Tropical Storm Allison

Our journey from New Orleans to Austin in Texas took us through the aftermath of Allison.   The damage that has been done is huge and, as of today (15/6/2001), more rain is still falling on Texas.  The worst area hit was Houston, where flooding was extensive, even completely submerging interstate 10 through the middle of the city.  Pictures were published in the press showing trucks floating on the flooded section.

21 people were killed in Texas and Louisiana as a direct result of the weather.  The worst story we heard was of a woman drowned in a parking lot elevator when it became stuck.  While we were driving through Houston we saw some terrible traffic accidents due to the weather.

So far this has been made a state and federal disaster, with the cost estimated at over 1 billion dollars (American billion, that is).

    Houses flooded by a bayou that burst it's banks alongside I-10.

    People were using boats to get out to their homes. We also saw lots of people fishing in what was (I guess) their gardens - there was a story in the paper about some people catching some absolutely whopper fish in their front yards!

    Terrible visibility on the interstate in Louisiana. The phrase "raining cats and dogs" really springs to mind!

    Interstate 10 blocked off, due to flooding.  We had to detour around it.  This was really difficult as other main roads were also flooded.  Eventually we managed to find our way out after more than an hour of driving around Houston.

    Welcome to Texas!  You can see, as you drive across Texas, some of the things which must influence president Bush - as you drive over the countryside there are oil derricks everywhere, large (huge!) factories like this one everywhere. So the whole oil based economy and large manufacturing is really accepted part of life here...

    Main road junction in Houston. This was a small intersection.