Twenty miles south east of Houston,the Army Corp of Engineer’s have decided that water must be released from the two dams based on the anticipated 50″ rainfall set to pour down before Hurricane Harry’s storm is over. This comes as a difficult decision but draining the dams in a slow and controlled manner will keep the dams from failing. Failing would cause a massive surge of uncontrollable waves of flooding. By releasing the water slowly it is anticipated that four to six inches per hour could occur in the Buffalo Bayou area. Residents there are on high alert but have not yet been ordered to evacuate. Speculation is that damages are going to be as bad as Katrina. President Trump is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday FEMA has warned that it will take years for Houston to recover.

Key Takeaways:

• Houston’s dams, which were designed to hold 410,000 acre feet of water, reached an unmanageable level, forcing city engineers to embark on a controlled release, endangering nearby areas.
• The controlled release, which caused the re-channeled water to rise about 4-6 inches an hour, resulted in warnings, issued to those near dams, to evacuate immediately.
• Houston’s water plants, designed to keep the city’s water safe, are also under threat from the flood waters.

“The Addicks and Barker reservoirs are both nearly full as a result of the unprecedented downpours brought by the storm. They sit approximately 20 miles to the east of Houston’s city center. If they fail, the water they hold will rush over the already flooded city in an uncontrolled wave, an unthinkable scenario for a city that is already largely underwater.”

Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4830066/Water-released-Houston-dams-Harvey-rages-on.html