Harvey

[KarenRei]

Yes, I know where the storm went and what storms usually do, and I could tell you how it deviated from the ECMWF and GFS at different points in time and basically everything about it I grew up in the Houston area and my sister still lives there.

 

[KarenRei]

Two checkins at the North Houston supercharger yesterday. Apparently the superchargers work but the bathrooms are closed. Hope that doesn't mean that the service centre got flooded :Þ

Still no checkins at Channelview.

 

[wdolson]

I wouldn't be surprised if Tesla's facilities in Houston were damaged. I can't find any specifics in a quick search, but the Galleria is not that far from Buffalo Bayou, though not in the direct path of the flood. It appears the Galleria took some flood damage.

Tesla's main store in the area is in The Woodlands which is an area with a lot of lakes and the San Jacinto River flowing to the north. I believe The Woodlands got hit pretty hard.

I did find a site saying 1/2 million cars in Houston will have to be scrapped. I'm sure they are scrambling to get the refineries back online, but over 20% of the US refining capacity was taken down by the storm. Gas prices across the US could shoot up dramatically and some of those refineries may be shut down for a long time.

I would expect the refineries will have trouble finding technicians who know how to do some tasks required to get the refineries up and running again. And nobody knows the extent of the damage yet.

 

[KarenRei]

Tesla's main store in the area is in The Woodlands which is an area with a lot of lakes and the San Jacinto River flowing to the north. I believe The Woodlands got hit pretty hard.

I don't know about Tesla's store in the Woodlands, but my sister lives in the Woodlands right next to Lake Woodlands, and she was fine, so I assume that the Tesla store in the Woodlands is as well. Lake Woodlands' catchment basin is pretty small because Spring Creek and the San Jacinto River nearly encircle it.

 

[wdolson]

I don't know about Tesla's store in the Woodlands, but my sister lives in the Woodlands right next to Lake Woodlands, and she was fine, so I assume that the Tesla store in the Woodlands is as well. Lake Woodlands' catchment basin is pretty small because Spring Creek and the San Jacinto River nearly encircle it.

Good to know. The store is near the major highway going through the area. I think it's I-45.

 

[KarenRei]

Confirmed charges at Channelview and Lake Charles on Plugshare. Amazing. Looks like the superchargers got through this entirely unscathed. I don't know how, given that several of them were paired with heavily damaged buildings, but... go Tesla!

 

[wart]

I'm charging at Columbus right now. Based on water/mud lines it looks like the water was maybe a foot deep in the parking lot. So no real damage to the equipment.

 

[wart]

A couple of pics from Columbus on the evening of September 8. Posting from my phone, hopefully this works. You can see how the equipment is elevated. On the concrete platform for the transformer you can see the muddy band that shows the water level.

 

[namlio]

A couple of pics from Columbus on the evening of September 8. Posting from my phone, hopefully this works. You can see how the equipment is elevated. On the concrete platform for the transformer you can see the muddy band that shows the water level. View attachment 246554 View attachment 246555

Water at the chargers is one thing, but when we went by on our way to San Antonio last Monday while it was still raining, the water was 2-3 feet deep in the dip from the road to the parking lot. I saw a big four wheel drive vehicle make it through, but the water would have been half way up my door, so I kept going to Flatonia.

 

[thecloud]

Yes, I know where the storm went and what storms usually do, and I could tell you how it deviated from the ECMWF and GFS at different points in time and basically everything about it I grew up in the Houston area and my sister still lives there.

Can I just take this opportunity to point out that in the 52 days you've been a TMC member, you have posted over 1000 times, which is an average of about 20 posts per day. I suspect that may be some kind of record. Cheers!

 

[KarenRei]

A couple of pics from Columbus on the evening of September 8. Posting from my phone, hopefully this works. You can see how the equipment is elevated. On the concrete platform for the transformer you can see the muddy band that shows the water level. View attachment 246554 View attachment 246555

Wow, bet they're glad they elevated the transformers! Were the pedestals submerged at all? I'm curious as to whether a pedestal can submerge without problems...

 

[Cattledog]

Wow, bet they're glad they elevated the transformers! Were the pedestals submerged at all? I'm curious as to whether a pedestal can submerge without problems...

Had to be submerged, they're downslope from the transformer base. By the line on the base I'd say pedestals were in 2'-4' of water.

 

[wart]

Had to be submerged, they're downslope from the transformer base. By the line on the base I'd say pedestals were in 2'-4' of water.

Well, the bases of the pedestals surely were but probably not all the way up to the cables. As far as I understand it the pedestals aren't much more than the frame, cable and lights. Not much to damage electrically speaking. The Superchargers might actually have been working the whole time, just inaccessible due to high water on the road, driveway and parking lot.

 

[stephenpace]

Tesla themselves lost 12 vehicles in Harvey and in the owner's group we have counted 9 others lost. Likely more we dpn't know about yet.

 

[bollar]

Tesla themselves lost 12 vehicles in Harvey and in the owner's group we have counted 9 others lost. Likely more we dpn't know about yet.

Ugh