Galveston weather concerns

[Cuizer2]

Sorry mistake didn't mean to post

 

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[Cuizer2]

For those of you who have damaged homes, you should be aware that Texas has enacted a consumer protection law that you should be aware of. It is Chapter 58 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code. Here is a link to more information about this law ...

 

https://www.pecklaw.com/images/uploads/communications/ClientAlert-2017_Disaster.pdf

[Deptacon]

FYI - A LOT of gas stations in the DFW area are completely out of gas. Lines to fill up in the area are down the block. People have been panic refueling which only further exacerbates the problem.

 

So there's a new obstacle that will affect some people getting to the port this weekend. No idea what the situation is on the stretches of highways between the major cities.

 

 

 

When I drove through Matthew last year to get to my escape cruise I brought 2 5 gallon fuel cans in my SUV and when I didn't need them i put them in my tank before i left the car in parking for the cruise.

 

 

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[wolfganghowell]

Yep, I can't find gas anywhere around my home or office (20 miles apart). I've heard though that the tankers are merely delayed - that we have plenty of gas, it's just a delivery slowdown. I too heard the Tuesday info but that's under dispute. As usual, the media created a panic. Everyone and their dog topped off their gas tanks. Glad I have three quarters of a tank and drive a Prius!

 

Cindy - glad to see you guys came out ok. Most people I know along the coast are ok with some tragic exceptions. Someone I know lost a family member, another lost their entire home. But I am comforted by so many individual acts of heroism that I know of, including a friend who is in the National Guard. Thanks to all for any help.

[TC1957]

Yep, I can't find gas anywhere around my home or office (20 miles apart). I've heard though that the tankers are merely delayed - that we have plenty of gas, it's just a delivery slowdown. I too heard the Tuesday info but that's under dispute. As usual, the media created a panic.

 

 

The "media" may have helped, but when a major chain of stations tells them they will be delivering partial orders to locations in many areas and only be delivering to some stations (cancelling orders from the other locations) in another area you cannot expect any media outlet to think that isn't newsworthy.

 

The primary issue is not just deliveries being delayed. There are still 10 huge refineries off-line in Southeast Texas that produce a great deal of gasoline. I built those types of plants for about a decade and can assure you, getting them back online and at full production is not like turning on a light switch. It takes time. Just because the water is receding on the roadways does not mean the plants are able to start going back online. Remember, almost without exception they are located on a river/waterway. The last thing you want is to have one start going back online and the Corp of Engineers decide they need to open a damn for a couple of days to prevent a breech. Flooding is not a good thing at those plants...you don't want one to go boom.

[LadyFureya]

Yeah there's definitely no shortage, that's the wrong word, but it's a bottleneck being exacerbated by the news, social media, people panicking, and the holiday weekend.

 

We will all have plenty of gas to get us where we need to go eventually..but travelling by car this weekend will probably be affected in some areas.

 

Thankfully I don't drive an ICE.

[kilpa482]

Here in the US we have a confusing web of government responsibilities. There is federal, state, county, city/town and sometimes there are agencies that are governmental but that don't fit into any of those. When we talk about a disaster it is usually a county or more than one that is declared a disaster area, but that doesn't mean it is the entire county that is having the disaster. And "travel ban" is really not a phrase we use here. When something is happening somewhere there might be a decision to close the roads into the area but that is how it would be worded. Or often it is voluntary. For example officials might issue a "shelter in place" order, but all that means is, "We recommend that you stay inside." There typically isn't any legal force behind it.

 

In a disaster like the one in Houston there is so much that needs doing and resources spread so thin and where it is happening is so dispersed that no really takes the time to close roads or declare an area off limits. There are streets in Houston that are impassable because they are under water, but there isn't closed sign or a list of "travel bans" on those streets.

