Monday, September 4, 2017

HURRICANE HARVEY - COSTLIEST IN HISTORY - Should America Stop REbuilding Muslim Dictatorships and Now Fix Our Own County

THE LA RAZA MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS HAUL BACK 

OVER OUR OPEN AND UNDEFENDED BORDERS $60 

BILLION PER YEAR FROM HEROIN SALES! Perhaps we 

could borrow the money to rebuild Houston from them?


"In the face of this catastrophe, the response from the 

institutions of the American ruling class is a combination of 

criminal negligence and indifference. The federal and state 

governments have left the bulk of the population to shift for 

itself, local governments across the region have virtually 

collapsed, and the giant corporations and other institutions 

of the ruling elite—universities, churches, foundations, etc.—

have offered only token assistance."



Hurricane Harvey to be costliest US natural disaster
By Patrick Martin
4 September 2017
With estimates of the total damage ranging from $180 billion on up, Hurricane Harvey may be the costliest disaster, in terms of economic damage, in US history.
Damage estimates are still preliminary, with large 

areas still inaccessible. The death toll stands at 50, 

but it is expected to rise considerably as homes in 

lower-elevation neighborhoods of Houston—mostly 

poor and working-class—and in the swamped cities 

of Beaumont and Port Arthur are reached by rescue 

and recovery teams.
The American Red Cross reported Sunday its highest total for storm refugees, 37,000 in emergency shelters across the Texas Gulf Coast and 2,000 more in Louisiana. Some 85,000 homes are still without electrical power, mainly in the southeast Texas region between Corpus Christi and Galveston, where Harvey first came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane.
The Texas Department of Public Safety raised its estimate of the total number of homes damaged by flooding and wind to over 200,000 Sunday, with much of Houston and all of Beaumont and Port Arthur still unaccounted for. Nearly 15,000 homes were classified as destroyed.
A staggering one million vehicles were destroyed or damaged, mainly by flooding, which destroys the complex electronic workings of most modern cars and trucks.
Only a small fraction of homeowners and businesses in Harris County, which includes Houston, have federal flood insurance policies, about 250,000 for 1.7 million homes or apartments and 100,000 business premises. For the region as a whole, it is estimated that at least 70 percent of the flood damage is uninsured.
The Houston Independent School District, seventh largest in the US, reported that at least 202 of its 284 schools had water inside, and only 115 had been deemed safe to reopen by September 11, when the school year is now scheduled to start. At least 75 schools had “major” or “extensive” damage, and 39 were still inaccessible due to flooding and had not been checked.
The damage from Harvey is likely to be more than the combined total of Hurricane Katrina ($110 billion) and Superstorm Sandy ($60 billion).
In the face of this catastrophe, the response from the institutions of the American ruling class is a combination of criminal negligence and indifference. The federal and state governments have left the bulk of the population to shift for itself, local governments across the region have virtually collapsed, and the giant corporations and other institutions of the ruling elite—universities, churches, foundations, etc.—have offered only token assistance.
President Trump traveled to the Gulf Coast for the second time in a week, in a choreographed show of “sympathy” for the victims of Harvey in Houston and Lake Charles, Louisiana. As usual with Trump, every appearance was a display of sickening self-love and hollow and obviously phony populism.
After speaking with a small, vetted group of storm refugees at the NRG Center, one of several convention centers in downtown Houston housing victims of Harvey, Trump told reporters, “They’re really happy with what’s going on.” He added, referring to the government response to Harvey, “It’s something that’s been very well received. Even by you guys, it’s been very well received.”
This comment, a mixture of self-promotion and self-delusion, only underscores the unbridgeable social gulf between the billionaire president (along with the media) and the vast majority of the storm’s victims, working people who have lost nearly everything, and in some cases saw loved ones swept away by rushing waters.
The White House is requesting an initial $7.8 billion appropriation from Congress in emergency assistance to the storm-ravaged area, with a second request for $6.7 billion to follow shortly. The combined total, $14.5 billion, is less than 10 percent of the published estimates of damage, and less than a quarter of the recovery and relief funds approved after Superstorm Sandy in 2012-2013.
The Trump administration appears to be seizing on Hurricane Harvey to solve an immediate political dispute with Congress, following the cynical maxim of Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel (now mayor of Chicago) to “never let a good crisis go to waste.”
White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan sent Friday, called for the initial emergency funds for Hurricane Harvey to be packaged in a bill to raise the federal debt ceiling, which Treasury officials have said must be enacted by September 29 to avoid dislocating Wall Street and global financial markets.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appeared on Fox News Sunday to reiterate this demand, which is aimed mainly at the Freedom Caucus, a grouping of 40 ultra-right Republicans in the House of Representatives who have threatened to block any increase in the debt ceiling unless it is combined with major cuts in social spending.
Besides the impact on Wall Street, the Trump administration is concerned that a federal debt default could disrupt the overseas operations of the US military, which are dependent on foreign countries receiving US payment for supplies, refueling and other costs, as well as direct financial subsidies to client regimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia.
The real attitude of the Trump administration towards the victims of natural disasters like Harvey is shown in the draft budget plan prepared by the White House, which cut nearly a billion dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as abolishing the Chemical Safety Board, which investigates disasters like the series of explosions at the Arkema plant in Crosby, Texas, northeast of Houston.
Trump has gloried in his executive actions dismantling what little remains of regulatory restrictions on the operations of the giant oil and chemical companies that dominate the Gulf Coast. According to one tabulation, there are 33 plants in the greater Houston area whose corporate owners have filed formal notices with the federal government that in “worst-case” scenarios, a disaster at the plant would endanger a nearby population of more than one million people. Arkema was only one of the 33.
The Environmental Protection Agency reported Sunday that more than 800 wastewater treatment plants are not fully operational in the wake of Harvey, while 166 water systems are operating under “boil-water” instructions to their customers. Another 50 have shut down entirely, including the water system for the entire city of Beaumont, with a population of 118,000.
Rather than redoubled monitoring of the dangers of toxic chemical leaks, the EPA was engaged Sunday in a bitter war of words with the Associated Press, after the AP reported that there were 13 toxic waste sites in southeast Texas, managed under the EPA’s “superfund” program, that had been inundated, raising the prospect of dioxin and other toxic chemicals leaking into the floodwaters.
The EPA denounced claims that it had not yet bothered to check on these sites, a full week after Harvey struck the region, claiming the AP “is cherry-picking facts.” However, these facts were unanswerably true, as the AP and other sources documented that 13 of the 41 superfund sites in the region were underwater.
The EPA admitted that it had not been able to physically visit the sites near Houston, because of floodwaters, and was relying on aerial monitoring to “confirm possible damage,” a completely inadequate method of determining whether there were breaches in the containment around any of the sites.
The EPA maintained that it was working with state authorities, but the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has suspended pollution reporting requirements for the duration of the hurricane disaster, and the TCEQ office in Houston is closed. The Trump administration budget would cut the superfund program by 30 percent.
Once the immediate danger of drowning is past, the main threat from floodwaters is the combination of chemicals and waste products they have accumulated. The federal Department of Health and Human Services reported that it had treated 420 of the 7,500 people housed at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, some of them for diarrhea or vomiting following contact with contaminated floodwater.
"The combined net worth of the 400 richest Americans was 

$2.4 trillion in 2016, a number that has only grown as the 

stock market continues to rise. This is more than 12 times 

the estimated damages from Hurricane Harvey. The net 

income of US banks last year alone was $171 billion. The 

annual budget of the US military—used to fund an ever-

expanding drive of global conquest that threatens to unleash 

a third world war—is more than $600 billion."


