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bad weather coming tomorrow

359,722 Views | 2494 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by RC_57
Pahdz
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Video of the woman that drove around the barricades and into the water off of Westpark.

Officials release video of flood victim's SUV driving into high water
why does she not even attempt to bail and swim when it first starts floating.


Maybe she don't know how to swim. And in those situations people panic and don't know what to do just like the old man
I am surprised they haven't put up big gates at that exit..


Kinda like they have in snowy states for when they close roads for blizzards, I thought they did have that on that part of Westpark Tolltoad?
CrossBowAg99
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AG
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I'm not sure she would have escaped once in the water. The tow truck driver attempted to help but almost got sucked down from the pumps at the bottom in knee deep water.
The pumps are not creating a suction. The water drains by gravity to an underground pit below the pump station. A pipe in the pit sucks the water out.
CrossBowAg99
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AG
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Video of the woman that drove around the barricades and into the water off of Westpark.

Officials release video of flood victim's SUV driving into high water
why does she not even attempt to bail and swim when it first starts floating.


Maybe she don't know how to swim. And in those situations people panic and don't know what to do just like the old man
I am surprised they haven't put up big gates at that exit..


Kinda like they have in snowy states for when they close roads for blizzards, I thought they did have that on that part of Westpark Tolltoad?
There are lots of problems with gates from a liability standpoint as well if someone runs into them.

You can't get an Engineer to approve them because there are not any gates that I think of that are crash rated. The Engineer will not take the liability.

METRO uses those pipe farm gates on the HOV and they have people run into those all of the time but I am not sure if they have been sued.

They make an arrestor net for cars similar to what is used on aircraft carriers, but it is honestly not practical due to the low frequency of these events. There are a few of these installed on Houston HOVs but they probably are non-operational.
Breggy Popup
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AG
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I'm not sure she would have escaped once in the water. The tow truck driver attempted to help but almost got sucked down from the pumps at the bottom in knee deep water.
The pumps are not creating a suction. The water drains by gravity to an underground pit below the pump station. A pipe in the pit sucks the water out.


They had extra pumps with hoses hanging down from the street above into the water.
AverageJones
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AG
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Where the hell did you find that video
Buck O Five
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I'm sure you fine folks would never find yourself in that situation. But if you did, you can use your headrest to break the window. You just have to use it to provide tension in the glass rather than trying to knock it out. See the video below


I learned something today.
CrossBowAg99
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AG
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I'm not sure she would have escaped once in the water. The tow truck driver attempted to help but almost got sucked down from the pumps at the bottom in knee deep water.
The pumps are not creating a suction. The water drains by gravity to an underground pit below the pump station. A pipe in the pit sucks the water out.


They had extra pumps with hoses hanging down from the street above into the water.


Where are you seeing that? It wasn't in the chron video linked. Maybe they used them when they were towing that the cars out? I doubt they were there during the middle of the storm.
Ryan the Temp
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There are lots of problems with gates from a liability standpoint as well if someone runs into them.

You can't get an Engineer to approve them because there are not any gates that I think of that are crash rated. The Engineer will not take the liability.

METRO uses those pipe farm gates on the HOV and they have people run into those all of the time but I am not sure if they have been sued.

They make an arrestor net for cars similar to what is used on aircraft carriers, but it is honestly not practical due to the low frequency of these events. There are a few of these installed on Houston HOVs but they probably are non-operational.
Another liability issue is if the gates don't activate and someone ends up in the water.
jopatura
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I know they have some flood gates on low roadways in Austin that are manually operated. They aren't perfect, but it's something that could have prevented this particular drowning.
Breggy Popup
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I'm not sure she would have escaped once in the water. The tow truck driver attempted to help but almost got sucked down from the pumps at the bottom in knee deep water.
The pumps are not creating a suction. The water drains by gravity to an underground pit below the pump station. A pipe in the pit sucks the water out.


They had extra pumps with hoses hanging down from the street above into the water.


Where are you seeing that? It wasn't in the chron video linked. Maybe they used them when they were towing that the cars out? I doubt they were there during the middle of the storm.


The news report the next morning said they put the big pump up there to keep it from getting to deep.
Diggity
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The barricades should have prevented the issue, along with the tow truck driver trying to stop her. At some point, people are responsible for their own lives. You can't prevent every dangerous thing on the road. To me, it's similar to someone going the wrong way on the freeway.
Ryan the Temp
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Highway 6 closed for 4-6 WEEKS.

http://abc13.com/weather/nws-issues-flood-warning-for-ad****s-barker-reservoirs/1301590/
CrossBowAg99
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I'm not sure she would have escaped once in the water. The tow truck driver attempted to help but almost got sucked down from the pumps at the bottom in knee deep water.
The pumps are not creating a suction. The water drains by gravity to an underground pit below the pump station. A pipe in the pit sucks the water out.