 

Also, coming back to the web of government I mentioned. I have lived in California my whole life and am sometimes surprised how different things can be in other states, but I'll tell you how it is here and I assume it would be the same in Texas... The highways are overseen by the state and it is the California Highway Patrol (CHP) who controls them and who would have the authority to shut them down. Even when they go through a city. Roads that are in a city or town (other than state highways) are controlled by the city/town. If the road it outside of a city/town it is controlled by the county. There are federal lands too and those would be controlled by the federal government. Then you have places that have multiple agencies overseeing it. Something like an airport. Here the airport is run by the city, but it has to meet federal regulations and the FAA has a lot of control too. So the airport could be shut down by either the city or the feds. I don't know who runs the Port of Galveston, but I would guess that it would be the city or county of Galveston, but again it has to meet federal regulations and the Coast Guard enforces those and has some control over the port. Either the country (or whoever runs it) or the feds could shut it down.

 

All this is to say that it isn't as simple as saying, "There is a travel ban in this county and that county." In this case, there aren't any travel bans that I am aware of, but certain things are shut down making travel at that spot impossible. For example the airports are shut down, so you can't fly in. Some roads aren't legally closed, but are underwater so they really are. In some cases if a road is a major enough thoroughfare, it may be officially shut down, with police blocking it or barricades out.

 

Not such an easy answer to your question and I'm not sure what your insurance will accept as a "travel ban" but I don't think in most cases you are going to be able to show them anything in that kind of wording.

 

 

Not an official travel ban, but would do you think an airport closure NOTAM would work?

[BecciBoo]

you were right, it started this afternoon in San Antonio. I agree I think its just people afraid they won't have enough gas...and I think the media helps a lot, they just love a crisis. It is brought on by reports about the refineries.

 

Well, my truck is full although my hubby is out right now and called to tell me about lines everywhere he went...so he's on a mission to get gas now.:rolleyes:

 

BTW, RCCL has a handful of cabins at a very good discount for this Sunday's cruise. We'd have jumped on a balcony but for our upcoming Hawaii trip next month so we couldn't. But somebody could save a bunch right now.

[wolfganghowell]

TC- yep agreed. The media hyped it as gas shortage when in reality, it is a simple delay. Distribution is slowed - the available tankers are waiting in lines. We've created our own shortage because people panicked and everyone topped off tanks that could normally last them another week. I agree - it's newsworthy but it's not like we need to saddle up the horses for the next month. :) It's a minor issue compared to everything else.

[tugboat]

I read all this so I got out of this house, Katy Tx went to 10 different gas station all of them had gas two only had 87 octane gas. We like to thank the folks in Dallas for shipping their gas to,Houston.

 

 

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[reallyitsmema]

I read all this so I got out of this house, Katy Tx went to 10 different gas station all of them had gas two only had 87 octane gas. We like to thank the folks in Dallas for shipping their gas to,Houston.

 

 

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Prices going up down there too? I filled up yesterday for $2.17 per gallon, we are outside of Boston. Drove by same place today and it is $2.49.:eek: Granted, we are coming up on a holiday weekend, so the combination of the storm and the holiday makes for a big jump.

[Biker19]

BTW, RCCL has a handful of cabins at a very good discount for this Sunday's cruise. We'd have jumped on a balcony but for our upcoming Hawaii trip next month so we couldn't. But somebody could save a bunch right now.

Cabin prices for some sailings in Oct 2018 are even better.

[TC1957]

Prices going up down there too? I filled up yesterday for $2.17 per gallon, we are outside of Boston. Drove by same place today and it is $2.49.:eek: Granted, we are coming up on a holiday weekend, so the combination of the storm and the holiday makes for a big jump.

 

If you have any remodeling on the To Do list...purchase the materials quickly. Like, today. Expect shortages and higher prices for all types of building materials, especially if you live near Southeast Texas.

[cruiser915]

Looks like there are a lot of rooms available for this Sunday - must have been a lot of cancellations.

[caribill]

We live in League City which is about halfway between downtown Houston and downtown Galveston.

 

Driving around today we saw every local gas station open. Only one 7/11 type station had raised their price and it was up 10 cents/gallon there. Other stations have the same pricing as before the storm which is between 2.069 and 2.099. Of course, tomorrow these prices may change.

