#galveston flood building

[crudlynaturephotos]

[myhauntedsalem]

Galveston’s St. Mary’s Orphan Asylum

On September 7, 1900 a hurricane quietly entered the Gulf of Mexico. By the next day this storm brought in winds of 150 mph, which hit the Galveston barrier island destroying the town of the same name.

This hurricane known as The Great Storm is the deadliest * natural disaster to hit American soil. 3,600 homes were destroyed and more than 10,000 men, women and children lost their lives.

At this time, Galveston, a bustling port town was one of the largest and wealthiest cities in Texas. The future was bright for its 36,000 residents.

After 9:00 p.m. on September 8th all this prosperity would be gone.

Among the dead where 10 nuns and 90 of 93 children at St. Mary’s Orphan Asylum located on beachfront property located outside the town.

St. May’s Orphan Asylum–building on right girl’s dorm.

These nuns were apart of the Sisters of Charity that had established a Catholic infirmary in Galveston.

The orphans under their charge were mostly children that lost their parents to Yellow Fever—so eventually the orphanage connected to the hospital was moved outside of town to avoid this disease.

Sister Elizabeth Ryan was in Galveston on the morning the hurricane hit collecting supplies. Mother Gabriel tried to convince her to stay at the hospital until the storm passed but she refused for her supplies included food for that day’s supper at the orphanage.

What Sister Elizabeth didn’t know is that there would be no more suppers at St. Mary’s.

During the afternoon the winds and rains increased, the tide rose higher, fierce waves crashed onto the beach sending floodwaters ashore.

St. Mary’s consisted of two large dormitories with balconies that faced the gulf. Both buildings sat behind a row of sand dunes that were supported by Salt Cedar trees.

The tides began to erode these dunes, one orphan who survived stated later he watched as the dunes eroded, “as if they were made of flour.”

When the floodwaters reached the dorms the nuns gathered all the children into the girl’s dormitory for it was newer and the stronger of the two buildings.

At first they stayed in the first floor chapel, the nuns had the boys and girls sing a French hymn Queen of the Waves, which fishermen sang during storms—to keep the group calm.

But as the water rose they moved the group to the second floor where each nun tied clotheslines to their waist and then attached 6 to 8 orphans to them with it.

Several of the older boys went up to the roof. The children terrified now watched as the boy’s dorm was lifted off its foundations and washed away.

A ship that was being tossed in the storm hit their dorm–it lifted their building up, the floor fell out from beneath their feet and the roof crashed down trapping them in the water.

Only 3 orphan boys survived, William Murney, Frank Madera and Albert Campbell. They were washed away and woke later in a tree. They clung to this tree for a day before a small boat from town rescued them.

Several of the nun’s bodies were found later with children still attached via the clotheslines. One of the surviving boys witnessed a nun reassure two small children, “I will never let go.” She was found with both children still firmly grasped within her arms.

The nuns and children were buried where they were found.

On this terrible day, when the wind and gulf waters met at 6:00 p.m. the town was completely flooded—whole blocks were washed away within minutes.

At 7:30 p.m. the main tidal wave struck the south shore, it reached 15 to 20 feet.

In 1994, on the anniversary of The Great Storm Texas placed a historical marker at the section of the seawall, built after the storm, where St. Mary’s once stood. Descendants of the survivors attended and an all sang, Queen of the Waves.

Today, many believe that the spirits of small orphan victims haunt two structures where St. Mary’s once stood.

Employees at the Seawall Walmart have reported: misplaced toys, missing pallets of toy inventory, phantom children’s laughter and cries for help.

One former employee recalls the time she heard a little girl calling for her mother. She went to find the lost child to help. She searched the toy department calling out but received no response.

Other’s hearing this child’s cries, both employees and customers joined in the search but the child was never found and the cries eventually stopped.

Ten years ago this store was considered the most haunted spot on the island. Several news stories highlighted it.

The Hotel Galvez was built, in 1911 on the beach where St. Mary’s once stood. This hotel known as Queen of the Gulf has hosted U.S. presidents and celebrities as well as the ghosts of several small children.

Over the years many guests have reported poltergeist activity including: doors opening and closing and lights turning on and off by themselves. Several witnesses have seen glimpses of the orphans that linger.

Today, Galvestonians often see a figure dressed in an old-fashioned nun’s habit walking along the shore.

[internationalrealestatenews]