Who will pay for the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey?
2 September 2017
As some residents begin to return to their homes and rescuers search the still flooded buildings in and around Houston, Texas, the massive extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey is only now being fully revealed. The consequences of what by some measures is the greatest natural disaster in American history will be far-reaching, not only for the millions of people directly affected, but for social and political stability in the United States.
The official death toll for the storm increased to 46 on Friday, though this figure is expected to rise in the coming days. As many as one million people have been displaced by the floods, turned into internal refugees. The number of flooded structures is estimated at 136,000 just in Harris County, which includes Houston, the fourth-largest city in the country.
Nearby Beaumont (population 118,000), which has been transformed into a virtual island, remains without running water, and it is it is not known when the city’s pumps will be repaired. Chemical and refinery plants throughout the region, like the Arkema facility that is the location of an ongoing fire, are still flooded. An unknown number of bridges and roads have been severely damaged and in some cases swept away.
AccuWeather is estimating that the overall cost of the storm could rise to $190 billion, or the equivalent of one percent of the total value of all goods and services produced in the United States in an entire year. This is nearly as much as Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Hurricane Sandy (2012) combined. Such estimates do not include many additional costs, such as the additional health care expenses for thousands of people due to the toxic mix of chemicals and waste in floodwaters, or the impact of the rising cost of gas as oil companies seize the opportunity to raise prices.
The single hurricane will have a sizeable impact on the overall economy in the United States this year, perhaps cutting growth in half. Large parts of Houston will be uninhabitable for weeks or months due to water damage, disrupting economic activity and leaving tens of thousands without an income.
It is the poor and working class who will be the hardest hit. More than 80 percent of homeowners in the region most severely impacted by the hurricane do not have flood insurance, meaning they will be left to rebuild with inadequate loans from various federal agencies, if they are able to get even these.
As the true extent of the damage becomes clear, its more far-reaching consequences will be felt. Harvey has hit the United States under conditions of deep social, economic, and political crisis. Neither the Trump administration nor its opponents within the ruling class command any significant popular support. The American ruling class, riven by deep internal divisions over foreign policy, confronts an economic system built on massive speculative bubbles and an increasingly angry and hostile working class.
Over the past week, the American media and political establishment have organized their forces to perform a well-choreographed political theater, combining hypocritical and insincere commentary on the “tragedy” of Hurricane Harvey, with the deliberate avoidance of any discussion on who is responsible and what must be done. The aim is to somehow prevent workers from drawing the necessary conclusion: that the devastation wrought by Hurricane Harvey is a crime of capitalism, for which the American ruling class is to blame.
The potential for flooding on this scale was neither unforeseeable nor unforeseen. The most basic measures, such as ensuring that there was a way for rainfall in the north of the city to reach the Gulf of Mexico without flooding the city itself, were simply ignored, as documented in a interview with risk management expert Robert Bea. No plan was in place for an orderly evacuation of the region in the event of a disaster, even though the region is prone to hurricanes.
Adequate preparation would require a level of planning and foresight of which the ruling elite is incapable. For the past forty years, under both Democrats and Republicans, it has engaged in a single-minded policy of upward wealth redistribution, corporate deregulation, and financial speculation. The results are seen not only in Houston, but throughout the country: record social inequality, deindustrialized cities, declining life expectancy, and eroded infrastructure—witnessed in the poisoning of the water in Flint, Michigan among countless other examples.
Even before the waters have receded, the main concern of the political representatives of the ruling elite is to make sure that those responsible for the catastrophe will not have to pay for it. Some form of emergency federal funding bill will likely be passed. As was the case following Hurricane Katrina and Sandy, however, those requiring assistance will have to fight tooth and nail to receive pitifully inadequate funds, generally in the form of loans.
One way or another, the ruling class will force workers to foot the bill. The overriding domestic policy priority of the Trump administration is to pass a massive corporate tax cut. Before Harvey hit, and even as the floodwaters rose, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were touring the country to promote their “tax reform” proposal.
Along the same lines, Republican John McCain published an op-ed Thursday in the Washington Post entitled, “It’s time Congress returns to regular order,” in which he did not mention the hurricane, and instead called for Congress to move ahead with “tax reform”—a euphemism for slashing corporate taxes—as well as increasing defense spending. Democrats, meanwhile, have repeatedly stated their support for working with the Trump administration to “simplify” the tax code by cutting taxes on corporations.
The working class must advance its own program. All those affected by the hurricane must be made whole, with full restitution for damaged homes and property. Those displaced by the hurricane must receive quality housing. A multitrillion-dollar public works program must be initiated to rebuild the city and develop public infrastructure throughout the country.
To fund and implement such a program requires a frontal assault on the wealth and power of the corporate and financial elite. The combined net worth of the 400 richest Americans was $2.4 trillion in 2016, a number that has only grown as the stock market continues to rise. This is more than 12 times the estimated damages from Hurricane Harvey. The net income of US banks last year alone was $171 billion. The annual budget of the US military—used to fund an ever-expanding drive of global conquest that threatens to unleash a third world war—is more than $600 billion.
The vast wealth created by the working class must be taken out of the hands of a privileged few and used to meet social need. The giant corporations and banks, which control the entire political system and dictate policy, must be transformed into public utilities, democratically controlled by the working class.
Hurricane Harvey cannot be separated from all the other manifestations of social crisis in the United States and internationally. For the working class, the great question is to organize in a struggle for political power. It is not a matter of pressuring the ruling elite, or replacing one section of that elite with another. The working class must organize itself as a political force and make itself the master of society. To lead this struggle is the overriding task of the Socialist Equality Party.
Joseph Kishore

Fetid floodwaters in the “chemical coast” 

carry toxins and disease

The incalculable human health consequences of Hurricane Harvey

By Gary Joad
2 September 2017
The human health consequences from Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey will be long lasting and all but incalculable. Houston, Texas and the surrounding Gulf communities comprise the acknowledged petrochemical capital of the world. The Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coasts are commonly referred to as the “chemical coast,” where almost half of all the refining of gasoline and natural gas in the US is done.
Houston proper, 30 miles from the coastline, is situated in Harris County, and is also home to at least 12 Superfund sites, the most of any county in the state. These are sites designated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as polluted locations requiring a long-term response to clean up hazardous material contamination.
“The number one thing we’re concerned with in a flood is chemicals,” Renee Funk of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told Reuters. Funk was recommending what has been unfeasible for most of the flooded area residents since the onset of the catastrophic storm: to bathe immediately after flood water contact. The EPA was recommending that people avoid skin contact with chemical containing water altogether.
But for those trapped by and wading through the fetid floodwaters, such recommendations are all but impossible to heed. Dr. Richard Bradley, chief of Emergency Medicine and Disaster Medicine at McGovern Medical School at University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, told Time, “Flood water mixes with everything below it. If it covers a field with pesticides, it picks up the pesticides. It can also carry animal waste from fields and forests.”

Petrochemical plants and Superfund sites

There is also the risk of raw sewage and industrial compounds and solvents being mobilized from treatment plants, petrochemical facilities, and Superfund sites and moved into neighborhoods by the surging flood currents. These pollutants are then deposited in yards, school grounds, ball fields and parks citywide, wherever the flooding occurred. Extremely toxic compounds will then be left in sediment residues to poison the city residents for decades to come.
Dr. Bradley also noted that “the bacterial counts in the floodwater is extremely high” and that therefore “the chance of getting a skin infection is really quite serious.” E. coli and Salmonella bacteria from sewage treatment facilities can infect minor skin wounds and cause severe systemic illness. Health authorities also point out that keeping immunization up to date is key to preventing complications from exposure to foul floodwaters.
When the floodwaters recede, countless stagnant ponds will foster a mosquito bloom. Aedes aegypti mosquitos carry and transmit Zika, chikungunya, dengue and yellow fever. Cases of West Nile Virus encephalopathy, an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, doubled the year after Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi. Crowded shelters for flood victims are also breeding grounds for outbreaks of diarrheal illnesses that are very difficult to contain.
The hundreds of thousands of flooded homes will also put people at high risk for respiratory illnesses associated with the growth of molds on interior surfaces. After Katrina, 46 percent of the homes inspected by the CDC had hazardous levels of mold.
Wes Highfield, a Texas A&M University at Galveston scientist, told the Washington Post this week that he became alarmed at the flooding near the Brio Refining toxic Superfund site in south Houston, which drains into the watershed where he lives in Friendswood. He drove to the site during the storm and found neighborhood kids swimming in the residue ponds where Brio dumped ethylbenzene, chlorinated hydrocarbons and other deadly compounds before the EPA had them removed.
Other Superfund sites include the low-lying San Jacinto River Waste Pits, which the Army Corps of Engineers in a report last year designated as subject to flooding with storm surges inland from Galveston Bay, as well as the Many Diversified Interests site near central Houston, the Crystal Chemical Company site southwest of Houston, the Patrick Bayou site near the Houston Ship Channel, and the Jones Road Plume dry cleaning waste site.
The Superfund sites are known to contain compounds that are dangerous to inhale and touch, including perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, chlorinated hydrocarbons and an array of toxic substances that are known carcinogens, as well as kidney, liver, reproductive, and developmental poisons.

