Touching Bases

Please donate to the American Red Cross.  Even if it’s just $10-$15.  Every little bit helps.

My mom talked to my cousin WM in Rosharon yesterday.  She was beside herself as all her land where her cattle are is under water and it was nearing her home.  She thought she might have to leave in the night.  My cousin EJ in Pearland is safe but they cannot get out of their housing addition/estate due to high water.  The same applies to my cousin BJ who is home now but who badly needs to get out to see his doctor (who very likely couldn’t get to his office either).

I’ve heard from my blog friend as well this morning.  They’ve had 47 inches of rain where she is in League City.  The water is lapping at the front steps of her building, but she is on the third floor.  She lost power for a bit, but it is back on now.  Miss Dixie (at left) is taking things in her stride.  As they say, “Life is hard, then you nap.”

Johnson Space Center, mission control for the International Space Station is just across the lake from her.  Their total rainfall to date is 43 inches.  They are down to a skeleton crew of essential mission personnel only.  JSC also houses the huge thermal vacuum chamber where the James Webb Space Telescope is undergoing tests. The nearly $9 billion successor to the Hubble Space Telescope is to be launched in October 2018.  The telescope is safe at the moment, as are the personnel who have stayed to protect it, a spokeswoman said.

The space center covers 1,700 acres southeast of Houston, almost within sight of flood-prone Clear Lake and about 30 miles from Galveston Bay. It is on low ground — just 13 feet above sea level at its lowest point, 22 feet at its highest. And it’s only getting more vulnerable as a result of climate change.*

Just got word that the Columbia Lakes levee in Brazoria County just suffered a breach.  Residents in affected areas were told to “Get out now.”

Mom and I have been trading off trying to keep in touch.  We are only calling periodically, as we have no way to tell who has power to keep their cell phone charged, and who doesn’t, and we don’t want to use up power that might be needed to call for help!

 

*The POTUS does not believe in climate change.  Fair enough.  I don’t believe in him either.