[ad_1] Texas is understood for its huge landscapes, thriving cities, and booming actual property market. Nevertheless, as the consequences of local weather change turn into more and more distinguished, the state's actual property trade is going through new challenges. From rising sea ranges to excessive climate occasions, local weather change is impacting property values in Texas. Probably the most obvious methods local weather change is affecting actual property in Texas is thru rising sea ranges alongside the Gulf Coast. Cities like Galveston, Corpus Christi, and Houston are notably weak to coastal flooding as water ranges proceed to rise. That is inflicting potential patrons and traders to rethink their plans, as properties located in flood-prone areas lose their attractiveness on account of elevated dangers and better insurance coverage premiums. Owners are additionally discovering it tough to promote their properties, leading to a stagnation of residence costs and a lower in general property values. Along with coastal flooding, excessive climate occasions equivalent to hurricanes, tornadoes, and heatwaves have gotten extra prevalent in Texas. Such occasions not solely inflict harm to properties but additionally pose dangers to the security of residents. In consequence, patrons have gotten extra cautious, preferring properties which might be geared up with resilient options equivalent to storm-resistant home windows, bolstered roofing, and flood mitigation programs. Consequently, properties missing these options are seeing a lower of their worth as potential patrons prioritize security and resilience over aesthetics. The actual property market in Texas isn't just restricted to residential properties; industrial properties are additionally experiencing the impression of local weather change. Retail facilities, workplace buildings, and industrial areas are vulnerable to harm attributable to excessive climate occasions. Furthermore, companies working in areas weak to local weather change could face larger insurance coverage premiums, turning away potential traders and impacting property values. Nevertheless, local weather change additionally presents alternatives for actual property builders and traders in Texas. Because the demand for sustainable and eco-friendly properties will increase, those that embrace inexperienced constructing practices and combine renewable power sources into their initiatives might even see an increase in property values. Consumers and traders have gotten extra acutely aware of their carbon footprint and are keen to pay a premium for properties that prioritize power effectivity. To sort out the challenges posed by local weather change, the state of Texas is beginning to implement initiatives aimed toward mitigating dangers and defending property values. Flood mitigation initiatives, seawall constructions, and zoning laws are being put into place to cut back the impression of flooding and coastal erosion. Moreover, stricter constructing codes and power effectivity requirements are being launched to make sure new developments are resilient to excessive climate occasions and are environmentally sustainable. As the results of local weather change proceed to unfold, Texas's actual property market is experiencing vital shifts. Rising sea ranges, excessive climate occasions, and evolving purchaser preferences are all contributing elements that impression property values. Nevertheless, proactive measures by the federal government, actual property builders, and traders might help mitigate these challenges and make sure the long-term viability and desirability of Texas's actual property market. [ad_2]

[beardedmrbean]

O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Record rainfall caused widespread flash flooding across the St. Louis area early Tuesday, closing multiple roadways and prompting rescues from vehicles and homes.

There were no immediate reports of injuries to people, but several puppies drowned when water got into a building at Stray Paws Adoptables, a stray dog rescue operation in St. Peters. Firefighters in boats were able to rescue other dogs from the building.

Damage across the St. Louis region was widespread after a massive downpour dropped more than 11 inches (28 centimeters) of rain in parts of St. Charles County and up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) elsewhere in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

By 8 a.m., 8.3 inches of rain had fallen at Lambert Airport, demolishing the previous daily record of 6.85 inches set Aug. 20, 1915, when remnants of the Galveston, Texas, hurricane moved north to St. Louis. Forecasters expected Tuesday's rain to wrap up by late-morning, but more storms were likely through the rest of the week.

Firefighters across the St. Louis region were busy with water rescues. A section of Interstate 70 was closed in St. Peters, and many other roadways were flooded. Some vehicles were completely submerged. The Missouri State Highway Patrol on Twitter urged drivers to avoid I-70. Some motorists took to social media to report being stranded for several hours.

At one point, sections of interstates 64, 55 and 44 also were closed in the St. Louis area.

[aubergineanathema]

Sorrow is a knot hastily-tied

I’ve been consuming too many sad stories. I’ve been collecting them lately.

Tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires of years past.

Famine. Pestilence. War. Death.

But I came across one today. I bit off more than I could chew. It was about the island of Galveston Hurricane of 1900. They didn’t really know a hurricane was even coming, and so they all just tried to wait out the storm as the water submerged the entire island. Near the beach there was an orphanage, with ten nuns and almost a hundred orphans. As the water flooded the first floor they fled to the second, and the nuns tied all of the children to themselves with bedsheets, so that no one would get separated. 

The water lifted the building off its foundation, and it collapsed.

A few days later they were found on the beach.

Still tied together.

.

I don’t know why I’ve been collecting these stories.

Maybe it’s because somehow it seems to make all the sadness in the world right now more bearable, knowing that others have gotten through things too. But then, those orphans didn’t.

Maybe I’m just a rubbernecker.

Or maybe I gather these stories up so that I can feel them, so that I can hear them and understand something of the voices and the people who don’t have the luxury of feeling anything anymore. Maybe I want to mourn them and what they lost while I can.

Either way. This heavy feeling on my chest. The weight of all those people. All that water. That fear.

I can’t stop thinking about it.

That’s what I get. I guess.

[wolfliving]

Big, big landscape architecture

*It doesn’t work, he says.

https://placesjournal.org/article/design-and-the-green-new-deal/

(...)

A Failure to Rebuild by Design

What would designers do with one billion dollars to spend on climate resilience? Thanks to a federal competition, we know the answer. In 2013, the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development conceived Rebuild by Design, which sought to “promote innovation by developing regionally scalable but locally contextual solutions that increase resilience.” 8 Reflecting the ideology of the Obama administration — and the sympathies of HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, himself an architect — the program was conceived as a design competition, pitting teams and communities against one another for a limited pool of resources. Experimental proposals for resilience would be tested by private actors in (to use the language of neoliberalism) a marketplace of ideas. 9

This was unusual. Most disaster recovery efforts, at least in the United States, seek to rebuild cities following a single, unified plan. They aim to restore the status quo, even if that means putting people, buildings, and infrastructures back into high-risk zones. Such efforts avoid the big questions about how to organize landscapes differently; they are also often hindered by redundant or counterproductive programs. Rebuild was premised on a belief that designers, working closely with communities, could do better. 10

We don’t need playful design proposals; we need high-impact built projects — prototypes for the resilient futures we’ve been promised.