Toxic air pollutants

At least 11 refineries and chemical plants shut down due to Hurricane Harvey. During a shutdown, the plants often vent much greater amounts of toxic air pollutants, known in the industry as “spikes.” Since they report that such practices are undertaken to prevent plant explosions during shutdowns, they are exempted from pollution fines. Air quality monitors in Houston were shut off during Harvey, with the ludicrous explanation by city officials that they were expensive to replace.
Neighborhoods in Houston’s East End, near the petrochemical plants, have been exposed to high levels of air pollution for years. Residents have reported smells that are “unbearable.” Daniel Cohan, an associate professor of engineering at Rice University with a specialty in air pollution, says the low-income neighborhoods of the East End have “more exposure to air toxics than almost anywhere in the country.”
Juan Parras, director of the environmental justice group called TEJAS, told Democracy Now, “We know that we have elevated levels of cancers all along these areas. There have been many reports to show increased rates of childhood leukemia if you live within two miles of the Houston Ship Channel, for example.” TEJAS told The New Republic that during a shutdown for flooding, if East End people cannot evacuate, “they literally get gassed by these chemicals.”
In filings with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), ExxonMobile reported a shutdown of two refineries due to the heavy rains, including its facility in Baytown. During shutdown, it released double the allowed amount of volatile organic compounds.
Shell shut down its plant at Deer Park and released its share of deadly cocktails of benzene, toluene, and xylene. Dow Chemical in Freeport, Texas poured out benzene, hexane and toluene well over what is permitted by TCEQ. Equistar Chemicals in Channelview lost power during the storm and released a series of toxins not even listed on its polluting permit.
BASF’s Agro division in Beaumont, Texas reported that its toxic wastewater reservoirs were overflowing into the environment without any ability to stop the dangerous pollution until the cessation of the heavy rains, if then.
In May of 2013, a study titled “The Toxic Flood” was published by Food and Water Watch of Washington, DC and the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Investigators concluded in an examination of the US EPA’s Toxic Release Program (TRP) documents and figures from 2009 that American corporations dumped over 200 million pounds of carcinogens, neurotoxins, reproductive and developmental poisons in US waterways.

Hospital evacuations

As a result of the flooding from Harvey, some 27 hospitals in Houston and the coastal area closed. Another 25 facilities reported problems functioning due to storm damage. Over 1,500 hospitalized patients were evacuated upstate to San Antonio and other communities. St. Luke’s Health hospital in Houston evacuated inpatients by airboat, after floodwater breached its power plant.
Memorial Hermann Sugar Land hospital evacuated all its patients after the Brazos River flooded the surrounding area. Cypress Creek flooded the neighborhood of Vintage Hospital in northwest Houston, and all inpatients were removed by airboat to higher ground hospitals. Victoria, Texas hospitals were all evacuated by large patient transport buses that each had 20 beds aboard.
The elderly and the mentally ill are most at risk of disease and infection from the floodwaters and the shortages of medicines and treatment facilities. A 2009 study showed that 60 percent of the deaths in Hurricane Katrina were of those who were 65 years and older. People of all ages are threatened with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the trauma of losing everything they have in the floods.
As people attempt to return to their waterlogged homes, those without adequate financial resources will be forced to live in unsanitary conditions, with their health endangered by mold, bacteria and other toxins left in the ruins of their homes.



When George Bush finally showed up at Katrina, he brought with him a massive  no bid deal for Cheney-Halliburton to clean up on the clean up! That included cutting wages for legals and letting the Mexicans pour in.  Pour in La Raza did There was a surge in anchor babies for welfare and Mex gang related crimes which always follows Mexico's invasion and occupation.



"The reason why these warnings have been ignored is not hard to fathom. They have been resolutely opposed by corporate interests, including the real estate industry, Wall Street and Big Oil. Their ability, operating through bribed politicians of  both parties, to veto and block elementary measures to protect the American people, exemplifies the complete subordination of all social needs under capitalism to the selfish drive of a corporate-financial oligarchy to accumulate ever greater levels of personal wealth and profit."


The Houston flood, the anarchy of the capitalist market and the case for socialist planning

30 August 2017
The disaster along the US Gulf Coast triggered by Hurricane Harvey continues to worsen as the storm moves east into Louisiana. Houston, the nation’s fourth largest city, remains inundated by unprecedented levels of flooding. The reported death toll is 30 and rising, amid reports of dozens of residents gone missing. Five days after landfall, it is still not known how many people are in need of rescue.
Even as the level of death and destruction in southeast Texas mounts, there is a concerted effort to deny that anything could have been done to prepare for or limit the impact of the storm.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator William “Brock” Long proclaimed that the disaster was impossible to foresee. “You could not forecast this up. You could not dream this forecast up,” Long said Monday night. Uncritically quoting Long, the Washington Post published a front-page article with the headline: “Rescue officials say there was no way to prepare for deluge’s ferocity.”
In its editorial on Tuesday, the New York Times wrote that rescue efforts were going “about as well as could be expected.” It added that instead of “lamenting its failure to heed long-ago warnings,” the country should “look ahead.” Ominously, it suggested that, as in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, working class areas of Houston might be left to rot, declaring that officials will need to “make difficult decisions about whether to rebuild and how.”
Twelve years after Katrina, nothing has been done to strengthen flood control systems and build up the social infrastructure to limit the impact of major storms. Nor has anything been done to plan and prepare emergency and public safety measures to deal with a severe weather event. Repeated warnings and urgent recommendations, such as were contained in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2014 report, “Call for a National Flood Risk Management Strategy,” have gone entirely unheeded.
Robert Bea, an emeritus civil engineering professor at UC Berkeley and expert on hurricane risks on the Gulf Coast, told the Los Angeles Times that the official claim that Houston’s flood control system could protect the population from a 100-year storm was a “100-year lie.” The 100-year claim, he explained, is based on the city receiving a maximum of 13 inches of rain in 24 hours, something that has happened more than eight times in the last 27 years.
The reason why these warnings have been ignored

is not hard to fathom. They have been resolutely 

opposed by corporate interests, including the real 

estate industry, Wall Street and Big Oil. Their 

ability, operating through bribed politicians of 

both parties, to veto and block elementary 

measures to protect the American people, 

exemplifies the complete subordination of all 

social needs under capitalism to the selfish drive 

of a corporate-financial oligarchy to accumulate 

ever greater levels of personal wealth and profit.
Texas, and the city of Houston in particular, have been hailed as exemplars of the “success” of completely deregulated, free market capitalism. The home of the Bush dynasty and a center of the oil and gas behemoths, Houston is the largest city in the country without any zoning laws to regulate urban development. There are no serious limits on real estate speculators and developers, who have systematically ignored warnings by engineers and scientists on the consequences of paving over wetlands and prairie lands, which soak up heavy rains, with impermeable concrete.
The city’s urban sprawl now covers some 600 square miles. Thousands of new homes have been built in flood plains since 2010. City planners know that Houston lies in a highly flood-prone region, but have done nothing to stop the destruction of the natural barriers that once limited flooding. The thousands of workers who have lost their livelihoods from Hurricane Harvey are the victims of the criminal negligence of government officials who do the bidding of avaricious property developers, oil magnates and bankers.
There was ample warning of a flood catastrophe. There was the near miss in 2008 with Hurricane Ike, which slammed into Galveston. Three rain storms since 2015 caused major flooding outside of areas deemed by FEMA to be at high risk. Longstanding discussions of extending and fortifying infrastructure to protect Houston and other coastal cities from storm surge have never gone beyond the planning stage. The city’s antiquated and inadequate flood control infrastructure, built decades ago, has collapsed.
President Donald Trump’s visit to Texas on Tuesday exemplified the callous indifference of the American ruling elite toward the plight of working class victims of its greed and neglect, along with an astonishing degree of ignorance as to what masses of people are thinking.
At a staged event at the crisis management center in Corpus Christi, Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and FEMA Administrator Long congratulated one another on their marvelous response to the flood disaster. They presented the obscene spectacle of chaos and incompetence on the part of the authorities, which is evoking shock and outrage across the country and around the world, as a model of compassion and efficiency.
Abbott, a longtime political asset of the oil 

industry, slavishly praised Trump, the 

representative of the real estate interests that have 

ruthlessly plundered Houston and led it to its 

present fate.
Behind the scenes, discussions are already underway about how to take advantage of the crisis, as in post-Katrina New Orleans, to go even further in ripping up regulations, privatizing public assets and slashing wages.
It is critical that working people and youth begin to draw the necessary political conclusions from this latest so-called “natural disaster.” The catastrophe unfolding in Texas is not, after all, the first such event. The past 12 years alone have seen a succession of events that exposed the staggering levels of social inequality and poverty that pervade American society, along with the indifference and criminality of the ruling corporate oligarchy: Katrina in 2005, BP Oil in 2010, Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and now Houston.
All of these disasters are, in fact, social crimes. They demonstrate the incompatibility of modern complex societies with an outmoded and irrational economic system based on the anarchy of the capitalist market and the drive of financial oligarchs for more and more personal wealth. Thousands of people in Houston are losing everything, many their very lives, so that billionaire gangsters like Trump can buy bigger mansions and yachts and keep bribing the political hacks who defend their wealth and power.
These tragic events demonstrate in the negative the urgent need for the reorganization of economic and social life on the basis of rational planning, science, public ownership and control, and the democratic participation of the broad masses, both in the US and internationally.
The outpouring of solidarity and the organization of rescue efforts by ordinary people from Houston and around the country testify to the potential for the development of such a society. What stands in the way? It is the barbaric oligarchy that exerts a stranglehold on the wealth and productive forces of society. The chief lesson of Hurricane Harvey is that this obstacle must be removed from the scene of history. The only social force that can achieve this is the working class.
Niles Niemuth

HOUSTON: ONLY THE POOR DROWN IN THIS COUNTRY!
"Like Katrina, Hurricane Harvey has lifted the lid on the ugly reality of American society, exposing colossal levels of social inequality, pervasive poverty and ruling class criminality."




