GZ
I'm from Galveston, about 50 miles N.E. of Freeport/lake Jackson on the"dirty" side of the storm.. The winds aren't ver dangerous from a tropical Storm, but the floods and water can be amazing. In TS Allison about 5 years ago we got as I recall about 30", yes, 2 1/2 ft of rain. There was one in Alvin that gave up nearly 4 ft in a 24 hour period in about 1979.

The main thing to remember, in a bad flood ,stay put. Keep you car parked somewhere above the street. Its not worth it to lose your life or even just your car. Also, If you can't see the curb on a flooded street, don't drive into the water. If their are other cars flooded out on the street, you might not make it either. So just pull up on the sidewalk or the grass on the median, that extra 18" or two feet might make a difference. Flood control designs the streets to hold water so the drainage doesnt get overwhelmed, call Harris County Flood Control today and ask if you don't believe me.

And, don't let the ninnie TV weathermen make you panic. If you aren't in a flood plain and if your house didn't flood during Allison, its unlikely to flood. About 30 people died in that panicked evacuation during Rita, including a friend of mine. He had cancer, got stuck in the traffic on I-10 and died with his wife driving. If he'd stayed home he would have been fine-his house didn't flood. So his wife spent hours sitting in their car with his body, and it could have been avoided. I drove from Galveston to Houston and stayed with my 81 year old father on the 2nd floor of his senior citizens center, as he was too ill to evacuate. I parked my car high in a parking lot of a strip shopping center about a block away, there was no problem.

I was raised in Houston, I've lived on the Gulf Coast all my life. I've never lost a car to flood waters, or been more than inconvenienced Bob Ebersole