 

All groceries stores in our area of League City are open and have the major staples such as milk, eggs, bread even if not all brands and types. Fresh produce and fruits are in short supply. Lines that existed yesterday to get into the stores are non-existent today. Many of the store doe have shortened opening times (for example, 11 AM-3 PM instead of 7 AM - mid-night).

 

So for our small area, things are almost "normal," at least on the outside.

 

Yes, some homes in our city did have water in them. Some had street flooding that kept them for leaving their homes which did not have water in them. Some had lost electricity for up to three days. But conditions are much improved over two days ago.

 

Most of the damage in Houston and the surrounding communities was in homes near a river, stream or bayou that overflowed. Lesson here is no reason to pay extra to purchase a home next to a beautiful view with water. Areas that flooded included some areas that have high water problems after any significant rainfall, some areas that have never flooded before, and some that are being flooded because two flood control reservoirs became full and had to have controlled and overflow releases.

 

The terrible flooding in Beaumont and Port Arthur (east of Houston, near the border with Louisiana) was from 25" of rain in 24 hours. The time the storm spent there was when it was originally predicted to be right over our area, so their misfortune prevented big problems here, an area that already had 38" of rain over a five day period.

[BecciBoo]

There will be more.........My hubby is trying to make it home after hunting for gas for 2 hrs.! He has the Prius.

 

Forget the cruise, it's doubtful people can make it to Galveston because of this gas crisis now,....trickle down is a beeotch.

 

We're hunkering down here. This is pretty scary like LadyF said. I realize the supply demand thing, but this is ridiculous.

 

Someone needs to go on television and calm everybody down. I don't remember this at all after Katrina...at least here...

[wolfganghowell]

The railroad commissioner issued a statement saying that we have no fuel shortage - people just panicked. So now we have to wait for the tankers to make their calls. crazy! becci - glad we have our Prius...or is that Priiii? :)

[George C]

Dallas area is same many stations have none. the ones that do are charging a dollar more than last week, glad we filled up Monday before prices went up

[Rasvar]

I see the gas shortage thing happen quite often after a storm. One thing that sometimes happens is that tankers get prioritized to the disaster areas and then there is a lag to resupply everyone else. It's probably a distribution shortage in the short term, especially since there has been the inventory of gas ready to go was already floating at the top of the 5 year average range. An actual shortage from refinery production will take another couple of weeks to hit the market if it happens. But price of gas will rise to close $3/gal on average before that happens. This also assumes the already produced inventory wasn't damaged/destroyed by flooding but there really hasn't been anything to indicate that has happened.

 

 

added edit: Looks like they expect the Colonial pipeline that delivers gas from the region to Atlanta to be back up by Sunday. So local sources should also improve.

http://www.ajc.com/business/economy/gas-prices-rising-atlanta-but-pipelines-might-back-sunday/m8OHdwErWBctpn34viP0PJ/

[RJB]

My heart goes out to everyone in Texas and La. WE have also been thru all that horror here in Florida and do not wish it on our worst enemy. Stay safe and get thru it. :):)

[coaster]

Did not know about gas shortages until the past recent posts. Outside Tampa here and just ventured out and closest stations were out of 87 octane unleaded. Found it at our third stop where lines were starting to form.

 

 

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[Ocean Dancer]

Did not know about gas shortages until the past recent posts. Outside Tampa here and just ventured out and closest stations were out of 87 octane unleaded. Found it at our third stop where lines were starting to form.

 

 

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But in your area, isn't that because of possible hurricane Irma?

[woodz]

SWA will resume operations Saturday afternoon according to their internal website. Hopefully all airport and airline employees will be able to get to work so that they can get paid and have a small sense of normalcy.

[coaster]

But in your area, isn't that because of possible hurricane Irma?

 

 

I don't think so as it is so far out right now. Basically part of shortages in the Southeast from what I am reading about.

 

 

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[A&L_Ont]

The price of gas has increased here in Canada about 10 cents a litre because of the Hurricane. A gallon of 87 octane would be work out to be $4.11 US. There is no shortage here, but since production has stopped in Houston they can gouge.