Reservoir breaches in Houston threaten more death and destruction

By Kate Randall
30 August 2017

The Hurricane Harvey catastrophe deepened as a pair of 70-year-old reservoir dams began overflowing on Tuesday, adding to the rising floodwaters from the storm that have crippled the area after five consecutive days of rain. A new US record of rainfall for a tropical system has been set, measuring 51-plus inches.

President Trump visited Texas on Tuesday as the floodwaters continued to ravage the Houston metropolitan area and southeast regions of the state, in what the National Weather Service deemed an “unprecedented” event. The storm is expected to make a third landfall on the Texas/Louisiana border in the coming days.

An active rescue operation was still underway as the president and Melania Trump touched down in Corpus Christi, outside the area hard-hit by the storm. They headed to a local fire station where they were briefed on relief efforts by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Brock Long, Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, and others.

While floodwaters continued to rise in nearby Houston, and stranded residents were still waiting for rescue by boat or helicopter, the atmosphere at the briefing was astonishingly complacent, taking on the air of Texas good old boys patting themselves on the back. Abbott, a longtime Trump supporter, traded praises with the president for the wonderful work they were doing. And Trump similarly complimented FEMA and the Coast Guard for their rescue work.

“We won’t say congratulations. We don’t wanna do that,” Trump said. “We don’t wanna congratulate. We’ll congratulate each other when it’s all finished, but you have been terrific.” The surreal nature of this gathering of the political establishment could aptly be summed up by the phrase: “Trump gloats, while Houston floats.” Trump held a rally outside the firehouse that had the feel of a campaign stump speech, waving the Texas Lone Star flag, describing the storm as “epic,” and insuring the crowd that Texas would persevere.

About 200 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, in the Houston area, the disaster wrought by Harvey’s wrath continued to unfold. The two dams that began overflowing threatened downtown Houston. A levee at Columbia Lakes south of Houston was also breached, and Brazoria County authorities posted a message on Twitter telling people to “GET OUT NOW!!!”
On Monday, engineers had begun releasing water from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, which are at record highs, to ease the strain on them, but it was not enough. The release of the water means that even more homes and streets will flood, and authorities said that some homes could be flooded for up to a month.
Authorities are still in “rescue” mode. More than 3,000 national and state guard troops have been deployed to assist in the rescue mission, and the Pentagon has said 30,000 National Guard troops could be mobilized. The Coast Guard has made an estimated 4,000 rescues, but there is no official count of those rescued by the hundreds of volunteers with canoes, paddleboards and other flat-bottom boats who have sprung into action to save their neighbors and strangers.
The official death toll stands at 30. But as the tragedy of Katrina showed, the full extent of fatalities will not be known until the floodwaters clear, which may be weeks or months. The Saldovar family of Houston reported the fate of six of their family members, including four children, who are feared dead after their van was swept away by floodwaters while crossing a bridge attempting to escape.
There is no way to know how many victims lie in their vehicles submerged underwater, or in their flooded homes. While the Houston authorities reported receiving as many as 1,000 emergency calls an hour for rescue as of Tuesday, there is no official tally of how many people may still be trapped in houses and mobile homes, attempting to survive for days without power, clean water and food. Numerous tragedies like that of the Saldovar family are likely to emerge in the coming days and weeks.
Houston authorities have estimated that 17,000 evacuees will be seeking emergency shelter. Already the George R. Brown Convention Center, which is supposed to shelter 5,000 people, is holding more than 10,000 people. FEMA head Long’s assurances that the center would not become “another Superdome”—referring to the New Orleans sports stadium that housed evacuees in deplorable conditions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005—cannot be taken as good coin when the convention center is packed at double capacity.
Hurricane Harvey portends a public health crisis as well. Medical staff have been trapped in hospitals with dwindling supplies of food and medicine, forcing more health care facilities to close and evacuate patients by boat. Memorial Sugar Land Hospital has had to evacuate patients temporarily.
The Houston Chronicle reports that Ben Taub Hospital has resumed plans to transfer its most critical patients to other facilities, road conditions permitting. The biggest risk is running out of supplies, including medicine, due to high water limiting access to the facility. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center cancelled outpatient services, appointments and surgeries through Tuesday.
The floodwaters not only displace people, but pose significant risks to health and safety. They can be full of contaminants. “Flood water mixes with everything below it,” Dr. Richard Bradley, chief of the division of emergency medical services at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Science Center at Houston, told Time magazine. “If it covers a field with pesticides, it picks up the pesticides. It can also carry animal waste from fields and forests.”
While the public focuses on the rescue, safety and health of their loved ones, Houston’s police chief Art Acevedo made a threat against any would-be looters, saying that armed robbers had been apprehended Tuesday and taken into custody. Acevedo said he had spoken with the Harris County district attorney’s office to lobby that anyone suspected of looting be prosecuted and given the most severe punishment allowed by Texas law. The allegations of “looting” were used to justify a law-and-order crackdown by police and military personnel during Hurricane Katrina.
Later Tuesday at the Texas Emergency Command Center in Austin, the president met with FEMA along with Texas and Trump administration officials. Among them was Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, who explained that HHS’s responsibility in the crisis was to attend to public health, veterinary and mortuary services, making a grim allusion to the work of recovering and burying the expected casualties.
Ben Carson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), said his department’s role would be to insure loan guarantees for infrastructure recovery, to provide immediate foreclosure relief and mortgage insurance. He also said a key role for HUD was to disseminate information, as “the masses frequently become confused” in such situations.
The reality is that “the masses” are not confused, but infuriated under such situations when they find out they are not covered by insurance, or that their insurance is basically worthless. Only one in six Texans have flood insurance. And even for those who do have insurance, it doesn’t cover a flood caused by “Mother Nature,” such as a hurricane. Only a federal program covers flood disasters, and this program runs out at the end of September unless it is reauthorized by Congress.
Five years after Superstorm Sandy hit the Northeast US, some 80 percent of homeowners have not received compensation from their insurers for flood damage.



Chest-high floods set US record, dams overflow, ten confirmed dead with numbers expected to rise and 17,000 evacuees pour in to overcrowded shelters as experts warns Hurricane Harvey is worse than Katrina - and it's STILL not over


  • Nearly 20,000 people are in shelters across Texas and parts of Louisiana are now being evacuated 

  • Flood water in Houston continues to rise as US Army engineers release water from two nearby reservoirs 
  • Homes near the dams will be flooded for months as a result of the controlled release of water 

  • The storm has set a new record for the most rainfall from a single weather event with 49 inches falling in parts
  • There is no official death toll yet as emergency services are too overwhelmed with rescuing the living to look for the bodies of the dead

  • A Houston police officer drowned as he made his way to work on Tuesday after becoming stuck in water  
  • President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump flew in to Houston on Tuesday as the disaster continued 

  • More than 280,000 people are without power, hospitals are bursting with patients and more rain is on the way
  • To donate to the Red Cross's Hurricane Harvey relief fund, click here or call  1-800-435-7669