The initial call attracted nearly 150 proposals, and ten teams were chosen to participate in the competition. After a process of regional analysis and site selection, HUD announced, in June 2014, that six winning designs would receive substantial funding for further development and construction. In New York City, the largest share of that money went to a team led by Bjarke Ingels Group, which proposed The BIG U, a flood barrier system around Lower Manhattan, comprising berms and retractable floodwalls, stitched together with waterfront parks and recreational amenities ($335 million). There were also major awards to SCAPE and colleagues, who would develop Living Breakwaters, a program of ecosystem restoration and shoreline stabilization along Staten Island ($60 million), and the University of Pennsylvania and Olin Studio, which would lead Lifelines, a project to fortify Hunts Point Market in The Bronx ($20 million). 11 Outside the city, there were comprehensive plans for the Meadowlands by MIT, ZUS, and Urbanisten ($150 million), for Hoboken by OMA ($230 million), and for Nassau County by Interboro ($125 million).

Although several of these projects are now stalled or curtailed, Rebuild by Design has enjoyed remarkably favorable press coverage, a testament to the sophistication of its boosters and to the general lack of fluency about design and climate change at many media outlets. The images flit across our newsfeeds. Yet those glossy renderings don’t help us see what landscape architects might (or might not) bring to recovery efforts in Houston and Galveston after Hurricane Harvey; Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands after Maria; the Carolinas after Florence; the Western states after another devastating wildfire season; or the Midwest, severely flooded as I write. We don’t need playful design proposals; we need high-impact built projects — prototypes for the resilient futures we’ve been promised.

Outside the academic press, the first truly substantive critique of New York’s laggard hurricane recovery came in a 2016 article in Rolling Stone. Climate journalist Jeff Goodell quoted an anonymous architect who said, of BIG’s vision, “when it’s done, it’s just going to be a big, dumb wall,” a prediction born out three years later, when Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a “new plan to climate-proof Lower Manhattan” with only a vestigial trace of BIG’s work. Rebuild also came in for criticism in a 2017 interview in The Baffler, in which environmental historian Ashley Dawson questioned the notion that community involvement in the design process could meaningfully disrupt the neoliberal disaster recovery regime: “There’s a danger that we’re so desperate to have some hopeful perspective that we’re really not engaged in the bigger critique of what capitalism is doing and the ways that development is continuing to endanger vulnerable people in cities.” 12 But independent reviews of Rebuild by Design are rare. More common are articles that read as lightly reworked press releases, or self-funded program evaluations that find only minor flaws with the execution. 13

The outcomes do not match the scale of the climate emergency or the claim that Rebuild by Design could do things better and faster than, say, the Army Corps of Engineers.

Yet here we are, more than six years after the hurricane, and not one of these works is under construction. The BIG U is effectively dead....

[quasarlasar]

Random Musings On Hurricane Laura, Houston, and Grace

Once again, Houston got a really close call. 

It is well known at this point that if a Category 4+ hurricane were to hit Houston head on, the results would be absolutely devastating. The buildings are not built to resist hurricane winds at all. The city is prone to freshwater flooding from rainfall. And worst of all, refineries, stores of toxic substances, and petrochemical plants lie along Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel, unguarded against high storm surges. Some have argued if a direct hit were to happen, the resulting release of poison would rival Chernobyl. 

Clearly something must be done to prepare for this. But people have limits, and in a new era where rapidly intensifying hurricanes will be more frequent than before, will Houston remain relevant? Will any part of the Gulf Coast remain a desirable place to live in a world of frequent floods, hotter summers, and stronger storms? 

I don’t have the answer to these questions.

Storms have been used as a metaphor for the will of the divine since time immemorial. The word hurricane itself is derived from the name of a storm deity that was worshipped in the Caribbean and Mexico. In western culture, storms have been used a lot in Christian literature and music, in ways both tasteful and obnoxious. Once I picked up a historical fiction novel that took place during the 1900 Galveston hurricane, only to find in the last chapter it was a religious book trying to make a statement about how Jesus was the eye of storm (”he is the calm center when everything is swirling around you”...not even remotely subtle).

But after Hurricane Laura, I see why this is the case. Storms remind us that no matter how advanced our civilization, no matter how great our knowledge, there will always be things orders of magnitude beyond our control, forces always just out of reach of our full understanding. It is a physical impossibility to predict the weather indefinitely into the future, even with perfect knowledge of the initial conditions, because the equations that govern the atmosphere have no exact solutions. Uncertainty will always be present in the calculations, and compounded over time.

Sometimes you simply can’t know for sure what’ll come next. You’re basically in God’s hands at that point.

And in this, we find the meaning of grace. For the fact that Houston was saved had nothing to do with its being deserving of saving. It just...was. And for that we have to be grateful.

We look towards the battered coast of Louisiana and say...

“There but for the grace of God, go I.”

My high school creative writing teacher always got furious at the dissonance between my art and writing. But I couldn’t just leave it uncolored, you know?

Some notes on the drawing: 

- The hands are green because they’re supposed to be the storm god Hurakan (the ones hurricanes are named after), and Hurakan was painted as having blue-green skin in Mayan murals.

-The ‘Now Kiss’ is referring to the Fujiwhara interaction, which some people thought would happen to Marco and Laura early on. The two storms would spiral around each other and possibly merge if this happened...which it didn’t. 

-Marco is nervous because in the scenario where a weaker storm merges with a stronger one, it’s not so much a merger so much as the weaker storm gets ripped to shreds and swallowed up by the stronger storm. So...a Category One going up against a high end Category Four? Yeah Marco better be scared.

[interpretingtexas]

The 1900 Galveston Hurricane

Galveston Galveston is located on one of the barrier islands that line the Texas coast. In 1900, Galveston was a booming port town. One of the largest cities in Texas and one of the largest ports in the US, it was known for its number of wealthy residents and extravagant buildings. It was also highly cosmopolitan, since many African Americans had come to the city after the Civil War and Galveston was a port of entry for immigrants, many of whom settled there. At the turn of the century, Galveston had a population of 37,000 people, which swelled in the summer months with beach-going tourists. Despite the destruction of Indianola on the Texas coast by two storms in the previous decades, it was the professional opinion of many in the US Weather Bureau, and particularly Isaac Cline, who was stationed there, that the city of Galveston was perfectly positioned to be safe from all major storms. They were wrong.

