Comments on: Crystal Beach, Before and After http://houblog.com/wp/index.php/2008/615 Random rants from a civil servant in Houston, TX Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:32:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Ubu Roi http://houblog.com/wp/index.php/2008/615#comment-40329 Ubu Roi Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:08:46 +0000 http://houblog.com/wp/?p=615#comment-40329 Almost certainly. Notice the first row of houses is completely gone. In Texas, you can't have a house actually "on" the beach; if it's in front of the vegetation line, the state condemns and demolishes it. The question is, where will the vegetation line reestablish itself? The first row won't even get to rebuild, and the second may not. Of course, the question is, where are the owners? There were an estimated 500 people trapped by the surge coming up early; 100-130 were rescued before the storm, 100-130 were found after the storm. This means that half of the people are unaccounted for, if the estimation is accurate. We may never know the exact death toll, but thank god it's not the thousands I feared. Which is really peculiar... almost John-Ringo-speculates-about-SARS peculiar. Almost certainly.

Notice the first row of houses is completely gone. In Texas, you can’t have a house actually “on” the beach; if it’s in front of the vegetation line, the state condemns and demolishes it. The question is, where will the vegetation line reestablish itself? The first row won’t even get to rebuild, and the second may not. Of course, the question is, where are the owners? There were an estimated 500 people trapped by the surge coming up early; 100-130 were rescued before the storm, 100-130 were found after the storm. This means that half of the people are unaccounted for, if the estimation is accurate. We may never know the exact death toll, but thank god it’s not the thousands I feared.

Which is really peculiar… almost John-Ringo-speculates-about-SARS peculiar.

]]> By: Steven Den Beste http://houblog.com/wp/index.php/2008/615#comment-40296 Steven Den Beste Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:52:23 +0000 http://houblog.com/wp/?p=615#comment-40296 My first reaction to that second picture was that it looks like the kind of utter devastation you expect from tornadoes. Except that they don't lift the grass and carry it away, so this was even worse. Odds are even the houses that are still standing will have to be torn down. I bet they're structurally insecure due to erosion of their foundations. My first reaction to that second picture was that it looks like the kind of utter devastation you expect from tornadoes. Except that they don’t lift the grass and carry it away, so this was even worse.

Odds are even the houses that are still standing will have to be torn down. I bet they’re structurally insecure due to erosion of their foundations.

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