Hurricane Harvey is fast emerging as one of the most severe natural disasters in US history, with 20,000 people in shelters across Texas already and with no near end to the storm in sight. 
A record 49.5 inches of rain has fallen in some parts of Texas, the highest amount to have ever fallen anywhere in the country, and experts say it is worse than Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  
Shelters across Houston have been overwhelmed by 17,000 displaced residents and there are still thousands of rescues being made from the floodwater. 
The number of those killed in the disaster is not yet known, with emergency services focusing their efforts on rescuing the living instead of recovering any bodies, but the reality of the devastation is growing increasingly grave. 
At least 11 are dead but it is likely that number will rise as the floods recede and more victims are found.
Among those killed is a Houston police officer who drowned in his car after getting stuck in the water as he made his way to work on Tuesday. 
The storm is still thundering on off the coast of Texas and is making its way towards Louisiana where evacuations are already underway in preparation for its wrath. 
It is expected to make landfall in the town of Cameron Parish on Wednesday, dumping between four and six inches of rain on areas where 20 inches have already fallen. This will aggravate flooding in already swampy areas and threatens to burst rivers. 
In Houston, dramatic warnings to 'get out now' were issued to residents as river levees burst on Tuesday and dams, which are being drained by US Army engineers, overflowed. 
The estimated cost of the storm damage is $40billion and it has crippled the country's oil trade, hampering 16 per cent of the US's refineries which are in the danger zone. 
Scroll down for videos 
An aerial view of an area in Houston near the Addicks reservoir on Tuesday shows the devastating floods from Hurricane Harvey 
An aerial view of an area in Houston near the Addicks reservoir on Tuesday shows the devastating floods from Hurricane Harvey 
Homes and businesses near the Addicks Reservoir in Houston on Tuesday as authorities race to release more water from it before it overspills, sending more floods on to the city which is already on the brink 
Homes and businesses near the Addicks Reservoir in Houston on Tuesday as authorities race to release more water from it before it overspills, sending more floods on to the city which is already on the brink 
An aerial view of downtown Houston shows the devastating flooding on Tuesday as the water levels continue to rise 
An aerial view of downtown Houston shows the devastating flooding on Tuesday as the water levels continue to rise 
An area near the Addicks Reservoir on Tuesday. Homes near the dam will be flooded for months as a result of a controlled release of its water which the US Army Corps of Engineers was forced to carry out on Monday to avoid the dam from failing 
An area near the Addicks Reservoir on Tuesday. Homes near the dam will be flooded for months as a result of a controlled release of its water which the US Army Corps of Engineers was forced to carry out on Monday to avoid the dam from failing 
Cars at a dealership in Houston float are almost entirely submerged in water as the flood levels continue to rise on Tuesday 
Cars at a dealership in Houston float are almost entirely submerged in water as the flood levels continue to rise on Tuesday 
Rescue efforts are ongoing in Texas where floods continue to wreak havoc on Houston and where almost 20,000 are taking shelter in refuges 
Rescue efforts are ongoing in Texas where floods continue to wreak havoc on Houston and where almost 20,000 are taking shelter in refuges 
Residents carry children on their backs and hold their belongings above their heads on Tuesday as they flee their home near the Addicks reservoir which is on the verge of over spilling 
Rescue efforts are still underway with hundreds of people being removed from their homes in high water trucks and boats 
People have been forced to use kayaks and small boats to navigate their way through the floods in Houston 
People have been forced to use kayaks and small boats to navigate their way through the floods in Houston 
Men use jet skies to rescue stranded residents in Houston and tow them to safety as the flooding from Harvey continues
Men use jet skies to rescue stranded residents in Houston and tow them to safety as the flooding from Harvey continues
Volunteers on boats toe people on rubber rings (left) to safety as a man carries a woman through the floods (right)
Volunteers on boats toe people on rubber rings (left) to safety as a man carries a woman through the floods (right)
Volunteers on boats toe people on rubber rings (left) to safety as a man carries a woman through the floods (right) 
Erik Peterson and his son Carlos are evacuated on a raft from their home near the Addicks Reservoir 
Erik Peterson and his son Carlos are evacuated on a raft from their home near the Addicks Reservoir 
Michael Brown, the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, gave a bleak description of the storm on Tuesday.
'There are several factors that make it worse than Katrina. For one, there is the scope of the flooding. Harris County and the surrounding areas are so saturated.
Brazoria County - a suburb south of Houston - issued this dramatic warning on Tuesday morning as the levees of the Brazos river burst in Columbia Lakes
Brazoria County - a suburb south of Houston - issued this dramatic warning on Tuesday morning as the levees of the Brazos river burst in Columbia Lakes
'Also, the amount of damages will continue to grow. There will be mold and structural damages adding up,' he told The Houston Chronicle.
On Tuesday, the Governor of Louisiana said it would welcome victims from Texas into its own shelters. 
Storm evacuations have begun in the Lake Charles region of the state - where thousands were killed and rendered homeless by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 
A state of emergency has been declared in Louisiana in anticipation of the storm.  
There are more than 9,000 people in one shelter in Texas - the George R. Brown Center - and it is still taking people in need. 
Churches have opened their doors to people in need and there are countless residents taking shelter in the homes of friends and well-wishers.  
On Monday, hospitals asked for trained nurses to volunteer at their centers. 
As Houston struggles with the storm's aftermath, help from other states and cities is pouring in. 
One Michigan-based company has donated 22,000 kayaks to help residents get around as the flood waters cease to drain.
On Monday night, 11 people had to be rescued after one private boat of volunteers capsized. They were all rescued by the Houston Fire Department and none have serious injuries.  
Homes near the Addicks Reservoir which overflowed on Tuesday, sending more water down towards Houston 
Homes near the Addicks Reservoir which overflowed on Tuesday, sending more water down towards Houston 
Planes in an airfield near the Addicks Reservoir on Tuesday after more flood water came cascading down 
Planes in an airfield near the Addicks Reservoir on Tuesday after more flood water came cascading down 
Homes near the Addicks Reservoir where flood water continues to rise as a result of the overflowing dam 
Homes near the Addicks Reservoir where flood water continues to rise as a result of the overflowing dam 
President Trump waves a Texas flag as he visits communities in Corpus Christi on Tuesday 
President Trump waves a Texas flag as he visits communities in Corpus Christi on Tuesday 
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive in Texas on Tuesday as the city continues to struggle under the floods
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive in Texas on Tuesday as the city continues to struggle under the floods
President Trump and Melania Trump left the White House on Tuesday morning in less practical outfits 
President Trump and Melania Trump left the White House on Tuesday morning in less practical outfits 