They had extra pumps with hoses hanging down from the street above into the water.


Where are you seeing that? It wasn't in the chron video linked. Maybe they used them when they were towing that the cars out? I doubt they were there during the middle of the storm.


The news report the next morning said they put the big pump up there to keep it from getting to deep.
Most anytime that a road goes underground around Houston there is a pump station. There is a pump station where the event in question happened. The water has to be pumped up or these underpasses would be flooded most of the time due to our flat terrain.

The news always f's up pump stories for that ramp so who knows. They have a really powerful pump there and don't need backups. The problem arises when there is no where to pump the water to because the surface channels are flooded .


Breggy Popup
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They showed the big ass pump sitting on the road with the city guy talking about it. I don't think the report f'd anything up.
CrossBowAg99
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My guess is that the chick drove into the water and then called her family/friends instead of getting out of the car.

She drowned.

They showed up the next morning looking for her and demanded that more needed to be done.

I think the folks that died there during IKE were there for several days and they waited for the designed drainage to expose them.

It would really help your story if you could post some proof of the legendary second pump.

I would bet good money that the extra pump was not there when she drove into the water.
CrossBowAg99
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There are lots of problems with gates from a liability standpoint as well if someone runs into them.

You can't get an Engineer to approve them because there are not any gates that I think of that are crash rated. The Engineer will not take the liability.

METRO uses those pipe farm gates on the HOV and they have people run into those all of the time but I am not sure if they have been sued.

They make an arrestor net for cars similar to what is used on aircraft carriers, but it is honestly not practical due to the low frequency of these events. There are a few of these installed on Houston HOVs but they probably are non-operational.
Another liability issue is if the gates don't activate and someone ends up in the water.
Yeah, the whole automatic gate thing is a big problem. IMO, the only viable option is if they are manual and closed by a police officer not a typical maintenance worker.
jopatura
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I don't know if she called her friends/family. The cousin said the last communication they had from her was saying she was on the way home from the nightclub she was at (probably had alcohol in her system even if she wasn't legal limit).

They knew she was there because the tow truck driver saw her go in and didn't come out. He did run after her, so I bet she saw him and was waving the phone to make it easier for him to spot her. The city knew there should be a body there and had said on Monday that they were bringing in extra pumps to speed on the process.

I definitely think the girl was at fault for going around the tow truck and should have tried to help herself survive. But looking at the dash cam video that was released, it didn't look like the tow truck driver tried to park sideways to block the exit. He did have his lights on but to me it looked like he was just idling in one of the mainlanes. In the traffic cam footage, the Durango drove several feet past the tow truck before hitting the water line so she probably couldn't even see flood waters from the location of the tow truck. None of the tow truck driver's interviews indicate that there was anything else put up but his truck.

I'm not sure it's reasonable to think that a tow truck parked in one lane with no other indications of high water is the best solution the COH can come up with, especially on an exit that floods very easily.
CrossBowAg99
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AG
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I'm not sure she would have escaped once in the water. The tow truck driver attempted to help but almost got sucked down from the pumps at the bottom in knee deep water.
The pumps are not creating a suction. The water drains by gravity to an underground pit below the pump station. A pipe in the pit sucks the water out.


They had extra pumps with hoses hanging down from the street above into the water.


Where are you seeing that? It wasn't in the chron video linked. Maybe they used them when they were towing that the cars out? I doubt they were there during the middle of the storm.


The news report the next morning said they put the big pump up there to keep it from getting to deep.
Seriously, Did HCTRA get loose lips about their pump station problem and decided to pre-stage an aux pump? Unless their existing pump was broken, this was a "500 year flood event". That ramp floods at least once every few years.

Sounds like horse **** to me.

I think that is located the Brays water shed, if not is is the buffalo bayou. Regardless, there was nowhere for the pump to send the water to.
CrossBowAg99
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They showed the big ass pump sitting on the road with the city guy talking about it. I don't think the report f'd anything up.
Did they show that while the chick drove her car into the water? 110% sure that the "CITY" ain't involved here.
Breggy Popup
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My guess is that the chick drove into the water and then called her family/friends instead of getting out of the car.

She drowned.

They showed up the next morning looking for her and demanded that more needed to be done.

I think the folks that died there during IKE were there for several days and they waited for the designed drainage to expose them.

It would really help your story if you could post some proof of the legendary second pump.

I would bet good money that the extra pump was not there when she drove into the water.