Path of the Galveston Hurricane. [source]

The Storm On September 1st, 1900, a tropical storm formed in the Caribbean. It made landfall as a weak tropical storm in the Dominican Republic, then Puerto Rico, before reaching Cuba on the 3rd. The Cuban meteorologists were familiar with hurricanes - they'd studied them for hundreds of years - and Father Lorenzo Gangoite, head of the Belen College Observatory had been watching the storm develop. As it passed over Cuba and into the Gulf, he told the US Weather Bureau station on the island that the signs all pointed to a storm that would strengthen as it entered the Gulf and head for the Texas coast. The US Weather Bureau disregarded the Cuban meteorologists' expertise. They thought that the storm would swing and head up the Atlantic Coast. To that end, the Weather Bureau issued storm warnings along the Florida, Georgia, and Carolina coasts. The Cubans, of course, were right. On the 6th, the storm that had strengthened to hurricane winds passed over the ship Louisiana in the Gulf. The US Weather Bureau was confused, initially thinking that they'd lost the Cuban storm headed up the coast and discovered another major storm that had appeared in the Gulf. Even after they realized it was the same storm, they underestimated it's intensity. Willis Moore, director of the Weather Bureau, refused to call it a hurricane or issue more than strong wind warnings for the Texas coast. He also forbid the station in Galveston to issue them, worrying that it would cause a panic. On the afternoon of September 8th, Galveston was hit nearly directly with a Category 4 hurricane with almost no warning.

Damage Map of Galveston after the hurricane. Water covered the entire island and more than 3 thousand buildings were completely destroyed. Published in the Houston Post, September 27, 1900. [source]

Aftermath of the 1900 Galveston storm. Library of Congress. [source]

The Aftermath When the hurricane finally cleared Galveston, the damage was horrific. A 15 foot storm surge had covered the entire island and had knocked buildings off their foundations and into other buildings. About a third of buildings in the city were completely destroyed. The death toll was high.  Isaac Cline eventually issued a hurricane warning and spent some of the afternoon warning people to leave the city, or at least the beach front, but few did. Those who delayed were trapped when the bridges to the mainland were destroyed. Official death counts were around 6 to 8 thousand, but estimates range as high as 12,000. The train from Houston was unable to reach Galveston after the storm, due to debris on and damage to the track, and passengers reported seeing dead bodies from the train. With the island nearly destroyed, the bodies couldn't be buried and so instead were taken out on barges for a burial at sea. Horrifically, the bodies started washing up on the beaches with the next tide. Finally, funeral pyres were lit and continued to burn for weeks. The storm continued what is today considered a typical path, hitting Houston, Oklahoma, and the Midwest before swinging to the Northeast and finally leaving the continent through Nova Scotia. Even after being weakened by traveling over land, the remnants of the storm caused hundreds of casualties in Canada.

The Seawall, Galveston, Texas, 1907. University of Houston Digital Library. [source]

Galveston Today Galveston never completely recovered from the 1900 hurricane. They built a seawall almost 10 miles long and 17 feet tall and pumped in sand from the gulf to raise the entire city up about 7 feet. Though these measures protected the city from future storms - a Category 4 hurricane in 1915 resulted in significantly less damage and loss of life - they couldn't protect the city's image. Investors thought that Galveston was too exposed as a port and turned instead to the city of Houston, further inland. The Houston shipping channel was dredged in 1909 and Galveston's status as a port city was further eroded. Today, Galveston is known as a tourist destination. Tourists can stay in historic hotels, including one that survived the Galveston storm, and are drawn to the many activities available along the water front. But reminders of the storm still abound. The flood line is still visible on some of the historic buildings and every building that made it through the storm has a plaque that marks it, like the city itself, as a survivor.

If you want a fantastic book on this event, check out Erik Larson’s Isaac’s Storm.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this Texas Tribune story:

In early 2009, just a few months after the storm, [Bill Merrell, an outspoken oceanographer at Texas A&M University at Galveston] introduced a concept dubbed the Ike Dike that became his personal crusade. It included storm surge barrier gates and dozens of miles of dune-topped levees. He insisted it was the best way to keep the next big hurricane from inundating hundreds of thousands of homes and potentially shuttering the massive industrial complex along the Houston Ship Channel, which produces about 13% of the nation’s gasoline and nearly 30% of its jet and diesel fuel. The Ike Dike mirrored the Dutch concept of stopping storm surges right at the coast to provide maximum protection.

Now, a decade later, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Texas General Land Office are moving ahead with a plan that would do just that. A coastal barrier system — part of a coast-wide protection plan estimated to cost as much as $32 billion — is still in the early stages; the agencies have made significant revisions in recent months after receiving thousands of public comments opposing the initial vision, mainly because it would have left thousands of homes and businesses stranded on the exposed side of a proposed system of levees and required the condemnation of a significant number of buildings.

Those changes have made it look even more Dutch, with 12-foot-high sand dune-topped levees — the preferred term for dike in the United States — meant to protect beachfront homes and businesses and a redesigned storm surge barrier system aimed at being more failproof and environmentally friendly.

The plan, which the agencies will put out for a second round of public comments in September of next year, is set to be finalized in 2021. Getting buy-in from locals is the first of many obstacles it will face.