EXPERTS WARN HARVEY IS WORSE THAN KATRINA

Michael Brown, the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Hurricane Harvey would bring more devastation to Texas than the historic Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 
In an interview with The Houston Chronicle, Brown explained that the scope of the flooding in Houston - where up to 49 inches of rain has fallen - is considerably worse than was seen in New Orleans and other towns in Louisiana after Katrina. 
'There are several factors that make it worse than Katrina. For one there is the scope of the flooding. Harris County and the surrounding areas are so saturated. 
'Also, the amount of damages will continue to grow. There will be mold and structural damages adding up.' 
1,833 people died as a result of Katrina. More than 273,000 people were in shelters and more than 1million are thought to have lost their homes. 
The full extent of the damage caused by Harvey is not yet clear. On Tuesday, there were 17,000 in shelters and more were being rescued by the minute.
Eighty-percent of New Orleans flooded as a result of the storm as levees failed. On Tuesday, the first levee in Texas was breached as the flood waters rose.
New Orleans is bracing itself to be pounded by Harvey which is scheduled to make landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday. 
Major Houston prisons have been evacuated to save inmates from the floods.
Six thousand prisoners have been bused to other correctional facilities across the state. 
At 6.45am on Tuesday, the National Weather Service revealed that rain was still falling to the east of Houston at a rate of 2 inches per hour. 
Even in homes which are not flooded, residents are running out of food and water and some cannot safely make their way to grocery stores. 
Those who do make it there face snaking lines and empty shelves inside the stores.
President Trump raised spirits as he addressed a crowd of fans at a firehouse in Corpus Christi, telling them: 'This is historic, it's epic, what happened, but you know what, it happened in Texas. Texas can handle anything.' 
He promised to take care of survivors and help with rescue efforts, saying: 'We love you. You are special. We are here to take care of you.' 
'This was of epic proportion. Nobody's ever seen anything like this,' said Trump before praising Texas Governor Greg Abbott as being 'terrific' in the face of catastrophe.
He commended the emergency services but said cautiously: 'We'll congratulate each other when it's all finished.' 
Flood waters continued to rise on Tuesday as the Addicks Reservoir overspilled at 108ft. 
The US Army Corps of Engineers is racing the rain to drain the dam, pumping out thousands of cubic ft of water per second, but they cannot work fast enough. 
The bridge is on Woodforest Boulevard over Greens Bayou has collapsed and drinking water in Lake Forest is no longer safe due to a loss of water pressure. 
Residents there must now boil water before drinking it and using it for cooking or brushing their teeth.  
A satellite image shows Hurricane Harvey covering Louisiana on Tuesday morning as it moves away from Texas 
A satellite image shows Hurricane Harvey covering Louisiana on Tuesday morning as it moves away from Texas 
There are 17,000 people in shelters across Texas and more will flock to them as the disaster continues to unfold. Above, the George R. Brown Convention Center on Tuesday morning where 9,000 people are taking shelter 
There are 17,000 people in shelters across Texas and more will flock to them as the disaster continues to unfold. Above, the George R. Brown Convention Center on Tuesday morning where 9,000 people are taking shelter 
People line up for food at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Texas on Tuesday morning after spending the night. There are 17,000 people at shelters across Texas and more are expected to need cover in the coming days
People line up for food at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Texas on Tuesday morning after spending the night. There are 17,000 people at shelters across Texas and more are expected to need cover in the coming days
A woman naps on a chair while others sleep on the ground at the expansive shelter where hundreds are taking cover 
A woman naps on a chair while others sleep on the ground at the expansive shelter where hundreds are taking cover 
Thousands of people spent the night in shelters across Texas on Monday after being rendered homeless by the storm. A mother cradles a baby (above) at the George R. Brown Convention Center 
Thousands of people spent the night in shelters across Texas on Monday after being rendered homeless by the storm. A mother cradles a baby (above) at the George R. Brown Convention Center 
A man is searched by a police officer before being allowed in to the George R. Convention Center. Everyone is searched before going inside to prevent weapons being brought in 
A man is searched by a police officer before being allowed in to the George R. Convention Center. Everyone is searched before going inside to prevent weapons being brought in 
Mark Ocosta feeds his baby Aubrey at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Tuesday 
Mark Ocosta feeds his baby Aubrey at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Tuesday 
Two-year-old Malachia Medrano sleeps at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on Monday night 
Two-year-old Malachia Medrano sleeps at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on Monday night 
A family is driven out of a flooded neighborhood in Corpus Christi on Tuesday
A family is driven out of a flooded neighborhood in Corpus Christi on Tuesday
A man is carried out of flood water in a rubber boat after being rescued by volunteers in Corpus Christi 
A man is carried out of flood water in a rubber boat after being rescued by volunteers in Corpus Christi 
Capt Martha Nigrelle of the US Army National Guard enjoys a chicken wing in the flood water while taking a break from saving stranded residents 
Capt Martha Nigrelle of the US Army National Guard enjoys a chicken wing in the flood water while taking a break from saving stranded residents 
A man wearing a t-shirt with the words 'here 2 give a hand' written on the back joins volunteers in Houston on Tuesday
A man wearing a t-shirt with the words 'here 2 give a hand' written on the back joins volunteers in Houston on Tuesday
A woman and children are pushed through the storm in a kiddie pool by relatives as scores more try to escape the floods 
A woman and children are pushed through the storm in a kiddie pool by relatives as scores more try to escape the floods 
Andrew Brennan, a volunteer from Louisiana, drags a woman and her child to safety on board an inflatable raft 
Andrew Brennan, a volunteer from Louisiana, drags a woman and her child to safety on board an inflatable raft 
A woman is wheeled in to a shelter on a stretcher in Houston after being evacuated from her home on Tuesday 
A woman is wheeled in to a shelter on a stretcher in Houston after being evacuated from her home on Tuesday 
81-year-old Ramona Bennett is carried by Texas Army National Guardsmen Sergio Esquivel (L) and Ernest Barmore (R) after being evacuated from her home in Pine Forest Village
81-year-old Ramona Bennett is carried by Texas Army National Guardsmen Sergio Esquivel (L) and Ernest Barmore (R) after being evacuated from her home in Pine Forest Village
An abandoned BMW lies on the Waugh street bridge over Buffalo Bayou near downtown Houston on Tuesday 
An abandoned BMW lies on the Waugh street bridge over Buffalo Bayou near downtown Houston on Tuesday 
A handout image from the Texas Military Department shows the National Guard making its way through a boarded up street 
A handout image from the Texas Military Department shows the National Guard making its way through a boarded up street 
Abandoned cars near the Addicks Reservoir on Tuesday where flood waters continue to rise 
Abandoned cars near the Addicks Reservoir on Tuesday where flood waters continue to rise 
The impact of the storm on the lives of residents in the danger zone is unfathomable. Many have no idea of the extent of the damage in their homes and are now fearing the financial torment they may now face. 
Huge fundraising efforts are underway by the Red Cross. The New York Stock Exchange has donated $1million and Facebook has raised more than $1million too. 
Celebrities including actor Kevin Hart and Real Housewives of New York star and business mogul Bethenny Frankel have pledged more than $50,000 combined. The cost of the storm will extend beyond state lines. 
Experts at Goldman Sachs say it is likely to reduce GDP growth by 0.2 percent. Oil prices surged as supplies became suddenly precarious on Tuesday. 
The full extent of the damage is not yet clear and won't be for some time. For now, charities and volunteers are focusing on the immediate needs of the people who have been displaced.
Dallas is preparing super shelters for thousands of displaced residents. On Monday afternoon, military planes transported the first evacuees to the Lively Point Youth Center in Irving. The space has capacity for about 200 evacuees and the shelter will be run by the Red Cross and City of Irving employees.
The city's emergency management coordinator said they are planning for the shelters to run 'long term'. Evacuees and those working the shelters have and will be vetted through criminal background checks.  
The City of Dallas is also planning to host more than 5,000 evacuees in a shelter at the convention center.  The Coast Guard has been receiving more than 1,000 calls an hour, US Coast Guard Lt Mike Hart said Monday.
The Texas Military Department rescues people on kayaks on Tuesday as they continue to evacuate people from their homes  
The Texas Military Department rescues people on kayaks on Tuesday as they continue to evacuate people from their homes  
The few grocery stores which opened were entirely pillaged on Tuesday as panicked residents stocked up in preparation for more disruption 
The few grocery stores which opened were entirely pillaged on Tuesday as panicked residents stocked up in preparation for more disruption 
Texas National Guard evacuates families from Pine Forest Village on Tuesday morning 
Texas National Guard evacuates families from Pine Forest Village on Tuesday morning 
Evacuees are helped to dry land after their homes were inundated with flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Houston
Evacuees from Dickinson, Texas, board an airplane at Scholes International Airport on Monday in Galveston, Texas. Texas Air National Guard planes took evacuees to cities, including Dallas, where they can stay in shelters
Oscar Galindo, Donato Galindo, 2, Oscar Galindo, 11, Andre Galindo, 9, and Maria Rodriguez relax while taking shelter at the George R Brown Convention Center on Monday in Houston, after living inside a car since Saturday after the rain from the Tropical Storm Harvey flooded their home in Dickinson
Genice Gipson (right) comforts her lifelong friend, Loretta Capistran (left), outside of Capistran's apartment complex in Refugio, Texas, on Monday. 'We got to be strong, baby,' Gipson told Capistran
Texas Governor Greg Abbott looks over destroyed stores in Rockport during a tour of areas damaged by Hurricane Harvey, on Monday
Texas Governor Greg Abbott looks over destroyed stores in Rockport during a tour of areas damaged by Hurricane Harvey, on Monday
A view of Rockport Donuts, local restaurant serving food to residents and aid workers, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Rockport, Texas
A view of Rockport Donuts, local restaurant serving food to residents and aid workers, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Rockport, Texas
On Monday, the Coast Guard rescued over 3,000 people alone.  
Texas Governor Greg Abbott visited some of the devastated areas Monday before he gave an update on the aftermath of the storm in a press conference.
'A Texas-sized storm requires a Texas-sized response, and that is exactly what the state will provide,' he said.
'While we have suffered a great deal, the resiliency and bravery of Texan's spirits is something that can never be broken. As communities are coming together in the aftermath of this storm, I will do everything in my power to make sure they have what they need to rebuild.' 
FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, estimates that 30,000 will be in need of shelter by the time the storm passes and there is already an estimated $40billion in damage. The agency also estimates that more than 450,000 people are likely to seek federal aid. 
FEMA has around $3billion in its disaster relief fund but the sum is dwindling. 
At a press conference mid-morning, Mayor Sylvester Turner pleaded for help from other cities and plugged charity relief funds to care for the thousands of Houston residents in crisis. 
Two major dams which sit to the east of the city are being gradually drained by the army to stop them from overflowing. 
The Addicks and Barker Reservoirs are both dangerously close to their capacities. With more rain on the way, US Army experts are racing the storm to release water from each dam. 
Evacuees in Houston make their way to dry land after leaving their homes that were inundated with flooding from Hurricane Harvey
This aerial photo shows a view of damage in the wake of Hurricane Harvey on Monday in Corpus Christi, Texas
Todd Witherington searches his trailer that was overturned by the effects of Hurricane Harvey on Monday in Aransas Pass, Texas
This house in Bayside, Texas, was destroyed after Hurricane Harvey hit Bayside, Texas
This house in Bayside, Texas, was destroyed after Hurricane Harvey hit Bayside, Texas
Debris lies on the ground near homes in the Key Allegro subdivision of Rockport, Texas on Monday
An apartment unit sits completely destroyed from Hurricane Harvey in Refugio, Texas on Monday
Todd Witherington searches his trailer that was overturned by the effects of Hurricane Harvey on Monday in Aransas Pass, Texas
Dead livestock lie on the ground in the wake of Hurricane Harvey on Monday in Bayside, Texas
This photo shows The First Baptist Church roof after it was peeled off by Hurricane Harvey in Refugio, Texas, on Monday
This aerial photo shows a view of damage in the wake of Hurricane Harvey on Monday in Corpus Christi, Texas
A truck navigates a road flooded with rain water, remnants of Hurricane Harvey, on Monday in Houston
A boy is lifted from a rescue truck on a street at the east Sam Houston Tollway
US and Texas flags fly in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Rockport, Texas on Monday
Aerial footage shows the floods in Rockport, Texas, after Hurricane Harvey on Sunday (right) and before (left)
Aerial footage shows the floods in Rockport, Texas, after Hurricane Harvey on Sunday (right)
 SLIDE ME 
Aerial footage shows the floods in Rockport, Texas, after Hurricane Harvey on Sunday (right) and before (left) 
Interstate 45 Highway in Houston in 2005
Interstate highway 45 in Houston on
 SLIDE ME 
Interstate 45 Highway in Houston in 2005 (left) and on Sunday (right) after the Hurricane Harvey floods swept the city 
The theatre district shown under normal weather conditions
The threatre district of Houston was entirely flooded on Sunday
 SLIDE ME 
The theater district is shown above in ordinary conditions (left) and on Sunday (right). The total damage of Hurricane Harvey has been estimated as $40billion 
Another view of Houston's theater district taken on an ordinary day (left) and on Sunday (right) as water flooded the city
Another view of Houston's theater district taken on an ordinary day (left) and on Sunday (right) as water flooded the city
 SLIDE ME 
 Another view of Houston's theater district taken on an ordinary day (left) and on Sunday (right) as water flooded the city 
The colorful bridges above highway 59 towered over a bleak scene on Sunday (right), with large portions of the road under water
The colorful bridges above highway 59 towered over a bleak scene on Sunday (right), with large portions of the road under water
 SLIDE ME 
The colorful bridges above highway 59 towered over a bleak scene on Sunday (right), with large portions of the road under water
As the situation became more grave, criticism of Mayor Turner's decision not to evacuate the city grew.   
When the storm began on Friday, Houston was not immediately hit. It was safe from the battering winds which tore apart towns on the coast and many felt confident enough to remain in their homes. 
However as the storm moved further inland on Saturday and Saturday, floods - the likes of which the city has never before seen - swept through. 
The city woke up to a water world and many, with no alternative, swam to safety or climbed in to rescue boats. 
Now, many are trapped in their homes with no way out. They have been left to wait for rescue boats but the situation is bleak. 
Another view of the theater district shows it completely submerged in water
 SLIDE ME 
Another view of the theater district shows it dry (left) before the storm and completely submerged in water (right) afterwards
An aerial view of downtown Houston (left) and the same view after the Hurricane Harvey floods (right)
An aerial view of downtown Houston (left) and the same view after the Hurricane Harvey floods (right)
 SLIDE ME 
An aerial view of downtown Houston (left) and the same view after the Hurricane Harvey floods (right)
 SLIDE ME 
 A home in the area of Cottage Grove, Houston, before and after the Hurricane Harvey floods swept through on Saturday 
The coastal town of Rockport was spared severe flooding but was battered by 130mph winds on Friday night and Saturday morning
Rockport, Texas, shows the devastation if Hurricane Harvey after the town was battered by 130mph winds
 SLIDE ME 
The coastal town of Rockport was spared severe flooding but was battered by 130mph winds on Friday night and Saturday morning 
In Rockport, Texas, 130mph winds removed the dome roof of this building and battered the rest of its shell
 SLIDE ME 
In Rockport, Texas, 130mph winds removed the dome roof of this building and battered the rest of its shell
Oliver Simpson, 35, a father of four from west Houston, is stuck in his home with his children. He told DailyMail.com on Monday: 'It's horrible. I feel helpless - sitting with no power and just waiting to see what happens. And we have it so much better than many others.

