Topic: Hurricane Rita headed for Texas

[IAF Lyrkiller]

I shudder to think that when Rita hits that my sister is down in Houston w/ 3 kids.

And I am also sure that she is watching it very carefully. Her house may not get a direct hit from Rita, but

flooding will be a huge problem.

I will know more in the coming days.

[Jack Morris]

I hear ya Cayne, remember a few years back when that tropical storm got stalled by a front and it just happened to be right over Houston at the time? We had record rainfall in Austin and Houston was flooded in many parts of the city.

[Jack Morris]

Cayne, they are already preparing Galveston, which you and I both know is right by Houston. The refugees from N.O. are getting a new home, they are being airlifted to the great state of Arkansas!

At least we know how to have our N.G. troops ready BEFOREHAND. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050920/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_preparations_3;_ylt=AmU2tghlNOCLiQQ7uNrdIfSCbpwv;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[IAF Lyrkiller]

Jack, I hope that my sister just gets out. 8 miles of inland flooding is pretty darn close to her house.

She is just 10 feet above sea level.

[Jack Morris]

She'll get out bro, but I would advise the sooner the better if her work allows it and it passes LA and heads towards TX (Houston is a nightmare to drive through, 2.5 million plus outlying areas). I know so well how low Houston sits, I was amazed at the refineries by the BB Texas and San Jacinto battlefield park and how close they are to open water and low lying areas. 

[IAF Lyrkiller]

Now she will have support from my in-laws down there. so am i worried still? HELL YES!!!!

[KnightAdvancer]

Heh. I live about 15 miles south of Houston and about 10 miles east of Galveston Bay. Can say that this storm is giving us some concern here. Looks like our house will be in ten feet of water if a twenty foot storm surge hits the area.

[Dracho]

My inlaws are in Seabrook (Kemah).  They have to make a go / no go decision on Wednesday, because she has a doctor's appointment on Tuesday (just had her gall bladder out) and he has a blood transfusion and $11,000 shot (some blood disorder medicine) on Wednesday morning.  They will probably head to Tulsa afterwards if it still looks bad.

[KnightAdvancer]

Ah, it looks like we might not get much choice in the matter. Galveston county has a mandatory evacuation order that will take effect soon. Guess we'll be heading north.

[E_Look]

God go with you guys or your relatives; I hope you/they have some place to go...

[Mr_Tricorder]

I'm at Texas A&M University (main campus) in College Station, Texas.  We're going to be receiving a lot of people from the Galveston area, especially students from the Texas A&M Galveston campus.  Because of the hurricane, we are most likely rescheduling our football game on Saturday to this Thursday (the final decision has yet to be made, but it's almost certain to happen from what I've been hearing).

We just finished hosting over 200 victims of Hurricane Katrina.  I saw those people when they came here (I was there when the buses arrived and helped carry what little possessions they had to the floor of the basketball arena where we had 300 beds set up for them).  We just finised helping them get connected with relatives, get more permanent housing (they were given a voucher for a deposit and one month's rent when they found an appartment to live in), and jobs (some of them are now holding jobs for the first time in their lives).  I'm glad that it doesn't look like this one is going to be as bad, but there's no such thing as a good hurricane.  I will be praying for those in the Houston and Galveston area and will be working with the local relief effort again.

[Dracho]

One thing to keep in mind, yeah, Houston is 8x the size of New Orleans, but it's also 50 miles inland.  There is the ship channel, but that's not the ocean.

[Mr_Tricorder]

One thing to keep in mind, yeah, Houston is 8x the size of New Orleans, but it's also 50 miles inland.  There is the ship channel, but that's not the ocean.

It's not at the bottom of a huge bowl, either.

[KnightAdvancer]

God go with you guys or your relatives; I hope you/they have some place to go...

Thanks. We have a place to hide out in.

One thing to keep in mind, yeah, Houston is 8x the size of New Orleans, but it's also 50 miles inland.  There is the ship channel, but that's not the ocean.

Houston is located right on Galveston Bay isn't it? Bay or ocean, the low pressure in a hurricane will suck up both into a storm surge I imagine. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a3/Large_Houston_Landsat.jpg

It's not at the bottom of a huge bowl, either.

But it's not exactly on top of a mountain is it? That tropic storm in 2001 managed to flood the heck out of the city, but it took it's own sweet time coming ashore.

