Hurricane Rita

thttht
Posted:
in AppleOutsider edited January 2014
I'm evacuating later tonight. Headed to Atlanta to spend the weekend with family. You guys know how fares I-10 to Baton Rouge, I-12 on the north side of Lake Ponchartrain? Passable?



House is not in flood zone of any kind, not in a storm surge zone of any kind, but I can't take any chances with the pregnant wifey, with projected 130 mph winds. Hey, my house is wind storm certified! Just hope it aint flooded, don't have any flood insurance.



Were in Northeastern Brazoria county just south of Houston on Hwy 288. Just been biding the time so that my exit from Houston is 4 hours instead of 8.



Goodluck to fellow Houstonian Appleinsiders.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    Safe journey and I hope you return to an intact house.
  • Reply 2 of 28
    CNN in now reporting that the pressure has fallen to less than 900 millibars giving Rita the third lowest pressure reading on record. Scary. Low pressure contributes to the storm surge, which means that wherever this beast hits is going to face a wall of water like what just hit Louisiana and Mississippi.
  • Reply 3 of 28
    it looks scary. My dads company has just evacuated 4 offices around houston. They also lost an office in Katrina (But they are paying for all thier employees to transfer and they are doing what they can)



    i hope your house is okay and all. You are smart to follow the warnings. Good luck with the ride. Keep us updated.
  • Reply 4 of 28
    so college station is one of the main destinations for the new "refugees" and it's screwing everything up. my girlfriend left houston to come here 4 hours ago and she's made it 20 miles out of houston (a 1.5 hour drive normally)...

    she might make it by morning...

    people here are buying water and canned goods as if this is the apokalypse. kinda funny actually. paranoia is a fun thing to watch...
  • Reply 5 of 28
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    I just really hope that Katrina and Rita become glaring reminders for people to prepare disaster readiness kits so there doesn't have to be as much chaos at the stores for water and canned goods.
  • Reply 6 of 28
    fngfng Posts: 222member
    My father used to have an "earthquake kit" he kept in the back shed. It had food and water, flashlight ... I think he may have even kept his gun in there. Not a good idea but after NO potential need is proven.
  • Reply 7 of 28
    update: girlfriend is still on the road (still within houston, actually...after 17 hours). since the phone networks are overloaded i havent been able to communicate (tmobile is crap). last i heard she was about to run out of gas--the whole city is pretty much empty and there are thousands stranded because all their gas is being burned while vehicles move less than 1 mile and hour.

    well done houston--your timely response to this emergency situation has made me proud to be a pseudo-texan...
  • Reply 8 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CosmoNut

    I just really hope that Katrina and Rita become glaring reminders for people to prepare disaster readiness kits so there doesn't have to be as much chaos at the stores for water and canned goods.





    that isnt the problem. gasoline is the most crucial issue--and the energy capital of the world is running dry...
  • Reply 9 of 28
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    For some reason southbound lanes aren't being opened up to northbound traffic. Doing so would eliminate some of the problems and slowness that are occurring.
  • Reply 10 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CosmoNut

    For some reason southbound lanes aren't being opened up to northbound traffic. Doing so would eliminate some of the problems and slowness that are occurring.







    were supposed to do that early this morning, and some are actually finally doing it. the response is unacceptably slow...
  • Reply 11 of 28
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by fng

    My father used to have an "earthquake kit" he kept in the back shed. It had food and water, flashlight ... I think he may have even kept his gun in there. Not a good idea but after NO potential need is proven.



    I presume there was no way to secure the kit in the shed, because it's obviously a good idea to have a gun in the kit.



    You were a bit terse so there's room for interpretation.
  • Reply 12 of 28
    I hope that everyone in Texas and Louisiana that will be hit by Rita stay safe.



    Meanwhile, it seems that another division of DHS is going to be criticized this time around:



    Quote:

    There were also long lines of lines of frustrated travelers at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport after about 100 employees of the Transportation Security Administration did not show up for work.



    CNN correspondent Rick Sanchez, who was at the airport, said in one area he saw three screeners attempting to handling crowds that a team of a dozen or more screeners usually handle.



  • Reply 13 of 28
    fngfng Posts: 222member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gon

    I presume there was no way to secure the kit in the shed, because it's obviously a good idea to have a gun in the kit.



    You were a bit terse so there's room for interpretation.




    I'm against keeping guns for any reason. Keeping one in a shed where it can be easily lifted is a bad idea. My father never would have left it unsecured though.
  • Reply 14 of 28
    pfflampfflam Posts: 5,053member
    Good luck everybody . . . prayers out to you



    RE: thinking a gun is a good idea.

    I remember watching photos during and after Katrina: during, there was a guy seated in front of a wharehouse with a gun and a sign saying 'we shoot looters' . . . later, a couple of days, I saw a picture of that same wharehouse burned to the ground . . . I can only guess what happened to the proud man with his gun . . .



    Best to stay vigilant but strive to reach out to fellow humans as humans in the worst cases too.



    I recommend that if you feel that you need a gun in a situation where you might be alone with some rough folks, don't show it and count on it as a scare device
  • Reply 15 of 28
    *sigh*



    Parts of New Orleans are flooding again. Fortunately no one is there this time.



  • Reply 16 of 28
    We closed our 2 branches in Houston Wednesday. Massive logistics efforts for the last week to minimize problems for customers. I hope other companies followed suit.
  • Reply 17 of 28
    Our Houston office closed yesterday. Hope everyone makes it OK.
  • Reply 18 of 28
    WTF?



    In Atlanta, Governor Sonny Perdue has requested to voluntarily close schools to help with a possible fuel supply disruption.



    In accordance... My childrens school just closed Monday and Tuesday. The brilliant people don't realize that now many of use will have to stay HOME from work and alter our driving habits even more. So on top of kids staying home.. now about 1 in 4 parents has to also.
  • Reply 19 of 28
    fngfng Posts: 222member
    He just doesn't want to gas his busses up when the gas monopoly jacks the prices back up.
  • Reply 20 of 28
    thttht Posts: 5,421member
    Made it to Atlanta Friday morning at 2:30 am. That's a 28 hour drive I don't want to repeat!



    Took 11 hours to travel from Houston to the Louisiana border on I-10. That's about 100 miles. Took another 9 hours to get from Lake Charles to Mississippi border going Hwy 165 and I-20. The rest was the usual Interstate traffic.



    Houston appears to be really lucky if Rita passes through east of Houston. If it made landfall in Port Bolivar, that would have been the worst case scenario. Galvestion completely underwater, Galveston Bay coastal areas under water, and a possible Cat 4 instead of Cat 3.
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