Blowing in the Wind, Take Two

And people are scared of earthquakes.

The Gulf Coast has barely dried out, yet has to make room for Rita. Rita blew threw Key West as a tropical storm and a Category 1 hurricane. But like Katrina, Rita has gathered strength during its trek westward over the Gulf of Mexico and has become a Category 5 whopper. Rita is set to hit what Katrina missed; most tracks predict that it will hit the Texas coast on Saturday morning.

This time, however, most local government officials have sense enough to order a mandatory evacuation of the area—and make provisions for it--well in advance of the new hurricane’s landfall. I’m also willing to bet that most of the affected citizenry has sense enough to take heed to those officials in this instance. (Bet those New Orleans evacuees who fled to Houston are feeling rather picked-on right now. On the other hand, perhaps some will note how different types of local governments can react differently to a crisis.)

The Captain of the Sloop New Dawn: Speaking of affected citizenry, here’s a post written by a gentleman who lives on a boat anchored in Galveston Bay. May God protect you and your furry friends, Jim.

Comments

[pdtar]

"I’m also willing to bet that most of the affected citizenry has sense enough to take heed to those officials in this instance."

Officials have issued mandatory evacuation orders for those in danger of flood surge, living in the flood plain and mobile homes. Houston, the city itself, is under voluntary evacuation. I believe our officials, in particular Mayor White, have done an outstanding job. They gently but firmly suggest if you have concerns leave but also admit if we should all take to the road the evacuation will grind to a halt.

I live just one mile north of downtown and one block from I45 and see the freeway is full - with our brothers from the coastal and bay areas. The plan is to let them pass through first. I suspect the city's population, 2+ million, will remain in place.

The forecasts this morning seem ever more threatening. As people wake and hear that we may have winds of 100 or even 120 mph we will see how many join the caravan. Not many I suspect.

We need your prayers and soon enough your help.

[wayne]

There's a real bad situation developing here that's only just starting to come out.

Instead of folks ending up stuck in shelters without food and water or escape, folks are getting stuck in their cars on the road. I just listened to a lady on the Glenn Beck show who had been stuck in her car for 18 hours. AND SHE WAS STILL INSIDE THE HOUSTON CITY LIMITS!!!!

She said that the outside temperature was at 100ºF and people were trying to run the a/c's and the roads were full of tens of thousands of cars and a lot of people were just running out of gas.

There is no more gas to be found in Houston, using the a/c burns it up faster but it is so hot in their cars they can't stand it. She said a lot of folks are just staying in their houses because they would rather die at home than get caught in their cars on the road. She wished she had stayed at her home.

Good God Juliette, what is about to happen here boggles the mind. This could end up being worse than Katrina.

[Tully]

You'd almost think no one could conceive of taking anything but the interstate.

[Skinner]

I think Ritas gonna fizzle out in the gulf Its high time that
these storms show some manners
Im not making light of this I truly think it will los most of its force and not hit land untill Late Sat. evening But what do I know?? Youve gotta have faith

[torchy]

My prayers are with all those folks in the affected areas, Godspeed. A leisurely 4 hr drive turned into 18 on an interstate highway, with all lanes dedicated to evacuation, when Floyd threatened the Florida/Georgia coast back in '98. Next time (may God forbid) it's secondary roads for me. I think alot of Florida traffic choked us out of an easier retreat.

[Douglas Keachie]

We live in the land of the silly.

There are plenty of RR tracks in and out of south Texas.

There are plenty of railway freight cars and plywood and mattresses.

You put these two together and you have an instant temporary commuter train, which shouldn't take more than 2 hours, to ferry people safely out of harms way, and then back when the coast is clear, in November maybe ?

It doesn't save peoples automobiles, but it would allow for high speed evacuations and returns. There is no such thing as global warming, oh ? Just wait for the third biggie to hit two weeks from now. Oh yeah, 25 year hurricane cycle, right up there with WMD's, and other fairy tales.

If you are a teacher in need of a gradebook system that really works, check out www.swland.org

cheers,

Doug Keachie

[Arnold]

You'd almost think no one could conceive of taking anything but the interstate.

Actually, Tully, a lot of people can concieve of using something other than the interstate. It isn't just I-45 that's backed up... Hwy 59 is just as bad, and Hwy 146 is the absolute worst. After trying all day yesterday to get out, and with gas stations empty and my gas tank getting low we finally decided to head back home. Fortunately we're in Zone C and should be safe from anything but a Cat 5 storm, so it looked like being stranded on the road would be a bigger danger than riding it out at home.

All in all I think the local and state response has been good. They got the Zone A people out early. A lot of the people on the road may not be from the flood plain at all, but just people who wanted to leave anyway.

There are 6 million people in the area. If they all try to leave at once it's gonna be a problem, no two ways about it. It looks like a lot of law enforcement types are carrying cans of gas to stranded evacuees. Like I said, I think the local and state governments are doing a pretty good job.

[BJ]

Co-workers and I were talkin' about the evac mess yesterday over lunch... what route we would take and where we would go.

We reached the conclusion that the SF Bay Area would be pretty much screwed as our freeways are gridlocked a good portion of the day as is...there is no way we could evac over our current freeways, bridges or surface roads, if they were intact...add a '89 freeway/bridge failure on a wide scale, and you'd have 3+ million folks stranded. I bet a large percentage are completely unprepared.

We had a sharp 3.2 jolt at 4:30 this morning...while it's a small quake, it does get your attention when it's directly under your house.

We keep plenty of water on hand at all times as we don't drink tap water...but I Think I'll stroll over to Costco today and pick up a case of ready-to eat soup, Spaghetti-O's & fruit cups for the stockpile...the start & end of Daylight Savings is a good time to rotate your emergency stores. Donate your rotated goods to local food banks...they need it all year round.

[Rocky J. And Bulwinkle]

The only global warming Ive felt {" in all my flights , In the jet stream, } Is alot of HOT AIR from school teachers ,Henny Penny ,Al gore and the like ".].... Rocket J. Squirrel.

" Lets blow this POPSTAND Bulwinkle!!! "

[Rocky J. And Bulwinkle]

Big deal you should of listened to skinner He's a smart feller Got me out of a tree once but he had to stand on Bulwinkles shoulders { nothing shorter than a G-raff or a elephnt Is a moose able to walk on his hind legs DONT YOU FORGET IT

[Rocky J. And Bulwinkle]

Tribute to my best moose freind
Bulwinkle......... " Nothing
,shorter, than a G-raff or an
elepnt is a Moose able to stand on his hind legs and stand aloof"
Dedicated to my good freind Bulwinkle ... age 46 .... " Hes been there for everybody . And stiii gets called out on ocassion
Normally he's reclineing at home watching Columbo reruns
He's still a HAPPY MOOSE