I wonder how things are in Houston.

[Igel]

11. Really depends where you are.

My school district has one school closed, but excess capacity elsewhere to house the students.

Houston Independent School District (HISD) has dozens of schools damaged. They're trying to figure out morning/afternoon schools to have two schools' student populations use one building. They're delaying school for some students until the end of September. Some start back next week.

Out in Kingswood, still a mostly white area, the high school's trashed and they're talking about one school using the building for classes in the afternoon/evening and extracurriculars in the morning while the original occupants use it for classes in the morning/early afternoon and extracurricular activities in the afternoon/evening.

I have 160 kids in my classes. Between yesterday and today I've seen them all. A couple had flooding in their homes. 350 staff, and 7 or so had flooding. We're about 1/2 white, 1/5 black, 3/10 Latino. Many kids know a few people who were flooded.

Go to another school in the district that's mostly white and hundreds of families were affected. Go to another school in the same district--this one mostly black and Latino--and Harvey's so last week. That's counter-narrative, but the historical pattern of flooding didn't hold this time and the narrative pre-existed Harvey.

A few major roads are closed, still, to be sure. But if you're not commuting in from the west you wouldn't know it. Some of those aren't under water any more. What's happened is water damage--holes in the roadbed or sinkholes.

It's as a local news story put it regarding the oil refineries. If you're in CC, you're nearly up and running or up and running. At worst, repairs are underway. If you're in Houston, you're done assessing damage and you're working on getting things repaired, but not much is up and running. If you're around Beaumont, you hope that the water goes away and the electricity returns fairly soon.

A person's take on the damage is local. I was in west Houston where the employees that helped us at a store said it was a disaster--most people they knew couldn't get to their houses and apartments. The store was absurdly well stocked with all the usual preppy stuff--fresh organic cilantro and turmeric, brown rice protein powder and organic Greek yoghurt, and fresh craft-brewed beers. But it had no white long-grain rice, and most of the customers simply didn't notice. They were mostly unscathed by the storm and their lives were completely normal. Or their chief concern was finding time for the insurance adjuster to show up because flood insurance would make them whole. I know a lot of people are suffering. I just don't know any of the ones that are really suffering.