2023 Heat Wave in Houston (Dallas, San Antonio: appliances, restaurants, authority)

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

You defend the city on this forum so consistently that I can only assume that it's your employer...do you disagree that seeing leaks all over the city is unacceptable?

I'll give Houston and its agencies credit where credit is due (METRO is well-run and has appropriate priorities overall), but infrastructure maintenance is not one of Houston's strengths.

While infrastructure condition and maintenance is definitely a huge challenge for Houston, it's partly an unavoidable result of the way the city developed, with huge horizontal distances (meaning streets, water lines, sewer lines) and very often not a lot of tax revenue generated from the properties being served (single family and retail are often terrible at tax productivity). The city has relied on tax revenue from industrial and office properties to balance it out (and that balance is shaky to begin with). Now office values are going to decline, maybe a lot, so $ for infrastructure repair are going to be MORE scarce.

Most suburbs will face the same issue when their infrastructure gets to be as old as Houston's, unless they've managed to snag a bunch of really high value denser development.

[DaBears02]

Seems like IAH tied its record high of 109 today. Brutal.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by DaBears02

Seems like IAH tied its record high of 109 today. Brutal.

Just terrible. But...

My home on the west side / Energy Corridor area got a healthy thunderstorm this evening! Probably at least a 1/2 inch of rain, maybe close to 1 inch.

Forecasters are indicating that it gets slightly cooler (more like 99-100, with daily rain chances) next week. Fingers crossed...

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

While infrastructure condition and maintenance is definitely a huge challenge for Houston, it's partly an unavoidable result of the way the city developed, with huge horizontal distances (meaning streets, water lines, sewer lines) and very often not a lot of tax revenue generated from the properties being served (single family and retail are often terrible at tax productivity). The city has relied on tax revenue from industrial and office properties to balance it out (and that balance is shaky to begin with). Now office values are going to decline, maybe a lot, so $ for infrastructure repair are going to be MORE scarce.

Most suburbs will face the same issue when their infrastructure gets to be as old as Houston's, unless they've managed to snag a bunch of really high value denser development.

They’ll just find another source

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I don’t understand people’s obsession with keeping their lawn looking perfect
I see people watering their yard every single day
God knows how much is their water bill

I’ll water my yard some but I have better things to do than making sure my yard looks perfect during a drought

Last time it rained in my neighborhood was about 4-6 weeks ago

Saw a sign yesterday (8/24) in my GFs zip code (77084) = now in a drought stage (Stage 1, the mildest, IIRC)

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by gwarnecke

News outlets are reporting today that Houston is in Stage 1 of drought restrictions and is asking residents to voluntarily limit outdoor irrigation to twice a week.

What's odd is that Houston has been under Stage 1 restrictions for over a month now, the news outlets are just now reporting it.

I see broken water lines all over West Houston that leak for weeks before they're repaired...the City should do a better job of maintaining the water distribution infrastructure, especially considering all of the water rate hikes that they've pushed through and the fact that they don't give residents a break on sewer rates as some other municipalities do (ie sewer charges are based on total water usage, not on typical monthly wintertime usage - aka you pay sewer charges even on water used for irrigation and keeping your pool filled).

I haven't observed any water leaks in our own village, but unfortunately it just announced mandatory water restrictions this week.

Yeah, I just saw my first dign by the road (while driving) re this yesterday.

[houston-nomad]

Mandatory water restrictions in Houston. I think it was watering your lawn no more than twice a week, between 7 pm and 5 am; you can get fined for noncompliance.

[Ghost Town]

I had a dry thunderstorm yesterday, no rain.

Seems we are going to remain in 100+ zone through at least September 7.
They keep extending and extending the heat forecasts.
Quite possible it will continue till mid September.
Lows are supposed to subside though, but will see.

[airdrawndagger]

Originally Posted by Ghost Town

I had a dry thunderstorm yesterday, no rain.

Seems we are going to remain in 100+ zone through at least September 7.
They keep extending and extending the heat forecasts.
Quite possible it will continue till mid September.
Lows are supposed to subside though, but will see.

My weather app claims highs in the mid to high 90s starting Tuesday. Kind of sad that I’m looking forward to those temps, but sounds mild in comparison to the last couple months.

[Ghost Town]

My weather app is still showing 98-102 weather till September 12.
Maybe I just got used to it, but it doesn't feel that bad after 6PM..