Hurricane Rita

Wednesday, September 21, 2005 | 5:37PM

So maybe the preparations for this hurricane will be made for nothing, but it sure seems that Rita is bent on attacking the Texas gulf coast. My dad called me on Tuesday morning to ask if Stacy and I were taking reservations yet. They got the room since they were the first to call. But it alerted me to the fact that this was a real danger to people I care about. And only after that did I realize that my own hometown of Orange, Texas was also in a great deal of jeopardy.

So I’ve gotten in touch with several people so far to find out their evacuation plans (or lack thereof) and to scold those that have plans to stay no matter what. It seems that I-10, being an East/West road will be shut down once evacuations are made mandatory, because all evacuees should head North. My mom explained it to me, but it still seems to be a pretty big bummer, and I hope those people that need to make it to Austin do so before the roads are shut down. I’m just glad I don’t have to sit in that kind of traffic.

I spoke with my dad about an hour and half ago and he said he had been in line at Home Depot for an hour in Sugar Land and had only moved 10 feet. They were waiting in the plywood line behind 87 other people, and there’s still a chance that the store will run out, just like they did last night. Here in Austin, it sounds like the stores are already running out of bottled water and other things. One of my errands tonight is to get things like that, so I’m hoping Cedar Park isn’t wiped out in the same way Austin stores are.

Stacy actually has to work late tonight because of this. Since she works for a company that deals with the tech/e-mail end of disaster recovery, things get ultra busy when there’s any kind of disaster. The London bombings, Hurricane Katrina and now this have all caused their clients to activate their products. Hopefully they’ll get some good press as a result.

I heard earlier on a local station that Austin could actually have 50-70mph winds once the storm hits our area, which could certainly bring the possibility of downed power lines and trees. Then maybe we’ll all be heading to my in-laws’ house in Midlothian, cause I hate living without power. Ug.

« Orange Excursion | Main | Hurricane Target Orange »

Comments

Looks like it might not be as bad as once expected anymore. Here’s hoping.

Either way, we’re in College Station, which is still expected to take a pretty big hit, but I doubt we’d be better off back in The Woodlands. =)

Hopefully it won’t be too bad and we can head back tomorrow night.

Casey | Friday, September 23, 2005 | 9:32PM

Well, I think it might not be as bad in Houston… probably won’t. But I think Orange is pretty much about to deal with massive devastation. I should be able to hear from my step dad tomorrow so I’ll pass on what I hear from him.

Walker | Saturday, September 24, 2005 | 2:19AM

Glad to find you. Have used the Kogt.com site and will also check in with you.
What do you know about the homes out on 87 just behind the Skating Rink. It’t the neighborhood just to the right of stop light at the Little Cypress school. May say Echo Road. The streets have flower names, Rosewood, etc.

Thanks.

Joan Hoar | Sunday, September 25, 2005 | 7:42PM

« Orange Excursion | Main | Hurricane Target Orange »