[oasisvirtual]

The $31BN Seawall to Save The Texas Coast

The $31BN Seawall to Save The Texas Coast

This is how you build a flood defence Texas-style. For more by Tomorrow’s Build subscribe now – https://bit.ly/3vOOJ98 Join our mailing list – https://bit.ly/tomorrows-build Additional footage and imagery courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District, Texas General Land Office, Hollaway Environmental Communication Services, Third Coast Drone, Google Earth Pro, Chicago Department of…

[crudlynaturephotos]

[xpertsanantonio]

Things to do in San Antonio

There are several points to do in San Antonio. Among the most fascinating points to see in this city is the Alamo. If you're seeking a great location to obtain a beverage, you can see Menger Bar, a historic club right beside the Alamo. This club is in fact made to be comparable to your home of Lords Pub in London, and lies inside of the Menger Hotel. This bar is a prominent vacationer destination in San Antonio, and also is open Monday via Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight.

The City of San Antonio has an abundant and also varied history. It began as a cattle center and also turned into an industrial, social, as well as armed forces facility. The city grew continuously in the late 18th century and ended up being the biggest city in Texas prior to Galveston. The growth was mainly as a result of immigration as well as the influence of the Germans, who composed a large percentage of the populace. At one point in the 19th century, Germans surpassed the native Tejanos. The city was additionally the southerly hub of cattle trail drives. This resulted in the development of a crucial woollen market.

San Antonio River Walk

The San Antonio River Walk is an urban park situated one degree above a normal automobile road. The San Antonio River Walk is special because it is a city park and pedestrian road at the same time. This means that pedestrians as well as bikes can safely walk down the street. The city has produced a very good location to walk on the River Walk, and numerous site visitors from around the world have made use of it.

The River Walk includes a number of fascinating places for dining. There are plenty of restaurants that offer Mexican food, yet the city has a varied culinary scene. Some restaurants, such as 2M Smokehouse, focus on Tex-Mex food. Others provide even more diverse cuisine, consisting of blend Asian food as well as American informal comfort food. The Shuck Shack as well as Hard Rock Cafe both have an excellent track record for offering seafood as well as other regional price.

The San Antonio River Walk was initially intended to tame the river, which was prone to floodings. This is the reason that some of your homes near the location often tend to sink over the years, those owners suggest Xpert Foundation Repair San Antonio, a business with greater than 20 years of experience in the market.

The San Antonio River Walk is 15 miles long and also flows with five miles of downtown San Antonio. One of one of the most preferred sections is the midtown loophole, which is house to some of the city's ideal hotels, dining establishments, and also nightclubs. The remainder of the River Walk comes by bike and also hiking trails.

The Alamo

When seeing the Alamo, strategy to invest a minimum of two hours. You can discover the shrine and also grounds by yourself or take a tourist guide by the Daughters of the Republic. If you wish to discover more about the background of the Alamo, download an audio overview to accompany your see.

This historical site is owned by the State of Texas and also operated by the Texas General Land Office. It was called a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015 as well as is one of one of the most popular visitor attractions in Texas. The Alamo is an important historical site as a result of its function in the Texas Revolution. This collection of fights happened in between the Mexican government and also Texans from October 1835 to April 1836.

Site visitors to The Alamo often start their scenic tour at the church, which is the most famous framework in the compound. It can be seen from Alamo Plaza. The church started building and construction in 1744 as well as was damaged countless times. It initially had a dome and also belfry. It has since been restored to its original look and is a popular tourist attraction.

The Alamo is located in the heart of downtown San Antonio and also is conveniently accessible by foot, auto, or bus. There is enough car park close by for $5-$ 7, as well as a number of ticketed bus and also cart tours include the historical site. Make certain to examine the Alamo's guidelines before checking out, and also inspect the weather prediction prior to your trip to guarantee you are effectively prepared.

Natural Bridge Caverns

Natural Bridge Caverns is among the largest commercial caves in Texas. Its name comes from the 60-foot sedimentary rock slab bridge that covers the amphitheater setup of the cave's entry. The slab was left put on hold when a sinkhole fell down below it.

Natural Bridge Caverns is open daily. Situated simply off the Blue Ridge Parkway, the caves are easy to reach from close-by areas. Tours last approximately 4 hrs. Throughout the tour, participants will crawl through tight areas, shuffle throughout slippery ledges as well as climb high slopes. Visitors ought to put on headlamps, safety helmets, as well as handwear covers to protect themselves from the elements. During the tour, individuals will certainly additionally clip into safety ropes so they do not fall.

If you 'd like to try spelunking, you can attempt one of Natural Bridge Caverns' Hidden Passages Adventure Tour. Guests will be supplied with caving gear, rope harnesses, helmets, and also headgear lights. This 160-foot shaft provides a distinct experience for those who enjoy the outdoors.

The caverns at Natural Bridge Caverns are still in their developing stages. The caverns are created by rainwater dripping with layers of sedimentary rock. The water then liquifies the weak mineral calcite, which is used to make all speleothems. The water after that trickles continually throughout the caverns, producing a waxy appeal in some areas.

San Antonio Zoo

The San Antonio Zoo is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoo in Brackenridge Park in the heart of the city. With a range of animal types and academic exhibitions, it is a wonderful location to bring the whole family. Right here, you can see everything from online lions as well as tigers to colorful reptiles.

The San Antonio Zoo is house to more than 3,000 pets from all over the world. Its collection of birds is amongst the biggest worldwide, and it additionally has tigers, elephants, as well as several different monkey types. The Zoo additionally hosts day-to-day talks by experts as well as supplies train trips on its grounds. You will see lots of native Texas animals in this colorful zoo.

