When Rita came through after Katrina a few years ago, my aunts had a horrible time while evacuating.This time, they are stocking up on water, have the cars filled with gas, and plan on riding out the storm. One aunt is closer to the coast, although still an hour or so away, and the other is 2.5 hours from the coast but her house is surrounded by shallow-rooted enormous pine trees.
*frets*
They should be okay, but it's disturbing.
Any Hatrackers still in Houston?
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Take a look at the Hurricane Gustav evacuation thread.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Link? I don't see it.
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
I have plenty of friends and coworkers down there. Many are staying. I might rather stay than get stuck in a hurricane on the highway.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Originally posted by katharina: Link? I don't see it.
My dad is in Houston, too, and he's staying. He says he has to protect his house, but if someone breaks in I think it would be better if he wasn't there. Isn't that what homeowner's insurance is for?
I was kind of hoping he'd come stay with us, although Albuquerque is a bit of a schlep, and I can sympathize with anyone who doesn't want to deal with those freeways right now. But I hope everything stays sane.
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
I work in Houston and live in a nearby suburb. We are staying. My county is under mandatory evacuation, but our mayor said that the order didn't apply to our city. And based on the storm surge and wind projection maps, I can see why he believes that way. With as bad as Galveston could be, there is a lot of focus on letting them get out. We might evacuate after the storm if the destruction is pretty bad.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I have to keep remembering that Houston is very, very inland. There won't be any walls of water bearing down on downtown.
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
Where are you scholarette? I lived in League City for four years. I was there during TS Allison
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
Pearland. League City faces a lot worse then we do.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
8 cases of beer, 3 gallons of liquor, lots of drinking water, batteries, flashlights, food and a strong community. We're ready. Houston won't get the storm surge, but they're expecting extended power outages and hurrican force winds for about 13 hours. Bring it on!
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
My aunt said the last big hurricane, they lost power for four days.
On the upside, she doesn't have to work on Saturday.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
A local rockabilly bar is having a concert tonight and inviting everyone to come and hunker down during the storm.
Is you're aunt referring to Alesha? I don't remember it, but they're saying this will be the biggest thing to hit Houston since then.
Galveston was already flooded at 8 am, when the eye was still more than 200 miles away.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Hearing that makes me nervous.
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
I have been reading the sci guy at www.chron.com That seems to be a fairly non-alarmist, but still reasonable source of news and speculation.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
quote:Originally posted by scholarette: Pearland. League City faces a lot worse then we do.
My best friend from high school lives in Pearland. I haven't heard from her in a while and I can't remember her married name. It's good to know that things shouldn't be too bad there.
Posted by Tsinya (Member # 11724) on :
My aunt and uncle and grandmother are. I'm worried about my grandmother, because she's pretty frail.
Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
I'm still here at my parents' house in Kingwood. We just finished boarding up windows facing the southeast (as that's where the winds supposed to come from). We've got plenty of food and water to last us. It should be okay.
I think I'm more worried about my fiance. She's in an area where she should be safe (Beasley, southwest of Houston), but I worry about her.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
pfresh, do you know the Arnstens there in Kingwood?
Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
I can't say that I do. Sorry.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Wow. You're boarding up in Kingwood?
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
Katy and Kingwood- panic, panic, panic. Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
Well we normally wouldn't, but we've got a few big trees with branches in our front yard and so we were a bit worried that the wind might snap them and blow them into our front windows (because of the direction of the wind). So we just boarded up some of the front windows as a precaution.
EDIT: I just wanted to add that this is the first time in the 13.5 years we've lived here that we've boarded up, so I guess it shows we're a lot more concerned about Ike.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
You're right, falling branches are probably the biggest danger.
I'm going to continue to not feel foolish for not boarding up in downtown. Nor will I feel foolish for partying, as katharina's link suggests.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
My sister in-law, brother-in-law and niece are staying, along with most of their neighbours.
They evacuated New Orleans when Katrina came, but lost their house due to flooding. Their new house is very high up and at no risk from flooding, they're boarding up, and not sleeping in their master bedroom which is under a tree. I'm sure they'll be ok, but it is worrying.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
*worryworryworry*
Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
So far, so good. The wind's picked up some, but nothing too bad. Of course this is just the beginning.
Posted by Shanna (Member # 7900) on :
If anyone hears how Katy fares, let me know. I grew up there and alot of my old classmates still have family there.
Ike dropped a ton of water and threw alot of wind at us near New Orleans. I'm staring out my back window watching the water level creep towards my house.
Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
Things are still good. The power flickered a few times about 15 minutes ago, but it's been good since then. I'm hoping the power will last me through Stargate Atlantis tonight.
EDIT: I made it through Atlantis, although power did flicker off for about a minute so I missed one part of a conversation. It wasn't anything necessary though, so it was fine. Wind's grown a little stronger, but still it's not too bad. My fiance seems to be doing okay as well (at least from the text messages we exchanged while we both watched Atlantis).
[ September 12, 2008, 11:12 PM: Message edited by: pfresh85 ]
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
quote:Originally posted by pfresh85: I'm still here at my parents' house in Kingwood. We just finished boarding up windows facing the southeast (as that's where the winds supposed to come from). We've got plenty of food and water to last us. It should be okay.
I think I'm more worried about my fiance. She's in an area where she should be safe (Beasley, southwest of Houston), but I worry about her.
My aunt, uncle and cousin live in Kingwood. They were thinking of leaving but I guess either the Mayor or Governor said people there shouldn't leave, as it would make things worse for others who need to leave.
How are things there?
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
It doesn't look like it was too horrible. A lot of power out. TWC is saying 4 million people without power. Lots of rain.
My companies e-mail server went out at 12:45 AM. They are right by Johnson Space Center.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Everyone okay? Is the tempest still raging?
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
The JSC e-mail is out of service also. I guess I don't have to come down for work this next week.
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
I just received a text from my boss down there. She decided to ride it out too. She said her house made it although they have no electricity. She said some of the buildings at JSC had water in them.
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
I've heard from most of everyone I know down there. They are all ok. Everyone says there is a lot of cleanup and no electricity.
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
We made it. We lost a fence and had some large tree branches in our yards, but nothing that bad. We lost power and decided to go spend a few nights in San Antonio. Classes don't resume until Tuesday, so we don't need to be around. Baby has been pretty miserable and she has a slight fever so AC is very good right now.
ETA- we have been saying that we did pretty well in terms of damage. When a friend from another neighborhood (who has power already) stopped by, she was shocked at how muc damage our neighborhood in general had taken. Matter of perspective.
Posted by Lostinspace (Member # 11633) on :
Scholarette I agree..we had the same thing, I think the fences are nothing but others have said wow you got hit hard..compared to other areas we took nothing!
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
I am headed to Houston today on Red Cross relief. I have been assigned the task of finding some missing people who may have special needs. Make sure that if you can't locate someone that has special needs (child, someone who takes medications, is pregnant, etc.) call the Red Cross and let us know. If they are in Houston, I will do my best!
Posted by Lostinspace (Member # 11633) on :
Val its good to know there are people out there like you doing this job! Thanks for your work!
Posted by Threads (Member # 10863) on :
More details from my aunts. No power, so they went to Dallas until power is restored. My aunt with all the trees in her yard lost two large trees and her huge backyard is a pile of rubble, but both houses are fine and all the humans and dogs are fine. The fish pond is empty and all the fish are dead, but that was anticipated.
How terrifying to be in the house, though, as all the those big trees start blowing down.
Posted by Lostinspace (Member # 11633) on :
I'm assuming that it's because of the price of gas on the fallen sign.
[Edit--I misread you, Lostinspace--thought the "do" was a "don't".]
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
I haven't heard from many of my friends in Houston yet. I'm crossing my fingers thinking that if something had happened to them personally I would have heard about it through my network of friends. But I'm still concerned.
Edit: I finally wised up and checked the livejournal of someone who might be posting. She has a Blackberry, and has all friends accounted for but one couple who we know evac'd.
Posted by Lostinspace (Member # 11633) on :
Glad to hear this BannaOj
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
quote: The media seems to be faking destruction pictures.
I wouldn't assume that. The building doesn't really look like it's in use, and a lot of gas stations have gone under recently. Driving around my town will demonstrate this; there are a lot of signs with gas prices in the two-dollar range.
Posted by Threads (Member # 10863) on :
I'm sure it's a real picture Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
I'm back (albeit temporarily). We didn't suffer any damage, but we lost power. Power's still out now. I'm only online because we have a generator and a decent supply of gas for it. Everyone I know here is safe though. We're just without power for now.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Glad you made it through okay.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Yay for power! We just got it back. Three and a half days without electricity was tough, and there's lots of people that won't get it for a long time. How the heck does the fourth largest city in America run out of ice? And gas for that matter. If we hadn't got that cold wave it would have been pretty nasty.
Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :
Agreed. That cold front was a blessing. I was able to actually sleep without feeling like I'm burning up.
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