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I agree that Harvey was not nearly as bad as it could have been. In fact several people that I spoke to (who themselves could document) would likely argue that

I agree that Harvey was not nearly as bad as it could have been. In fact several people that I spoke to (who themselves could document) would likely argue that the Army Core of Engineers caused more damage than Harvey did... that is, their home didn't flood until after the water releases from the dams. That said, the amount of fellowship and effort being put together by the communities in Houston is a most definitely a picture of what it looks like to confront challenges head on. Seeing a flooded neighborhood filled with people working together to strip homes and start the repair process (even if they didn't have insurance) was downright amazing. Kudos to Houston for sticking together and being good neighbors to each other.

cozzyd 9y ago
The Corps released water presumably because they were afraid that the dam might fail if they didn't.
- aaron-lebo 9y ago
  During the height of the storm the spillways came in use (due to so much water). That happened at 108 feet and the top of the dam was 118. This happened in spite of the engineers releasing water for hours. Had they not done this those dams would have catastrophically failed. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/28/houston-releases-water-from-two-dams-in-attempt-to-prevent-uncontrolled-overflow/?utm_term=.9fb755c1e1aa https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/2... The person you are replying to should make fewer assumptions about the work of engineers outside of their domain.
  - liberte82 9y ago
    I still don't understand how water can raise an extra 10 feet over the spillway. Isn't a bathtub only as high as its lowest side?
    - snowwrestler 9y ago
      Inflow minus outflow rates determine the height of a reservoir. On the upstream side you have a big river basin. On the downstream side, pipes and a spillway. If the basin is catching a lot of rain, you'll need all the pipes and spillway to keep up with the inflow. That's part of the dam's design.
    - hexane360 9y ago
      The spillways can only transport so much water. If inflow is greater than that, you can build up above that point. Even a fast moving channel 10 feet deep is dwarfed by the flux of water that can be deposited by a heavy storm over a large area. Edit: for some concrete numbers, the reservoir was rising 0.5 ft/hr!! For reference, it appears the Addicks Reservoir has an area of 26,000 acres around this depth. That's 157,300 ft^3/s of inflow. Outflow was only 4,000 ft^3/s! Edit 2: Here's a visualization: http://i.imgur.com/usZAici.jpg http://i.imgur.com/usZAici.jpg
    - ars 9y ago
      It can happen if water is entering the lake faster than it can exit. That's why a river can crest much higher than the water lower than it - it's a dynamic level, not a static one.
    - tajen 9y ago
      It also just takes a wave (due, for example, to terrain movement) to go overboard and it drastically erodes the crest of the dam, starting a chain reaction between erosion of the crest and more water going through.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> Army Core of Engineers caused more damage than Harvey did... that is, their home didn't flood until after the water releases from the dams. The water was released because without that, the dams were in danger of overtopping and catastrophic failure. Blaming the Corps and not the storm for that is justified if, and only if, there is evidence that the assessment of danger was made irresponsibly given the available facts. (And the opposite seems to be the case here.)
mannykannot 9y ago
>In fact several people that I spoke to (who themselves could document) would likely argue that the Army Core of Engineers caused more damage than Harvey did. Where do they think the water came from? Where would it have gone without the dams and associated water works, and when?

cozzyd 9y ago

The Corps released water presumably because they were afraid that the dam might fail if they didn't.

aaron-lebo 9y ago
During the height of the storm the spillways came in use (due to so much water). That happened at 108 feet and the top of the dam was 118. This happened in spite of the engineers releasing water for hours. Had they not done this those dams would have catastrophically failed. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/28/houston-releases-water-from-two-dams-in-attempt-to-prevent-uncontrolled-overflow/?utm_term=.9fb755c1e1aa https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/2... The person you are replying to should make fewer assumptions about the work of engineers outside of their domain.
- liberte82 9y ago
  I still don't understand how water can raise an extra 10 feet over the spillway. Isn't a bathtub only as high as its lowest side?
  - snowwrestler 9y ago
    Inflow minus outflow rates determine the height of a reservoir. On the upstream side you have a big river basin. On the downstream side, pipes and a spillway. If the basin is catching a lot of rain, you'll need all the pipes and spillway to keep up with the inflow. That's part of the dam's design.
  - hexane360 9y ago
    The spillways can only transport so much water. If inflow is greater than that, you can build up above that point. Even a fast moving channel 10 feet deep is dwarfed by the flux of water that can be deposited by a heavy storm over a large area. Edit: for some concrete numbers, the reservoir was rising 0.5 ft/hr!! For reference, it appears the Addicks Reservoir has an area of 26,000 acres around this depth. That's 157,300 ft^3/s of inflow. Outflow was only 4,000 ft^3/s! Edit 2: Here's a visualization: http://i.imgur.com/usZAici.jpg http://i.imgur.com/usZAici.jpg
  - ars 9y ago
    It can happen if water is entering the lake faster than it can exit. That's why a river can crest much higher than the water lower than it - it's a dynamic level, not a static one.
  - tajen 9y ago
    It also just takes a wave (due, for example, to terrain movement) to go overboard and it drastically erodes the crest of the dam, starting a chain reaction between erosion of the crest and more water going through.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> Army Core of Engineers caused more damage than Harvey did... that is, their home didn't flood until after the water releases from the dams. The water was released because without that, the dams were in danger of overtopping and catastrophic failure. Blaming the Corps and not the storm for that is justified if, and only if, there is evidence that the assessment of danger was made irresponsibly given the available facts. (And the opposite seems to be the case here.)

mannykannot 9y ago

>In fact several people that I spoke to (who themselves could document) would likely argue that the Army Core of Engineers caused more damage than Harvey did. Where do they think the water came from? Where would it have gone without the dams and associated water works, and when?