Here ya go. Unfortunately the articles do not contain the official's comments about the pumps being put in overnight. That was on live TV.

http://abc7.com/news/man-who-tried-to-save-driver-from-floodwaters-i-just-could-not-get-to-her/1301676/

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Smiers, a military veteran who has worked the toll road for 10 years, made two attempts to swim to the SUV even as the pumps underneath were sucking him down. He got within about 12 feet, but had to turn back.


http://abc13.com/news/search-for-driver-continues-on-flooded-westpark-tollway/1298339/

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Eyewitness News' Marla Carter reported this morning that four pumps are working hard at the Post Oak exit to remove more than a million gallons of water from the roadway in order to learn whether there are cars submerged. Eighteen feet of water spread over nearly a mile of roadway is being pumped from the road.





jopatura
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I believe there are two permanent pumps on that exit to drain water after every rainfall. Then two more mobile pumps were brought in early on Monday to help the water drain quicker because officials knew there should be a body.
Breggy Popup
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I believe there are two permanent pumps on that exit to drain water after every rainfall. Then two more mobile pumps were brought in early on Monday to help the water drain quicker because officials knew there should be a body.


I'm just going by what the HNIC said on TV. Either way, the truck driver who tried to rescue her said he was being sucked down. If the underground pumps create no suction as our argumentative friend claims, then what was sucking the guy down? Or maybe he f'd up his report too and just imagined the whole thing. I look forward to Crossbow continuing to refute the statements of those on the scene.
jopatura
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I know there had to be some suction because the news said the original plan was to have the dive team go after the body on Monday. The head of the dive team determined the suction in the water was too strong for his men to safely make the dive. That's when the mobile pumps were brought in.

This is what I could find: "The pumps out here, they have a lot of downforce. He made two attempts to get to the car. At that point,he had to save himself and get out of the water, said Capt. Terry Allbritton.

HPD's Dive Team surveyed the flooding and determined it was too risky to send divers in because of the active pumps."

http://abc13.com/news/flood-related-deaths-reported-around-houston-area/1297223/
CrossBowAg99
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Is dlance a chick?
Breggy Popup
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Is dlance a chick?


Oh burn!
Breggy Popup
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I know there had to be some suction because the news said the original plan was to have the dive team go after the body on Monday. The head of the dive team determined the suction in the water was too strong for his men to safely make the dive. That's when the mobile pumps were brought in.

This is what I could find: "The pumps out here, they have a lot of downforce. He made two attempts to get to the car. At that point,he had to save himself and get out of the water, said Capt. Terry Allbritton.

HPD's Dive Team surveyed the flooding and determined it was too risky to send divers in because of the active pumps."

http://abc13.com/news/flood-related-deaths-reported-around-houston-area/1297223/


Perhaps the interview taking place next to the mobile pumps confused the message being conveyed then. Crossbow's assertion that the underground pumps would cause no suction certainly reinforced the confusion. Thanks jop.
schmellba99
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Texas needs a "Stupid Motorist" lae like AZ has in a bad way.

As much as I want to, I cannot feel sorry for the dumbass driver in the video. You played a stupid game and lost. The consequences are great, and permanent. Sucks to,be you and I hope you did not procreate for all of our sakes.
CrossBowAg99
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AG
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I believe there are two permanent pumps on that exit to drain water after every rainfall. Then two more mobile pumps were brought in early on Monday to help the water drain quicker because officials knew there should be a body.


I'm just going by what the HNIC said on TV. Either way, the truck driver who tried to rescue her said he was being sucked down. If the underground pumps create no suction as our argumentative friend claims, then what was sucking the guy down? Or maybe he f'd up his report too and just imagined the whole thing. I look forward to Crossbow continuing to refute the statements of those on the scene.
Who the **** is the HNIC? Turner? IF yes, I wasted all of my time

Your argumentative friend did not claim that there was no suction. He claimed that the pump station did not provide the suction. IT IS CALLED GRAVITY. THERE IS SUCTION.
CrossBowAg99
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Texas needs a "Stupid Motorist" lae like AZ has in a bad way.

As much as I want to, I cannot feel sorry for the dumbass driver in the video. You played a stupid game and lost. The consequences are great, and permanent. Sucks to,be you and I hope you did not procreate for all of our sakes.


Amen
BowSowy
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The internet takes you to some strange places.
Ag_07
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So back to the weather...Looks like another round is moving in today. Looks to be a little slower moving.
spider96
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Highway 6 closed for 4-6 WEEKS.

http://abc13.com/weather/nws-issues-flood-warning-for-ad****s-barker-reservoirs/1301590/
CDUB98
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So back to the weather...Looks like another round is moving in today. Looks to be a little slower moving.
FNG
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Just hit Aggieland. Wind picked up and it started pouring.

Can't believe y'all are about to get more of this.
htxag09
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Think they're only projecting up to 1.5", so we'll see. Could mean no rain at all, could mean 1.5'.
 
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