Hurricane Harvey Floods Highways and Stalls Oil Production in Texas

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Through Sunday morning, Harvey continued to unleash record levels of rain upon Texas, causing biblical flooding. The situation is so bad that the National Weather Service warned of “additional catastrophic, unprecedented and life threatening flooding” into the next week, and placed flash-flood emergencies for the entirety of Southeast Texas.

Harvey was the strongest storm to hit the United States since 2004 and has already trapped countless individuals, both in their homes and on the road as the rain has turned several major highways into man-made rivers. In some areas, the waterline is high enough to reach streetlights.

https://twitter.com/glowindolan/status/901868204817047558

According to Reuters, emergency crews spent all of Sunday morning rescuing people from flooded cars and homes as waters rose across southeast Texas, saving more than 1,000 people around Houston as Harvey stalled over the area — punishing the region with even more rain than originally expected.

“This event is unprecedented and all impacts are unknown and beyond anything experienced,” the National Weather Service stated on Twitter.

The center of Harvey still hasn’t reached Houston, but is forecast to arc slowly toward the city by Wednesday as the slow moving storm creeps through Texas. Damage to vehicles and homes is anticipated to far surpass anything a normal hurricane would yield. Chuck Watson, director of research and development at Enki Holdings in Savannah, Georgia, told Automotive News “If it was a traditional hurricane it would be a $2 billion storm, maybe $3 billion, but that is not what this storm is about,” Watson said.

Now that Harvey is a near-stagnant tropical storm, its damaging winds have given way to rising floodwaters, tidal surges, and tornadoes. The worst that could happen is if swings back into the gulf and re-intensifies Monday or Tuesday, before once again swinging back into the southeastern Texas.

https://twitter.com/Ceteramendez/status/901897886325202944

Harvey is bombarding a region that has a cluster of refineries that process roughly five million barrels of oil a day. About one million barrels a day of crude refining capacity in Texas have been shut by companies including Valero Energy Corp., according to numerous company statements, press releases, and people familiar with the situation. Automotive News believes the storm’s path through the Gulf stalled 24 percent of the area’s oil production along with the entire port of Corpus Christi, which ships the largest amount of U.S. oil overseas.

How dramatically the storm will affect the region’s automotive output is still unknown, however. While shipping through Texas has been stalled for the rest of the week, supplier routes up from Mexico have been shifted to avoid the Eastern portion of the state.

Local area dealerships are also concerned. With low-lying areas seeing feet of water, many shops are worried that they may lose their entire inventory. Mitchell Dale, co-owner of McRee Ford in Dickinson, Texas, just south of Houston, said his dealership closed Friday morning to allow employees the opportunity to leave town.

“There’s only so much you can do,” Dale said. “Our main concern is our employees, and making sure they had time to leave if they want to.”

Dale said Harvey is the worst storm the store has experienced since 1979, when tropical storm Claudette delivered more than 30 inches of water into the building. “We were totally shut down for about two weeks,” he said. “We had to replenish inventory and it just creates a real mess.”

This is the carmax behind my apartment complex. First floor is also flooding. pic.twitter.com/AjAVkCGcZv

— kristen (@kb11311) August 27, 2017

In addition to the dealer vehicles, many drivers were trapped in their own cars over the weekend as roads ahead of them quickly flooded. The Twitter account of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, which includes most of Houston, was bombarded with rescue requests and found itself unable to respond to all of them.

“All agencies care but everyone [is] simply operating at maximum capacity,” Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted at one point. The account has since asked residents to use 911 to request emergency assistance and urged drivers not to attempt driving around barricades or through flooded roads.

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

More by Matt Posky

Comments
Join the conversation
5 of 139 comments
  • TomHend TomHend on Aug 28, 2017

    If you donate money avoid the Red Cross, that organization is dysfunctional.

    • DeadWeight DeadWeight on Aug 29, 2017

      House Charity Navigator to discern how mincing monies donated to any given charity actually make it to the real humans in need that such charity was ostensibly designed to assist, rather than frittered away inefficiently on bloated administrative expenses, excessive spending on things nit helpful to the core mission, and even, used to pay positively ridiculous salaries to staffers and executives of such charities. https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=studies.ceo Some real gems: Harry Johns, President and CEO Nonprofit: Alzheimer's Association Compensation: $2,731,016 % of Expenses: 1.1% 2012 Revenue: $268.9 million 2012 Expenses: $248.1 million The American voluntary health organization was founded in 1980 and focuses on care, support and research for Alzheimer's disease. John S. Ruskay, Executive Vice President and CEO Nonprofit: United Jewish Appeal - Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, Inc. Compensation: $3,151,000 % of Expenses: 1.5% 2011 Revenue: $212.9 million 2011 Expenses: $212.8 million The New York City based organization has more than 55,000 donors who help people in need, inspire a passion for Jewish life and strengthen Jewish communities around the world. John L. Miller, President and CEO Nonprofit: Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin Compensation: $3,206,088 % of Expenses: 3.4% 2012 Revenue: $105.8 million 2012 Expenses: $95.5 million This nonprofit organization provides training, employment and supportive services for people with disabilities or disadvantages. Scummy people. If you want to do charitable work, don't gorge on ridiculous pay, or just go into the for-profit sector FFS. By the way, Susan G. Komen, Red Cross, United Way, National Public Radio And many, many other charities have very low efficiency ratings and grossly excessive executive compensation.

  • Krhodes1 Krhodes1 on Aug 28, 2017

    Well this posting sure brought the political idiots out in full force. Best and Brightest my @ss.

  • Jalop1991 The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft may not be fully engaged due to suspected improper assembly by the supplier. Over time, partial engagement can cause damage to the intermediate shaft splines. Damaged shaft splines may result in unintended vehicle movement while in Park if the parking brake is not engagedGee, my Chrysler van automatically engages the parking brake when we put it in Park. Do you mean to tell me that the idjits at Kia, and the idjit buyers, couldn't figure out wanting this in THEIR MOST EXPENSIVE VEHICLE????
  • Dukeisduke I've been waiting to see if they were going to do something special for the 60th Anniversary. I was four years old when the Mustang was introduced. I can remember that one of our neighbors bought a '65 coupe (they were all titled as '65 models, even the '64-1/2 cars), and it's the first one I can remember seeing. In the '90s I knew an older gentleman that owned a '64-1/2 model coupe with the 260 V8.
  • SCE to AUX "...the complete Mustang model lineup to peruse"Will the fake Mustang show up, too?
  • SCE to AUX We don't need no stinking badges.
  • SCE to AUX I've never been teased by a bumper like that one before.
Next