encouraging words that it appears that an approaching storm will miss Houston and instead head offshore to the east of Galveston Island, Mayor John Whitmire addressed concerns about flooding and continued rainfall Tuesday.
What made his address more urgent is, of course, is that Houston is one of the cities hosting World Cup play. Still his advice was consistent with that handed out in any rain or flooding event: “Turn Around, Don’t Drown.”
Flanked by emergency personnel, including Brian Mason, director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management, Whitmire warned, however, that predictions can change in a moment as evidenced by the area’s experience with Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
If the storm because a tropical one it will be named Arthur as the first named storm of the season. If it travels as predicted, the Houston area will be on the so-called “clean” side of the storm, Whitmire said.
Several city departments have upped their game during this time, the mayor said. The Public Works Department converted some dump trucks into high water rescue vehicles. Whitmire said METRO was working to relieve the wait times that people leaving the game experienced on Monday, caught out in the heat and humidity.
Tuesday a flood watch issued by the National Weather Service remained in effect as well as the threat of locally severe thunderstorms. Space City Weather reported that the closest the storm will get to the city of Houston will be on Wednesday, but meteorologist Eric Berger agreed that it’s likely to stay offshore.
Barricades have been set up at historic flooding spots throughout Houston such as at I-45 and Elgin to keep drivers out of trouble. With the rain the area has had for several days now the ground is saturated.
“Houstonians need to know that we’re all working around the clock and thank you for doing your part,” Whitmire said.