[Dracho]

No, Galveston Bay is down by Texas City.  About Pasadena it turns into the ship channel and goes another 30 miles into Houston. 


Some areas will flood, and it'll suck to be south of the 610 loop, but it's not the catastrophe New Orleans was waiting to be.

[Dracho]

Well,  after family discussions last evening, it appears I am flying to Houston this evening to drive the inlaws back to Oklahoma.  Hopefully, we'll be getting on the road before the worst of the traffic.  So it's Southwest into Houston at 5:45 and hopefully out of town and on the road by 8:00.

Wish me Godspeed.

[Mr_Tricorder]

Godspeed, Dracho.  I'll keep your family in my prayers.

[Jack Morris]

You will do fine Dracho, it's just the drive THROUGH Houston will drive you nuts! See you when you get back. 

[Dracho]

My concern is the mandatory evacuation routes.  If those are activated, then the part of town they are in goes NE (and you can't drive anywhere else) and I won't be able to exit prior to reaching Longview.  It's going to be interesting.

[IAF Lyrkiller]

***UPDATE***
My dad talked w/ my sister and she is bugging out. She is not taking any chances w/ her kids.

She is packing up the computer, clothes, and some toys and leaving.

Rita as you may already know is now a Cat4 hurricane.

Here in Dallas we could see as much as 10-12in of rain. (when it gets here).

[Dracho]

Some pundit this morning referred to Katrina & Rita as Fatman & Littleboy.

[IAF Lyrkiller]

Some pundit this morning referred to Katrina & Rita as Fatman & Littleboy.

I saw that and it is not funny.

this is all too real to make fun of these things that we have no control over.

[Jack Morris]

It was Mu who made the comment. I'll admit I laughed at it, just as I've sent you people some funny e-mails in regards to N.O.'s citizens behavior and the ones that received it were laughing their arses off.

Mother nature is highly pissed off at us right now, and sometimes all you can do is have a sense of humor and just laugh at the whole thing. It's all out of our hands anyways. Maybe these storms are a good thing as it is teaching us to start taking care of our families and of each other again. The Feds cannot keep all those refugees doled up with money and free housing, we will go broke quick. I just don't have any mercy for N.O. because of all the ineptitude from the state and city, and also because of the peoples behavior afterwards. I have faith TX will not show the same behavioral pattern except from a select few, and they will learn real quick the price to be paid, a nice headshot from a high powered military/police style rifle. 

[Dracho]

Some pundit this morning referred to Katrina & Rita as Fatman & Littleboy.

I saw that and it is not funny.

this is all too real to make fun of these things that we have no control over.

You know that by Fatman & Littleboy he meant the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan?

[IAF Lyrkiller]

I knew what he meant.

[KnightAdvancer]

I'm heading out now, gentlemen. Hope to be back before too long.

[IAF Lyrkiller]

***UPDATE***

My parents have tried to find a hotel for my sister and none to be found. they are still looking.

Rita now a Cat 5 hurricane.

that is all for now.

[IAF Lyrkiller]

****UPDATE****

My sister is heading towards Lufkin,TX. She should be rather safe there.

OTOH, my parents and I are staying in Dallas. we are pretty safe from any flash floods.(on a hill).

[Tus-XC]

only a slightly positive note, Rita dropped to a cat 4 and looks like it might further weaken before making landfall (lets hope that is what happens)

[IAF Lyrkiller]

Tus, lets hope so.

[Jack Morris]

Hopefully Austin and other parts of TX get some nice showers for a while out of this (There is always a silver lining to hurricanes in the gulf off TX).

Houston is a prime example NOT to live in a city that is 4th in the nation populationwise and has not one, but TWO separate downtown areas now.

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050923/480/ny12409230841&g=events/sc/091905hurricanes;_ylt=AnSYW4IjR_TQ0PB9Z9jIiKxH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGk2OHYzBHNlYwN0bXA-

What would have been my answer? Evac by zip codes in an orderly fashion starting with the outer areas first, and asking employers to give the innerlying people time off so as not to clog the roads and to prepare to leave when their time came.

Scip can tell you, when N. VA got traffic problems and was doing new construction on highways, employers and the Feds and military offered different work schedules, and this was back in 93-94! It worked out nicely and the new roads got built faster.

[Dracho]

I made it back.  It took us from 9:50 PM Wednesday evening until 6 AM Saturday morning to drive from Kemah to Lufkin.  We only stopped to let the brakes cool.  It was INSANE.