WHY HOUSTON IS PRONE TO FLOODS 

Though the most severe, Hurricane Harvey's floods are not the first to ever torture the city of Houston. 
Less extreme flooding was seen in 2001 with Tropical Storm Allison, in 2015 on Memorial Day and on Tax Day last year. 
The city is predominantly flat and sits little above sea level - 50 feet above in the center and 40 feet above in some downtown suburbs to be exact.
This makes it easier for water from heavy rainfall to gather on the ground.
When the bayous flood, the freeways act as an unofficial flood control system. Once water spills over them, it pours in to residential streets and rises from there.  
'I have a neighbor who had a tree fall on his garage, it went across a gas line. There is a gas leak and despite calls to 911 still no one been out. That was at 4am this morning.
'To be clear, authorities are doing everything they can [there are] just many people in far worse situation than us.' 
Mayor Turner is now asking anyone with a boat to help with the rescue efforts. Many Texans responded bravely to his call to arms and were out in force on Saturday saving vulnerable neighbors and strangers from the floods. 
'The goal is rescue. That's the major focus for the day. We want to focus on getting them out of their homes or whatever their stressful situation may be,' he said. 
With 911 operation centers inundated, panicked residents turned to social media to be saved. 
They shared pictures of frightened children cowering on kitchen work tops as water covered the floors of their homes. 
Heartbreaking photographs from nursing homes showed elderly residents floating around in their wheelchairs and hospital beds. President Trump is scheduled to visit Texas on Tuesday.  
To donate to the Red Cross Hurricane Harvey relief fund, click here or call 1-800-435-7669.  

FAMILY OF 6 'DROWNS IN THEIR VAN TRYING TO ESCAPE'

Six members of the same family died by drowning in their van as they tried to escape Harvey's floods on Saturday, according to other members of the family.
KHOU reports that the victims - four children under the age of 16 and their grandparents - were traveling in a van being driven by their great uncle near Greens Bayou when they ran into trouble.
Six members of a family - including Xavier Salvidar, 8, and siblings and great-grandparents - died in the Hurricane Harvey floods Monday
Daisy Salvidar, 6, also died in the accident
Six members of a family - including Xavier Saldivar (left), 8, and his sister Daisy (right), 6, as well as their siblings and great-grandparents - died in the Hurricane Harvey floods Monday
They had just crossed a bridge in Houston when their van was swept away by strong flood-water currents. Devy Salvidar, 16, also died
Dominic Salvidar, 14, was also killed
They had just crossed a bridge in Houston when their van was swept away by strong flood-water currents. Devy Saldivar (left), 16, and her brother Dominic (right), 14, also died
Their great-grandparents Manuel and Belia Saldivar (pictured), aged 81 and 83, respectively, also drowned. The driver - the children's great-uncle - survived the accident
Their great-grandparents Manuel and Belia Saldivar (pictured), aged 81 and 83, respectively, also drowned. The driver - the children's great-uncle - survived the accident
He was able to escape as water rushed in to the vehicle but the others could not and he watched as they perished in the water, other relatives said. 
The official death toll on Saturday was two - meaning authorities have so far been able to confirm two deaths. They are inundated with crisis situations, however and are therefore redirecting attention to rescuing people who are trapped.
This makes it difficult to deliver an exact number but the total was reported as five on Sunday. 
The family's deaths bring this to 11.  

"Once again, a major storm has stripped away the 

pretense and revealed the brutal reality of American 


society, exposing pervasive poverty, staggering 


levels of inequality, and rampant official neglect and 


corruption." 

"Like Katrina, Hurricane Harvey has lifted the lid on the ugly reality of American society, exposing colossal levels of social inequality, pervasive poverty and ruling class 
criminality."

Capitalism and the Houston flood catastrophe
28 August 2017
Nearly twelve years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, Hurricane Harvey is wreaking havoc along the Texas Gulf Coast. Harvey has caused widespread flooding in Houston, the fourth largest city in the country, with 2.3 million people and a metropolitan area population of nearly 6.5 million.
Once again, a major storm has stripped away the 