The zoo has actually gone through lots of changes over the last couple of years. It is presently working on a new experience for children in the form of an experiential cinema and also brand-new eating options. A renovation of the entry is additionally being taken into consideration, which will boost accessibility and also safety for visitors. Along with these changes, the zoo is planning a gorilla exhibition in the near future.

The very first phase of the Africa Live display opened up in 2007 and also included a varied selection of sub-Saharan types. The initial new species were hippos and also nile crocodiles, and also phase two opened up in 2010 with the addition of a rock hyrax. Besides the crocodiles, the zoo likewise features various sorts of birds.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Six Flags Fiesta Texas is an amusement park located in Northwest San Antonio. The park, which was previously called Fiesta Texas, opened up in March 1992. It was one of the first services to open up in the La Cantera master-planned community. Since then, it has grown to become one of the city's premier destinations.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas is split into 7 themed areas. The park includes a remarkable 168-foot-high Superman Krypton rollercoaster, which is themed around the DC comics superhero. The park additionally has a range of rides in the White Water Park. These rides are geared towards the whole household.

Apart from the rides that are themed for the park, Six Flags Fiesta Texas is likewise home to among the very best foundation repair experts, we are speaking about Xpert Foundation Repair San Antonio. They make sure regarding concrete slabs, pier and beam of light and also underground tunneling.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas is located about 17 miles northwest of downtown San Antonio. It features greater than 50 destinations. These destinations vary from rollercoasters as well as slides to go-karts as well as pools. The park additionally has restaurants and also buying locations. Six Flags Fiesta Texas is a wonderful place to opt for fun throughout the year.

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Xpert Foundation Repair 4664 Higdon Rd San Antonio, TX 78223 https://xpertfoundationrepair.com/

[internationalrealestatenews]

[ad_1] Texas is understood for its huge landscapes, thriving cities, and booming actual property market. Nevertheless, as the consequences of local weather change turn into more and more distinguished, the state's actual property trade is going through new challenges. From rising sea ranges to excessive climate occasions, local weather change is impacting property values in Texas. Probably the most obvious methods local weather change is affecting actual property in Texas is thru rising sea ranges alongside the Gulf Coast. Cities like Galveston, Corpus Christi, and Houston are notably weak to coastal flooding as water ranges proceed to rise. That is inflicting potential patrons and traders to rethink their plans, as properties located in flood-prone areas lose their attractiveness on account of elevated dangers and better insurance coverage premiums. Owners are additionally discovering it tough to promote their properties, leading to a stagnation of residence costs and a lower in general property values. Along with coastal flooding, excessive climate occasions equivalent to hurricanes, tornadoes, and heatwaves have gotten extra prevalent in Texas. Such occasions not solely inflict harm to properties but additionally pose dangers to the security of residents. In consequence, patrons have gotten extra cautious, preferring properties which might be geared up with resilient options equivalent to storm-resistant home windows, bolstered roofing, and flood mitigation programs. Consequently, properties missing these options are seeing a lower of their worth as potential patrons prioritize security and resilience over aesthetics. The actual property market in Texas isn't just restricted to residential properties; industrial properties are additionally experiencing the impression of local weather change. Retail facilities, workplace buildings, and industrial areas are vulnerable to harm attributable to excessive climate occasions. Furthermore, companies working in areas weak to local weather change could face larger insurance coverage premiums, turning away potential traders and impacting property values. Nevertheless, local weather change additionally presents alternatives for actual property builders and traders in Texas. Because the demand for sustainable and eco-friendly properties will increase, those that embrace inexperienced constructing practices and combine renewable power sources into their initiatives might even see an increase in property values. Consumers and traders have gotten extra acutely aware of their carbon footprint and are keen to pay a premium for properties that prioritize power effectivity. To sort out the challenges posed by local weather change, the state of Texas is beginning to implement initiatives aimed toward mitigating dangers and defending property values. Flood mitigation initiatives, seawall constructions, and zoning laws are being put into place to cut back the impression of flooding and coastal erosion. Moreover, stricter constructing codes and power effectivity requirements are being launched to make sure new developments are resilient to excessive climate occasions and are environmentally sustainable. As the results of local weather change proceed to unfold, Texas's actual property market is experiencing vital shifts. Rising sea ranges, excessive climate occasions, and evolving purchaser preferences are all contributing elements that impression property values. Nevertheless, proactive measures by the federal government, actual property builders, and traders might help mitigate these challenges and make sure the long-term viability and desirability of Texas's actual property market. [ad_2]

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

‘Parentese’ Is Truly a Lingua Franca, Global Study Finds (NYT) Regardless of whether it helps to know it, researchers recently determined that sing-songy baby talk—more technically known as “parentese”—seems to be nearly universal to humans around the world. In the most wide-ranging study of its kind, more than 40 scientists helped to gather and analyze 1,615 voice recordings from 410 parents on six continents, in 18 languages from diverse communities: rural and urban, isolated and cosmopolitan, internet savvy and off the grid, from hunter gatherers in Tanzania to urban dwellers in Beijing. The results, published recently in the journal Nature Human Behavior, showed that in every one of these cultures, the way parents spoke and sang to their infants differed from the way they communicated with adults—and that those differences were profoundly similar from group to group. When people tend to produce lullabies or tend to talk to their infants, they tend to do so in the same way.

Historic flooding strands St. Louis residents in their cars and homes (Washington Post) Torrential downpours sparked flash flooding in St. Louis and surrounding areas on Tuesday, stranding residents in their cars and homes as the amount of rain shattered a record set more than a century ago. The city had received more than 8.5 inches of rain as of 10 a.m. local time, the most ever recorded there in a calendar day and more than an inch over the record of 6.85 inches set in August 1915, when remnants of the hurricane in Galveston, Tex., passed through the area. Emergency workers were responding to numerous reports of drivers whose cars were submerged in the flooding. Videos shared on social media showed many roads completely inaccessible.

