PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
634 AM CDT THU MAY 24 2007

...TROPICAL STORM ALLISON...DEADLIEST AND MOST DAMAGING IN US
HISTORY...

TROPICAL STORM ALLISON IN JUNE OF 2001 CAUSED 41 DEATHS AS WELL AS
DAMAGE THAT EXCEEDED $5 BILLION...MAKING ALLISON THE DEADLIEST AND
COSTLIEST TROPICAL STORM IN U.S. HISTORY. HALF OF ALL OF THE
FATALITIES AND MOST OF THE DAMAGE OCCURRED IN THE HOUSTON
METROPOLITAN AREA.

TROPICAL STORM ALLISON WAS BORN EARLY ON THE AFTERNOON OF JUNE 5
ABOUT 100 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF GALVESTON AFTER HURRICANE HUNTER
AIRCRAFT FOUND A LOW LEVEL CIRCULATION. A COASTAL FLOOD WARNING HAD
ALREADY BEEN POSTED FOR THE UPPER TEXAS COAST DUE TO TIDES OF 2 TO 3
FEET ABOVE NORMAL BEING OBSERVED. TROPICAL STORM ALLISON MADE
LANDFALL DURING THE EVENING OF JUNE 5 AND MOVED STEADILY NORTH
THROUGH HOUSTON DUMPING UP TO A FOOT OF RAIN OVER PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS. ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY THE REMNANTS OF ALLISON
WANDERED THROUGH PORTIONS OF EAST TEXAS SATURATING THE SOILS OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS WITH CONTINUOUS RAINFALL.

ON FRIDAY...JUNE 8...THE REMNANTS OF ALLISON BEGAN TO DRIFT TO THE
SOUTHWEST TO THE WEST OF HOUSTON AND SKIES ACTUALLY CLEARED DURING
THE AFTERNOON OVER PORTIONS OF HARRIS COUNTY. THE COMBINATION OF
THESE TWO EVENTS PUT HARRIS COUNTY IN A PRIME AREA FOR EXCESSIVE
RAIN BEGINNING FRIDAY EVENING.

FORECASTS THAT WERE ISSUED EARLY FRIDAY INDICATED THE POSSIBILITY
OF AN ADDITIONAL 10 OR MORE INCHES OF RAIN. DURING FRIDAY NIGHT AND
EARLY SATURDAY MORNING A MAJOR FLOOD EVENT TOOK PLACE THAT
EVENTUALLY DUMPED 10 TO 30 INCHES OF RAIN OVER A LARGE PORTION OF
HARRIS COUNTY. AT THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM...BETWEEN 1 AM AND 7 AM
SATURDAY JUNE 9...OVER 1,000,000 PEOPLE WERE SIMULTANEOUSLY IMPACTED
BY THE HEAVY RAIN AND AT LEAST STREET FLOODING. THE DAMAGE
STATISTICS ARE STAGGERING. SOME 59,000 SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES...11,000
APARTMENT UNITS...AND 2500 MOBILE HOMES WERE FLOODED. TRAGICALLY...
22 PEOPLE IN THE HOUSTON AREA LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE MAIN EVENT.
THE MAJORITY OF THE LIVES LOST WERE PEOPLE EITHER DRIVING OR WALKING
IN FLOODED ROADWAYS. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT IF PEOPLE DID NOT TRAVEL
DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE EVENT THEIR CHANCES OF SURVIVAL WERE MUCH
GREATER...EVEN IF THEIR HOME HAD FLOOD WATERS IN IT. THIS IS ANOTHER
GREAT EXAMPLE OF TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN.

WHAT IS THE LIKELIHOOD OF ANOTHER TROPICAL STORM ALLISON TYPE OF
EVENT?  MANY PEOPLE COMMENTED THAT THE LIKELIHOOD OF SUCH AN EVENT
OCCURRING AGAIN IS EXTREMELY RARE. HOWEVER...IF YOU LOOK BACK IN
HISTORY YOU CAN FIND SEVERAL EVENTS OF SIMILAR MAGNITUDE THAT HAVE
OCCURRED IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THESE HEAVY RAIN EVENTS WILL CONTINUE
TO OCCUR AND WITH OUR EVER INCREASING POPULATION THE TARGETS FOR
THESE TYPES OF DISASTERS BECOMES LARGER.