The flood before the storm
When Store Director Alicia Reddick checked on water supplies at the HEB in Montrose on Wednesday morning, her employees had stocked the aisle about half full of gallon jugs and cases of water bottles.
By noon, all but four jugs and a quarter of the cases were gone.
“Every order has water,” she said as customers nearby reached for what remained. “Folks are saying ‘Well I’m not going to panic just yet, but it’s not going to hurt to have an extra case of water.’”
Storm-weary residents around greater Houston spent their lunch breaks and mornings stocking up on water and canned goods Wednesday as forecasts predicted a storm system churning in the Gulf could make landfall by the weekend as Tropical Storm or Hurricane Barry along the Louisiana Coast.
The storm’s predicted path would steer it away from Southeast Texas, but the Houston area could still feel its impact.
In its afternoon briefing, the National Weather Service said a tropical depression likely would form in the northern Gulf of Mexico by Thursday and possibly a hurricane by the weekend. Forecasts showed the storm most likely would make landfall in central or western Louisiana some time between Thursday evening and Friday morning, although those time and location projections could change. Hurricane hunter aircraft were flown into the dis
turbance just after noon Wednesday.
To the east, a torrential downpour dumped as much as 11 inches of rain on New Orleans early Wednesday, flooding streets, vehicles, homes and businesses. The deluge appeared to be a prelude to the coming storm system in the Gulf.
Forecasters predicted that approaching tropical system could bring another six to 12 inches of rain to the city, with some areas getting as much as 18 inches, in the coming days. Additionally, there is concern the tropical system could create a storm surge that pushes the flood-swollen Mississippi River above the levees that surround New Orleans.
In Austin, Gov. Greg Abbott held a briefing at the state emergency operations center, urging residents to remain alert to severe weather approaching their communities, and said the state was ready to provide assistance to those affected.
The storm is not expected to become more powerful than a potential Category 1 hurricane, but locals’ experiences with Hurricane Harvey, which weakened to a tropical storm by the time it reached Houston, inspired some area residents to do some preparatory shopping.
At the Montrose HEB, some loaded their carts with canned tuna, chips and other nonperishable foods, while others headed straight for the bottled water. The store sold 1,200 units of water on Tuesday, up from roughly 750 the day before, Reddick said.
Along the beverage aisle, a handful of folks said they already had stocked up on supplies before hurricane season officially began on June 1.
Few seemed as well prepared as John Stencil, a former member of the Coast Guard. At home, he said, he already had at least 6 gallons of water, an abundance of nonperishables, a propane camp stove, as well as toilet paper and paper towels.
The forecast path and strength
of the potential tropical storm did not worry him, but he called it a good reminder to stay prepared.
“It’s especially important since Harvey,” Stencil said. “Because we didn’t even take a direct hit, but that was a whole lot of rain.”
Lisa Vagasky, a manufacturing representative who has lived in Houston for 45 years, said she has taken some extra steps, too. She bought flood insurance even though she does not live in a floodplain and leans on her prior storm experience to guide her preparation efforts.
“We already had stocked up before hurricane season started on canned goods and all that stuff, so …”
Vagasky stopped mid-sentence as a man with no fewer than nine 24-packs of bottled water nearly toppling out of his cart cruised past.
“Wow,” she said, staring. “I guess I’m late to the party.”
About 25 miles northeast, employees at the Home Depot in Humble set up hurricane-specific displays, complete with tarp, generators, battery-powered fans and hand-crank radios people could purchase at the front of the store. Jerrad Hall, the store’s operations manager, said the company keeps backup items around the country, which can be sent to stores quickly in the event of a natural disaster. A disaster preparation team tracks storms and directs products to areas that could be affected by hurricanes, tornadoes and other weather events.
After about 400 homes flooded in Kingwood in May, for example, the store began stocking more respirators and tools used for gutting and renovating flooded homes.
Despite those efforts, few customers took items from the display boxes Wednesday afternoon.
Instead, Calvin and Joy Bayley bought a sprinkler head and a couple of terrariums to create a birthday present for their granddaughter. Calvin, who is retired, said the couple already had a generator, air-conditioning unit, gas cans and plenty of canned goods at home. They bought them before Harvey, not wanting to repeat their experiences in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.
After that storm, the Bayleys’ Atascocita home was without power for nearly 12 days. They were able to get a small air conditioner a few days later, which Joy said was a saving grace.
“You can survive anything as long as you have air conditioning,” she said with a laugh.