Deadly shootings in Whistler and Langley rock British Columbia (Washington Post) The slaying of two people in a brazen daylight shooting on Sunday rocked the Canadian resort town of Whistler, British Columbia—only to be followed less than 24 hours later by police alerts that there had been “multiple shooting scenes” in nearby Langley, on the U.S. border with Washington state. Police said that the shooting in Whistler was gang-related, while the victims in the attack in Langley were homeless, local police told Canada’s CBC. Police later confirmed that three people had died in the incident, including the suspect, and that two others were seriously injured. The shootings were a shock in an area not used to the levels of gun violence found below its southern border.

Strikes to snarl travel even more (Bloomberg) Deutsche Lufthansa will cancel almost all flights from its main German hubs in Frankfurt and Munich Wednesday because of a strike by ground crew, exacerbating the chaos that’s snarled Europe’s crucial summer travel season. Waiting lines snaking out of terminals, mountains of stranded luggage and hastily canceled flights have become the scourge of European aviation this summer. In a further disruption for travelers, much of the UK’s train network is set to be shut down on Wednesday by a railway worker strike.

Russia’s Gazprom to slash gas to Germany, as Putin fosters uncertainty in Europe (Washington Post) Russian energy giant Gazprom on Monday said it would halve the natural gas flowing through its main pipeline to Germany, keeping European countries in a state of uncertainty as they scramble to build up energy supplies for winter. Starting Wednesday, the daily gas flow through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline—the biggest between Russia and Western Europe—will be set at 33 million cubic meters, Gazprom said. That amounts to about 20 percent of capacity, down from 40 percent. Gazprom cited problems with a turbine. German officials have accused Russia of using repairs as a pretext to squeeze Europe, causing prices to soar and giving President Vladimir Putin leverage against Western countries backing Ukraine in the war. Germany is still dependent on Russia for around a third of its supplies and has been racing to fill up its gas storage facilities before gas is needed to heat homes this winter. This week’s further reduction will hamper German plans to have storage capacity 75 percent full by September and 95 percent by November. Germany has begun to cut consumption wherever it can. Some landlords are already rationing hot water, which has been turned off in many public buildings, while lights have been dimmed and public fountains lie still.

As Prices Soar in Ukraine, War Adds Economic Havoc to the Human Toll (NYT) At his compact stall in Lviv’s main outdoor food market, Ihor Korpii arranged jars of blueberries that he and his wife had picked from a nearby forest into an attractive display. Fragrant dill and fresh peas harvested from their garden lay in neat piles on a table. But “War has driven up the cost of almost everything, and people are buying much, much less,” Mr. Korpii said, pointing with weather-beaten hands to a heap of unsold carrots. “Everyone, including us, is tightening their belts,” he added. “They’re trying to save money because they don’t know what the future will bring.” Since Russia invaded Ukraine, food, energy and commodity prices have climbed around the world, worsening global inflation and inflicting financial hardship on millions of vulnerable people. Few countries are feeling the bite as much as Ukraine itself, where Russia’s deadly campaign of attrition is piling economic havoc atop a devastating humanitarian toll. Prices here have jumped more than 21 percent from a year ago, as Russian attacks on critical infrastructure and Russian occupation of major industrial and agriculture-producing regions in the southeast sow chaos in supply chains. Fuel prices are up 90 percent from a year ago, while food costs have surged over 35 percent.

Eyeing a City Captured by Russia, Ukraine Prepares an Ambitious Counterattack (NYT) The road to Russian-occupied Kherson in southern Ukraine passes through a no man’s land of charred wheat fields and cratered villages. The tails of rockets stick out of asphalt and the boom of incoming and outgoing artillery ricochets off tidy, abandoned homes. Along a jagged frontline, Ukrainian forces are preparing for what is one of the most ambitious and significant military actions of the war: retaking Kherson. The first city to fall to Russian forces, Kherson and the fertile lands that surround it are a key Russian beachhead, from which its military continuously launches attacks across a broad swath of Ukrainian territory. Regaining control could also help restore momentum to Ukraine, and give its troops a much-needed morale boost after months of vicious fighting. Already, fighting on the western and northern borders of the region is intensifying, as Ukrainian forces—currently about 30 miles from the city at their closest point—lay the groundwork for a large offensive push. For a month, Ukrainian artillery and rocket forces have been softening up Russian positions, using an array of new, Western-supplied weapons like the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, provided by the United States.

Russia to drop out of International Space Station after 2024 (AP) Russia will pull out of the International Space Station after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, the country’s new space chief said Tuesday amid high tensions between Moscow and the West over the fighting in Ukraine. The announcement, while not unexpected, throws into question the future of the 24-year-old space station, with experts saying it would be extremely difficult—a “nightmare,” by one reckoning—to keep it running without the Russians. NASA and its partners had hoped to continue operating it until 2030. Russian space officials have long talked about their desire to launch the country’s own space station and have complained that the wear and tear on the aging International Space Station is compromising safety and could make it difficult to extend its lifespan.

