Despite “State of Readiness,” Texans Should Not Worry About Hurricane Michael

We get that everyone is on their guard when it comes to hurricanes. If nothing else, Hurricane Harvey taught us that we need to be prepared (even if it didn’t teach us that we shouldn’t build in the flood plain apparently). And even though Texas is generally beyond the time of year when hurricanes threaten our coast, the appearance of a large storm in the Gulf is always cause for concern.

There was some confusion on Monday, however, over an announcement from Governor Greg Abbott declaring a “state of readiness” over flooding and severe weather concerns here. Numerous national news outlets picked up on it saying Abbott was preparing Texas for a hurricane just in case. But it had nothing to do with Michael. In fact, it is really just the lead-in to some beautiful fall weather heading our way.

While the Houston area isn’t expected to see much in the way of rainfall over the next week, west central Texas is already getting hammered with heavy rainfall ahead of a cool front. An RV park in Kimble County was washed away Monday afternoon and four people are missing. Heavy rains and downstream river flooding is expected across a large part of central Texas through the weekend, after which significantly cooler weather will filter into the entire state.