Running From Rita

[Shiloh]

Just wanted to extend thoughts and prayers to any fellow Texans being forced to evacuate due to Hurricane Rita.

My brother and I will be heading off to parts unknown - well, parts semi-known - as soon as he gets off work this afternoon.

Anybody reading this that's in the Galveston County area and that's still sitting on the fence, GET THE HELL OUT! This is looking to be a real ugly one! Don't play the cowboy (girl...person). Grab your family and get your ass further inland.

Be safe and may God bless.

[EdContradictory]

Good luck. Stay safe.

[TCJohnson]

Is Rita supposed to hit Dallas, does anybody know?

[Shiloh]

Is Rita supposed to hit Dallas, does anybody know?
Dallas will probably catch some fairly nasty thunderstorms but it's nearly 300 miles inland and not directly in the line of any of the projections that I've seen. I'm not a meteorologist (and don't play one on tv) but I would think things should be considerably less ugly than it will be for the Gulf coast.

[muimi]

Stay safe! Part of my team at work is based in Houston. One of the guys already evacuated and one brave soul is staying behind as part of the volunteer fire department in Houston. *worries* Oh, I hope everyone stays safe!!

[anthony!]

My parents live in Clear Lake, a town part of Houston and about 45 minutes from Galveston— 17 feet above sea level. They are heading up to stay with my sister who lives in Denton and goes to Texas Women's University, 30 minutes north of Dallas.

I have to say this Category 5 sh*t has me a little concerned for my home! The last big storm we Houstonians got was Alicia back in the early 80s. I remember that one blowing the fence in our backyard down, and that was only a Category 3 hurricane! Hopefully it won't be as bad as its looking right now.

Definately this isn't something you wanna mess with and strange watching it all from NYC.

[TCJohnson]

Best of luck to your parents, Anthony!

[anthony!]

Best of luck to your parents, Anthony!

Thanks!

10characters

[Corrina]

My friend in Houston is bugging out, to stay with someone close to Dallas.

Even if Katrina hadn't happened, she'd still be evacuating. I believe last hurricane season, it was bad enough that the streets flooded.

[Shiloh]

My friend in Houston is bugging out, to stay with someone close to Dallas.
Even if Katrina hadn't happened, she'd still be evacuating. I believe last hurricane season, it was bad enough that the streets flooded.
If somebody spits in the wrong place in Houston, the streets flood.

My parents live in Clear Lake, a town part of Houston and about 45 minutes from Galveston— 17 feet above sea level. They are heading up to stay with my sister who lives in Denton and goes to Texas Women's University, 30 minutes north of Dallas.

I'm in the same neck of the woods as your folks. As a matter of fact both my brother (who I am still waiting on so that we can hit the road) and I work in the Clear Lake area. Hope they make it safely.

I have to say this Category 5 sh*t has me a little concerned for my home! The last big storm we Houstonians got was Alicia back in the early 80s. I remember that one blowing the fence in our backyard down, and that was only a Category 3 hurricane! Hopefully it won't be as bad as its looking right now.
Yeah, Alicia was the last "real" hurricane to hit the area. We probably got as much or more damage from T.S. Alison a couple of years back, but that was just because she sat over us for about five days.

If things continue along their current path, I think Rita will be able to take both Alicia & Alison combined.

efinately this isn't something you wanna mess with and strange watching it all from NYC.

It might be strange but I'd love to give it a try. :p

Damn, I wish my brother would hurry up.

[d00m]

Jeez, just read an article about Rita. Category 5 now, winds at 165 mph :eek:

Article said it's supposed to be worse than Katrina.. I hope it was an exageration..

[Cam63]

Good luck to those affected.

[Jeff Brady]

Good luck to all.

[Gilda Dent]

My dad lives in Katy, a suburb of Houston. I have no way of knowing what, if anything, he's doing or where he is, as we had a major falling out a few years back and aren't speaking, but I'm still hoping he isn't being the stubborn man I think he is and was smart enough to get out.

Gilda

[Hecate]

GOD Bless Texas and GOD bless Mississippi.

[Papergirl]

My dad lives in Katy, a suburb of Houston. I have no way of knowing what, if anything, he's doing or where he is, as we had a major falling out a few years back and aren't speaking, but I'm still hoping he isn't being the stubborn man I think he is and was smart enough to get out.

Gilda
I hope so too, Gilda. I have an aunt, uncle and cousin in San Antonio who are staying put, and I worry about them as well. According to my aunt, they aren't even boarding up the windows. :(

Any Texas posters: Stay safe, y'all. Get out while you can and don't try to be a 'hero' by staying.

~Bev

EDIT: They are in Houston. My pre-coffee-morning brain KNEW they had moved to Houston from San Antonio, but my fingers refused to type the correct word. :p

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

I hope all of you can find a way to survive this crisis. Just stay safe, guys.

[the4thpip]

"This is the worst planning I've ever seen," said Judie Anderson, who covered just 72 kilometres in 12 hours after setting out from her home in the Houston suburb LaPorte.

"They say we've learned a lot from hurricane Katrina. Well, you couldn't prove it by me."

In all, nearly two million people along the Texas and Louisiana coasts were urged to move out of the way of Rita, a 640-kilometre-wide storm that weakened Thursday from a top-of-the-scale Category 5 hurricane to a Category 4 as it swirled across the Gulf of Mexico.

It also made a sharper-than-expected turn to the right late in the afternoon, on a course that could spare Houston and nearby Galveston a direct hit and send it instead toward Port Arthur, Texas, or Lake Charles, La., at least 100 kilometres up the coast, by late Friday or early Saturday.
http://www.canada.com/news/world/story.html?id=d26a6b6a-81cf-4173-9873-66d8f1203f24

:(

[Michael P]

My parents, brother, and grandparents are holed up in Sugar Land. It's Fort Bend County, so they probably won't get too much flooding, but wind will be a factor. They've gotten everything they could out of the yard, so now it's just a matter of seeing it through.

My friend Jessie has fled to Katy to stay with her folks for the duration. Same deal with her.

I've got my fingers crossed.

[Shiloh]

I made it to my cousin's place in the Austin area. I left at 11:15pm, Wednesday evening and didn't arrive until 10:00pm Thursday evening. I have never seen anything like the traffic, and I had it good compared to the poor folks on I-45 and I-10.

Unfortunately, I made the trip alone. My brother, who manages a hotel between Houston and Galveston, recieved orders from the treasurer of the company that, if he wanted to keep his job, he would have to stay with the hotel (Note: this order coming from one of several corporate officers that had already fled the state :evilangry). Multiple members of the family tried to talk him into telling the guy to stuff it and get out of town, but he stayed anyway. Thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Prayers and best wishes to all those folks still in the affected area and those with family members there.