Where China Is Changing Its Diplomatic Ways (at Least a Little) (NYT) Whirlwind visits to crisis-riven nations in Africa. A sleek training center for the continent’s up-and-coming politicians. The prospect of major debt forgiveness for a favorite African country. As relations with the United States and Europe plummet, China is starting a new wave of diplomacy in Africa, where it dominates trade with resource-rich nations and keeps friendly ties with mostly authoritarian leaders, unfettered by competition from the West. China’s campaign to cultivate African allegiances is part of a great geopolitical competition, which has intensified since the start of the war in Ukraine. Already fiercely vying for loyalties in Asia, Beijing and Washington are now jockeying broadly for influence, with the United States, Europe and their democratic allies positioned against China, Russia, Iran and other autocracies. Heightening the competition, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, began a tour of Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo Sunday. In Africa, China is adjusting its approach, more closely integrating financial and diplomatic efforts. It’s a recognition that just building new expressways, hydropower dams and skyscrapers—as China has tried to do with the Belt and Road Initiative—isn’t sufficient to secure relations.

China and the rising cost of COVID discrimination (Worldcrunch) On July 9, the story of Afen, a young girl living in the restrooms of Shanghai Hongqiao train station, spread rapidly on Chinese social media. The girl was reported to be jobless and homeless because she had once contracted COVID. In post-lockdown Shanghai, many recruiters refused to give jobs to those who had been infected or who had worked in hospitals. Such demands in Shanghai’s labor market were not just seen in companies and firms but also in manual part-time jobs. And even shelters might not host people who had tested positive for the virus. In Shanghai alone, thousands of workers like Afen were left with no choice but to live on the streets and struggle for their survival. Discrimination against COVID-positive people has been part of the ongoing pandemic in China, visibly or invisibly. Apart from becoming "unemployable," individuals who have recovered from COVID could be barred from public places. Discrimination could also come from neighbors and acquaintances. During mass lockdowns, like the one that took place in Shanghai a few months ago, a whole living unit would go through tough restrictions if there was one positive case. So the "positive" person could be seen as "guilty," taking on tremendous blame and stress.

Zimbabwe goes for the gold—coin, that is—to fight high inflation (Washington Post) With inflation soaring in Zimbabwe and the country’s currency in free fall as people abandon it for the U.S. dollar, the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa is fighting back with a novel strategy: gold coins. Starting Monday, Zimbabwe is selling one-ounce, 22-carat gold coins bearing an image of Victoria Falls, its world-famous natural wonder. Each has a serial number, comes with a certificate and will be sold at a price “based on the prevailing international price of gold and the cost of production,” the central bank said in its announcement on July 4. The coins will be tradable both in Zimbabwe and overseas, the bank said, and can be exchanged for cash. The goal is to reduce the quantity of Zimbabwe dollars in circulation to eventually restore that currency’s value. While gold is traditionally the ideal hedge against inflation and general economic uncertainty, no country has previously tried to tackle a weakening currency by selling gold coins. And with gold trading at $1,710 per troy ounce late last week, institutional investors may be the coins’ principal buyers. “No ordinary person will be able to afford it,” said Prosper Chitambara, a senior researcher at the Labor and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe. “Right now, Zimbabweans are living hand-to-mouth.”

[timetravelauthor]

The echoes of 1906

I know disasters. In ten years as an author, I have written about no fewer than seven, including floods, fires, and storms.

In The Fire and The Memory Tree, I burned a few characters in the Great Fire (1910) and Cloquet Fire (1918). In September Sky and Indiana Belle, I blew them away in the Galveston Hurricane (1900) and Tri-State Tornado (1925). I doused thousands in River Rising and Hannah's Moon, which featured the Johnstown Flood (1889) and the sinking of the USS Indianapolis (1945). In The Journey, I pushed my protagonist in the path of Mount St. Helens (1980).

I hope to be kinder in the The Fountain, my current work in progress, but I'm not sure I'll be able to. I may not be able to work around one of the most destructive earthquakes in United States history.

On April 18, 1906, nature didn't just throw a fit. It shook San Francisco to its core. It reduced a city of 400,000 people to rubble and lit the match of an even more horrific fire, a fire that changed the world.

The quake itself was bad enough. Estimated at 7.9 on the Richter scale, it rocked most of California and created a rupture three hundred miles long. In some places, it displaced the earth by twenty-eight feet.

The fires did the rest. For four days, they burned mostly uncontrolled, destroying 28,000 buildings, killing up to 3,000 people, and leaving half of San Francisco homeless. They altered the face of a beauty.

Bad luck made things worse. The quake mortally wounded San Francisco's capable fire chief. Authorities who tried to create firebreaks with dynamite created tinder instead. A woman cooking breakfast for her family sparked the 'Ham and Eggs' fire, the worst of dozens that swept the city. Fractured pipes rendered water resources useless.

Hundreds recorded the disaster in words and images. The Call, the Examiner, and the Chronicle, rival newspapers, joined forces for a special edition. Photograher Arnold Genthe began snapping pictures, including the one of Sacramento Street above. Novelist Jack London, who plays a cameo role in The Fountain, rushed to San Francisco from his nearby ranch to capture the essense of the tragedy.

Many residents rushed to get out of the city. Those who remained battled water shortages, disease, violent crime, blackouts, and martial law. The Army, which patrolled the streets until civilian authorities could restore order, shot even suspected looters and conscripted the able-bodied to fight fires and dig graves. Some buried bodies where they fell, mere minutes ahead of the rats and the flames. Others flocked to tent cities and relief centers. Most did what they could do to survive.

Like the disasters in The Fire, September Sky, and River Rising, the quake will dominate the last quarter of its story. Like the other calamities, it will display good behavior and bad in sharp relief.

I have completed a third of The Fountain's first draft. I hope to publish the novel, the first in the Second Chance series, by Labor Day.

[publicadjusterlong-island]

Houston Texas Public Insurance Policy Insurance Adjusters Help Homeowner Restore

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