pretense and revealed the brutal reality of American 

society, exposing pervasive poverty, staggering levels

of inequality, and rampant official neglect and 

corruption. 
Scenes are unfolding of entire families trudging through waist-high water befouled with oil, sewage and chemicals; people young and old scrambling onto roofs in the desperate hope of being rescued from rapidly rising water; entire sections of the city cut off from shelter, food and clean water. The situation will only grow worse as the storm continues to drop record volumes of rain on the city and its environs.
In the richest country in the world, where 
trillions of dollars were made available to the 
banks in the aftermath of the 2008 financial 
crash, widespread destruction and loss of life 
have become a common feature of the 
tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and other 
severe weather events that occur with 
increasing frequency. This is above all due to the decay of infrastructure and an acute social crisis that has left millions without the means to prepare for a natural disaster.
The victims, as always, are overwhelmingly working-class. Once again, scenes of human suffering amid official dysfunction are shattering the claims of the United States to be a land of prosperity and progress.
As in every such crisis, the spontaneous response of ordinary people is one of social solidarity. Victims of the storm are rushing to help their neighbors and thousands of people are pouring into the impacted area to assist in saving lives and providing food, shelter and medical care. This stands in the starkest contrast to the authorities, who did nothing to ward off the impact of a major flood or prepare to deal with its consequences.
This is despite the fact that Houston and southeast Texas have seen one flood disaster after another. The very existence of Houston as a major port city is due to the hurricane in 1900 that destroyed the nearby city of Galveston. Since the turn of the new century, Houston has been hit by tropical storm Allison in 2001, Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Hurricane Ike in 2008. Harvey is the third major flooding event in Houston in the past three years. Over the past forty years, Houston has had more floods than any other major city in the United States. Floods are the number one cause of deaths from natural events in Houston, known as the “bayou city.”
A center of the oil industry and home to the Bush family, Houston and the state of Texas are held up as models of unrestrained free market capitalism. Houston and other major Texas cities have seen substantial growth as major corporations relocated to take advantage of the state’s low corporate tax rates, minimal regulations and low-wage workforce, which includes millions of undocumented immigrants.
For decades, the city has allowed developers and real estate speculators to carry out uncontrolled expansion, replacing wetlands and prairie lands, which absorb water, with paved surfaces, increasing the flood risk to the city. National, state and local politicians have ignored the repeated warnings of scientists and experts that they were courting disaster.
Hurricane protection infrastructure has been neglected. After Hurricane Ike, experts proposed the construction of seawalls along the coast and the erection of a floodgate around the Houston Ship Channel. This project has yet to materialize. Its cost is estimated at $6 billion to $8 billion, a small fraction of the revenue of the US oil industry in a single year.
While the hurricane and flood may be acts of nature, the scale of their impact has been magnified by man-made factors. Indeed, even the weather events are profoundly affected by economic and social conditions. There is no question that global warming, the result of the anarchic, irrational and profit-driven nature of capitalism, is responsible for the increasing frequency and severity of storms and floods in the US and around the world.
As far as the American ruling class is concerned, the main assets to be protected are the oil refineries in the Houston area, not the city’s working-class residents. Appearing on the “Fox News Sunday” program, Secretary of State and multimillionaire former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson offered reassurances to the financial elite that its investments were safe, declaring that the oil and gas industry was “probably among the most prepared for these types of events.”

The Wall Street Journal published an article on Sunday, as the floodwaters were rising in Houston, bearing the headline “Hurricane Harvey Unlikely to Damage Insurers’ Balance Sheets.”
Houston exemplifies the colossal levels of social inequality in America. Thirteen of the world’s roughly 1,600 billionaires live in the city, which has an official poverty rate of 25 percent and a child poverty rate of 38 percent. A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that Houston is the most economically segregated city in the United States, with the rich geographically isolated from the poor.
Many who were stranded by Harvey’s 
floodwaters have told reporters that 
they simply lacked the money to 
evacuate.
As after Hurricane Katrina, the BP oil spill of 2010 and dozens of floods in Houston and across the country, nothing will be done to make the victims of the disaster whole. More than a decade after Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of former residents have still not been able to return home, and whole neighborhoods in New Orleans remain depopulated wastelands. Moreover, the events in Houston come as the Trump administration proposes to carry out hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to FEMA in the fiscal year 2018 budget, including sharp reductions to projects associated with the Federal Flood Insurance Program.
The spontaneous demonstration of solidarity, compassion and energy on the part of working people in response to the Houston flood disaster shows in embryo the immense potential for the development of a truly humane and rational society that serves the needs of the people. What stands in the way are the outmoded social relations of capitalism, which enable a tiny elite to monopolize wealth and resources and plunder society to amass ever greater personal fortunes.
What is required is the mobilization of the working class to put an end to the capitalist system and to establish socialism, based on common ownership and control of the productive forces and the principle of social equality.
Tom Hall


The Houston flood disaster: A social crime of the American oligarchy
29 August 2017
The world is looking on in shock as Houston, Texas, the fourth-largest city in the United States, is engulfed by flood waters. At least nine people are dead, a figure that will no doubt rise in the coming days. Thousands remain stranded, awaiting rescue. Tens of thousands have been forced to take shelter in emergency accommodations. Some of the worst rain is yet to come.
The catastrophic flooding engulfing Houston and southeast Texas is spreading to cities as far away as Dallas and Austin and threatening to once again overwhelm New Orleans, Louisiana. Hurried evacuations are being organized in cities throughout the region, as well as previously unaffected neighborhoods in Houston, where residents are being forced to abandon their homes as officials release water from overwhelmed and endangered reservoirs.
Twelve years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, an even larger and more populous metropolitan area is being turned into a scene of indescribable suffering. The countless examples of human solidarity among the victims, overwhelmingly working class and of all races, contrasts starkly with the indifference and incompetence of the government and political establishment.
Like Katrina, Hurricane Harvey has lifted the 
lid on the ugly reality of American society, 
exposing colossal levels of social inequality, 
pervasive poverty and ruling class criminality.
Behind the mindless media commentary, generally favorable to the White House and the right-wing Republican governor of Texas, and the pro-forma statements of politicians, one senses nervousness and fear that this latest demonstration of the failure of American capitalism will trigger an eruption of social indignation.
But the authorities cannot conceal their complacency and indifference. In a disgusting performance, President Donald Trump gave a press conference Monday in which he combined lavish praise for the official response to the flood disaster, calling it “incredible to watch” and a display of “cooperation and love,” with bathos about “one American family” that “hurts together and endures together.”
Reciting his scripted remarks as though he were reading the phonebook, Trump offered no proposals to relieve the suffering of the victims or provide them with money to rebuild their lives. He evaded a question about his proposal to slash hundreds of millions of dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including steep cuts to the Federal Flood Insurance Program.
FEMA administrator William “Brock” Long on Monday gave himself and the government a blanket amnesty for their dereliction, declaring, “You could not forecast this up. You could not dream this forecast up.”

The Wall Street Journal sounded the same theme in an editorial posted Monday. “Immunity from nature’s fury,” the newspaper wrote, “is an illusion that humans cultivate until we are forced to confront that fury again. We forget the damage that storms and earthquakes can do.”
This renunciation of any responsibility for the
unfolding disaster in Houston was combined 
with praise for the massive accumulation of 
wealth among the uppermost layers of 
society, declaring that “Complex societies can 
better cope with the damage if they have a 
reservoir of accumulated wealth” among 
“private sources.”
Thus, according to the leading mouthpiece of Wall Street, the answer to the unfolding tragedy in Texas is the further enrichment of the financial oligarchy!
Such claims that catastrophic events like the Texas flood are inevitable “natural disasters,” and nothing can be done either to forestall, contain or manage them, are self-serving lies.
Houston is the most frequently flooded urban area in the country. Officials at the federal, state and local level were repeatedly warned by scientists and weather experts that the license given to real estate developers and speculators to pave over wetlands, as well as the government’s refusal to build proper flood defenses, was setting the city up for an unprecedented flood disaster. These warnings were ignored.
This is the 21st century, not the Dark Ages, and the United States is the richest country in the world. Four hundred years ago, the Dutch figured out how to build cities situated below sea level. The US is, moreover, home to some of the most advanced research and engineering institutes in the world. Yet supposedly no one could have anticipated or planned for the flooding of a major city on the Gulf of Mexico?
What has been done in the 12 years since Katrina to prevent more hurricane disasters? Nothing! Or, more accurately, less than nothing, because Katrina was seized on as an opportunity to treat New Orleans as virgin territory for the privatization of public assets and establishment of a free market paradise for big business, to be replicated across the country. The most overt example of this plundering operation was the dismantling of the public school system in favor of private, for-profit charter schools.
Catastrophes such as the Texas flood are social crimes, committed by a financial aristocracy that has spent the past half-century plundering the country and neglecting its social infrastructure, while accumulating unimaginable sums of personal wealth. According to the corporate-controlled media and the entire political establishment—Democrats no less than Republicans—there is no money to build up flood defenses or rebuild crumbling bridges, roads and water systems, modernize and expand public transport or provide decent schools and housing for the population.
But there are trillions of dollars 
stashed away in the bank accounts and 
stock portfolios of the rich and the 
super-rich. Hundreds of billions are 
squandered every year on the 
instruments of war.
The country staggers from one preventable disaster to another: Katrina in 2005, the BP oil spill in 2010, Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and now Harvey. In between are countless floods, tornadoes, fires and other events that wreak havoc on working class and poor families, who are left to fend for themselves by a ruling elite drowning in its own excess.
Just as in the feudal era, when the development of society required the expropriation of the landed aristocracy, so today society must seize control of its own resources from the modern aristocracy of finance and corporate wealth. The barbarians of today, who hoard society’s wealth and say nothing can be done to address poverty, disease, war or repression, must go the way of all ruling classes that stand in the way of social progress.
It is not that society cannot afford the type of social investment needed to prevent or minimize the impact of events such as Hurricane Harvey. What society cannot afford is the rich.
It is to the working class—united across all racial, national and ethnic lines, both in the US and internationally—that the task falls of removing this monstrous obstacle to progress from the historical scene. The capitalist parasites must be expropriated, their wealth used to meet social needs, and their stranglehold over the means of production shattered to allow the rational, planned and humane development of economic and social life on the basis of socialist ownership and democratic control of industry, finance and the planet’s natural resources.
Barry Grey





No comments: