Category: weather

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD

2:09 PM – Windows taped up. Clouds are rolling in and the wind has picked up as well. Roomie bans me from watching the news or the Weather Channel for at least two hours.

2:38 PM – Neighbor across the way sees his hanging plants being thrown around by the wind and decides (FINALLY) that it might be a good idea to take them inside!

5:34 PM – Rain finally accompanies wind.

5:40 PM – Rain stops. We pop Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in the DVD player to help keep me from watching the news.

7:10 PM – The sun is setting and we can see a wall of clouds headed toward us.

7:17 PM – Beautiful periwinkle/pink sunset.

8:01 PM – Rain again, but the air is still. Wait, rain…wind…no rain… it’s still… no, wait, it’s windy…

8:31 PM – Roomie terminates a moth who has taken shelter in our house from the storm. She says we are not an inter-species shelter and we are definitely not a moth-approved shelter. Poor Mothie.

8:45 PM – Decide I need protein and eat eggs for dinner. Find it is possible to have an entire conversation with words that include the letters or sounds of “egg.” For example, “eggs-actly,” “eggs-ponentially,” “eggs-aggeration,” and “eggs-cuse.” I finally “bEGGed” for it all to stop. We were so silly.

11:11 PM – Nap. We have about three hours until the bulk of the storm hits.

11:25 PM – First big downpour of the evening, but nothing to write home about.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

1:11 AM – Power finally gives out. The wind is howling and blowing rain around, but we are all right so far. Will sleep for a while.

3 something AM – The wind gusts are so intense, the wall of my bedroom shakes and I sit up in bed wondering what the hello is going on.

8:27 AM – Still no power. Across the street, they have power… apparently they are on a different grid. Lucky them. Over 500,000 people in Houston are without power, so we aren’t alone.

For breakfast: butterscotch pudding and a cup of diet coke for the caffeine fix needed to survive without power for the coffee pot.

Crack the doors open for a little breeze.

10:42 AM – Went out to survey the damage — mostly downed trees, branches, and leaves. Still no power, but a lady across the street who lives in #38 said we could come over any time if we needed. Very happy indeed that we live in Texas during this sort of event in our lives.

NOON – REFRIGERATOR EVACUATION After nearly 12 hours without power, we decide it’s time to relocate what food we can to the two soft coolers we have. Many items in the freezer are sacrificed to the dumpster, but we save things like milk, yogurt, mayo, lunch meat, and some frozen veggies.

6:00 PM – the sun comes out in the early afternoon, heating our home to a very muggy temp. Roomie has heat exhaustion and doesn’t feel well at all. Mostly, I’m just bored.

6:01 PM – Lights flicker on. A loud cheer is raised outside by those who stayed or came back only to find their home without power. Lights immediately flicker off. Loud, unprintable screams float across the complex. I decide to take a shower to try and cool off.

7:55 PM – It’s too dark to read by candle light downstairs and the mosquitoes are getting hungry, so we shut the doors and retreat upstairs and light more candles. I rip the plastic off my windows and open them (mosquitoes don’t fly that high). A beautiful, almost cloudless sunset follows.

8:00 PM – Roomie lays down in the hallway where it is cooler for her. She is very hot and I’m concerned that an emergency room trip may be in order. She then announces that she shouldn’t be that hot and sweaty without sex but we virgins can’t find a loophole in the whole sex before marriage clause, not even one that would allow for sex privileges during natural disasters. She is disappointed, naturally, but assures me we don’t have to go to the emergency room as she is still sweating.

8:45 PM – Roomie goes out to sleep in the car. It is at least 80 degrees downstairs which means it’s at least 90+ upstairs. Her strategy is to turn on the a/c, cool off the car, sleep until the heat wakes her up, turn on the car again, and repeat the process as needed.

I am getting a cool breeze through my window, so I stay indoors.

Several times in the last hour, the transformer begins to buzz and then shuts off and the people setting up places to sleep on their balonies are trying to cheer on and coax the transformer to work for us.

9:15 PM – POWER!! Everybody outdoors shouts and I stick my head out my window and “yee-ha!” with the rest. Roomie comes back indoors and we wait for the house and fridge to cool down so we can relocate what food we have left back to the fridge.

MIDNIGHT – Food has been relocated to the fridge. Must cook all meat soon as it has thawed too much to refreeze. Freezer has 2 bags of ice and one package of bagels left in it. Roomie goes to bed. I finally go to bed after checking the news and posting on some message boards that we are okay.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

Mayor says, “if you aren’t essential, please don’t go to work,” so, I am off work until Wednesday morning. Roomie apparently is essential. She will go to work.

Decide to use this time to continue moving stuff around my room. In that process find a place where some water dripped down my windowsill to the floor, but it is insignificant. It’s the part of the window where the satellite cable feeds through and I didn’t get it quite sealed enough underneath.

Cleaned off back porch, relocated plants back outside, vacuumed all the leaves out of the house, and tried to get the house looking/feeling as normal as possible.

AND BY THE WAY, I am so proud of Roomie for the bungee cord/satellite dish idea. It did not move one centimeter. I will post more of her hurricane survival tips later. So many of them were good… and I want to keep them for later!

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

Today, will continue to clean my room and restore Hurricane Central back to the kitchen table. Roomie will go to work soon. I may work in a nap. All told, I will have had a week’s “vacation” and by the time I go back to work, my sleep patterns should be nice and messed up.

Thanking God, as always, that we are safe and sound in Houston…. and I’m on news restrictions again because I am saddened by pictures of Port Arthur and Cameron and Beaumont… that would have been Galveston and Houston if Rita had not shifted at the last minute. So the tv is on a radio station and now, I must keep with the program and continue arranging and cleaning.

After losing power at 1:11 AM, our electricity finally came back on at 9:15 PM. The people sleeping on their balconies gave a big ol Texas WHOOP! when their lights and A/C units flickered back to life.

Tomorrow I will blog more about our adventure, but tonight, I’m just too tired. The sun came out this afternoon and by evening time, it was about 92 degrees upstairs. Heat really sucks the life out of me.

Time to go reunite the food we evacuated from the fridge back to the coolers back to the fridge…

It’s nearly 11 PM and we still have power and have yet to see any significant rainfall amounts. We’ve had wind, though, but we are so glad we secured the satellite dish with the bungee cord. It has not moved, even with the wind gusts.

We’ve got about four more hours until Rita makes landfall. After she moves through, I’ll feel a lot better, because the worst is still yet to come… but so far a lot less worse than it could have been.

I will blog more later about our day. You can check out Roomie’s The Tour De Tape on her blog from our morning walk.

I’m going to take a nap. It would be wonderful if the weather didn’t wake me up, but Jene’ assures me it will, she guestimates about 3 AM… either that or when she gets up to bake, the smell of warm bread will lure me downstairs.

Good night!

…so far.

Just went out for a walk. The sky is blue with a few intermittent white clouds and a cool breeze has replaced the 100 degree eerily still air.

EVERYTHING is closed. A few stragglers are pulling up to Kroger’s and the gas stations and pulling away in disbelief. One guy even thought the 24-hour Fitness would be open! We got a chuckle out of that.

The streets are practically bare and it’s rush hour. We walked past many taped windows and overflowing garbage dumpsters (Thursday is trash pick up day in this neighborhood). If people have stayed, they are staying indoors and it’s a shame. It’s a beautiful day… so far.

We don’t anticipate any rain until late this afternoon. The “eye” of Rita is expected to go east of us, sparing us the highest winds, so now we are hoping for the best — not losing power.

Rain, however, is another story… Rita is slowing down and Allison did that as well. Still, we did not flood then, but we may not be able to get out of the neighborhood quickly if we get a lot of rain.

That’s the update for now. I will try to update later this afternoon if I get the chance.

People have spent a good chunk of the evening criticizing the traffic conditions of the Houston exodus. Finally, Dr. Neil Frank, an authority on Hurricanes from KHOU NEWS, explained the evacuation plan as such: He said the evacuation plan was made to evacuate those on the coast and in flood prone, low lying areas (the now famous zones on the maps: A, B and C). The evacuation plan was made to evacuate these two million people, not the entire population of the Houston metroplex.

The problem is, he said, is that about half of the four million people not in the evacuation areas decided to evacuate as well. That’s where the breakdown occurred. So yes, many things went wrong because of that. He did say, however, that all in all, after watching the death and destruction of Katrina on tv for two weeks, people who would have normally stayed put panicked and decided to leave. Most, if not all, people on the roads right now should be able to get out of harm’s way before Rita’s landfall.

Not that he blames them, but the extra surge of people during the evacuation led to the traffic jams on the freeways. That’s the best explanation I’ve heard all day.

The best newspaper report on the Houston Exodus comes from across the pond in London.

From the Times Online: Exodus is “breathtaking in size.”

The exodus from the Texas coast, and 60 miles north through Houston, was breathtaking in size. In essence, a coastal suburban area of two million people was being ordered to evacuate through the Houston metropolitan area of four million.

Highways leading inland out of Houston were gridlocked, with traffic bumper-to-bumper. Petrol stations were running out of fuel. Police cruised along the queue with petrol for drivers running low. Shoppers emptied supermarkets of food and water.

Breathtaking in size. I love that.

Going to bed now to get a good night’s sleep because I doubt I get much sleep tomorrow night.

Personally, I’m more worried about all the rain we are going to get for the next five days. I’m glad I know how to swim.

Good night.

The Roomie took these pics and posted them on her blog.

We first went down to Walgreen’s for batteries, but they were closed. We walked past Starbuck’s on the way to Kroger and it was also closed. She posted signs in windows and empty shelves at the grocery store. You have to see it to believe it.

By the way, I am listed as the “Reluctant Roommate.” Walking around in 100 degree heat wasn’t my idea of a good time, but I did work off a lot of nervous energy.

In about 20 hours, we should see the first of Rita’s outer bands of rain, so first thing tomorrow morning, we will start moving things away from the windows and secure the satellite dish.

I will post updates as long as technology allows.

The church closed until Monday to give people the opportunity to leave town if they had to, but I’m not leaving town.

Reason #1: My roommate is a nurse so ethically, she has to stick around until there is a mandatory evacuation of Houston. She is an honorable person, so leaving until then is not an option.

The last time there was a mandatory evacuation of Houston was over twenty years ago during Hurricane Alicia. So many people were trying to leave, traffic was at a standstill. People were stuck in their CARS during a hurricane as a result. People are definitely safer in their houses, so we don’t see a mandatory evacuation of the rest of the city. Houston, by the way, is now the fourth largest city in the US and for that reason, logistically, I don’t see Houston being evacuated.

Reason #2: My car is not running right, especially when I’m sitting in traffic. So, with the freeways backed up I am staying put. Though Roomie has offered me her car, I would rather wait until both of us could drive out together.

Reason #3: I live on one of the few streets that did not flood during Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. That flood was what they consider a 500 year flood and I don’t forsee that sort of damage. Therefore, unless this thing dumps over 38 inches of rain in a few hours, I will be okay. I also have a two story townhome, so I have “higher ground.”

The only worry we have is high winds and loss of electricity for more than a few days. We have ice, canned food, plenty of water, and a plan. The back porch is clear of any possible flying projectiles. I notice that many of my neighbors have left and also left their plants and deck chairs outside as well. That should be fun.

So, I’m not leaving. I thought about it all day long as the church became a ghost town (we were technically dismissed at three) and Roomie said it was okay to go, that she could take care of herself, etc.

She said, “this would be your first hurricane, and really, it’s not a good one to start off with.” I laughed. She is right, but I would be more worried sitting in Austin wondering how she was than I will sitting with her in the middle of all this.

So, I’m staying.

Prayers are appreciated.

We have plenty of ice, bottled water, canned food, tape for the windows, trash bags (to cover our beds in case the windows break) and like I said, Roomie is a nurse.

If (big IF) there is a mandatory evacuation, I’ll be checking in from Austin.

Last night I went to the grocery store as usual. It was so crowded, it felt like the night before Thanksgiving and everybody was rushing around to find the last can of cranberries. Usually, there are 6-10 people in the checkout lines while I am there (before 5:30). Last night, there were no less than 60.

After Katrina, Rita is causing a subtle, but noticeable panic among Houstonians. Those who remember Hurricane Alicia from the early 80’s are particularly on edge. Alicia left Houston without power for two weeks. The promise of vast amounts of rain have many who endured Tropical Storm Allison’s great flood in 2001 on edge as well.

Apparently, Houston is in the “danger zone.” If the storm hits south near Matagorda, Houston will get tropical storm winds (75 mph-ish) and a lot of rain (which we need some, but not flooding). If the storm hits Galveston head on, the forecasters say, “think Alicia,” which means that much more wind damage (100 mph +) and rain.

The Convention Center has been evacuated because the Red Cross doesn’t keep major shelters open in “danger zones.” The closest shelter is being set up about an hour north of Houston in Huntsville. I really feel for those Katrina evacuees who were placed in apartments in Galveston. Galveston is currently under a voluntary evacuation and will announce a mandatory one tomorrow morning.

All school systems south of Houston are closed until Monday. My roommate’s job is even on notice and may close Friday night. Roomie, the calm one, the one who doesn’t panic made a suggestion to get some ice on the way home Thursday if I can find any by then. This should be interesting.

I don’t anticipate anything but stormy weather, but you never know. We have plenty of everything, so I know we’ll be okay. I’ll keep you posted.

Operation Compassion changed the workdate again, moving it up to this weekend. After all the moving around and the numbers of people falling below 500 by yesterday, I decided to look for other ways to help as some evacuees settle into life here in Houston. I’ll keep you posted.

Yet again, assignments to serve in what is now referred to as “Reliant City” change from day to day. Reliant City is comprised of the Astrodome, the George R. Brown Convention Center, and Reliant Park. My work day got moved up to September the 24th because as of this weekend, less than 10,000 people remained of the initial 25,000 that arrived just a short time ago.

Many people flew, courtesy of a major airline, to all corners of the US to start their lives over with their families. Others have found apartments to live in, thus filling the over 70,000 empty apartments the city has within its borders. Hotels are full. People are getting their feet under them and they are able to breathe and contemplate and wonder how to start over.

I have seen, one by one lives being touched. Just down the street from the church I work for are two hotels and those families ate at the church for 10 days, received food, clothes, and job search help. One very surprised fourteen year old had a birthday party. One mother of a three week old commented, “I came here with nothing, but I will have to rent a U-Haul to go back home.” Most of the hotel families have now moved on, thankfully, to apartments or family member’s homes.

Yesterday, a couple still living in one of the hotels came in to the receptionist desk and asked me where they could get help with their car.

Their story unfolded as such. The wife found out this morning that her job was no more. She’s worked there since she was 16. I have no idea what sort of job it was, but she was in her early thirties and I could tell she was shell shocked by the news. Her company, she said, is just closing, no relocation. I have no idea about the man’s job, but she said they’ve lost all their income and their insurance.

As they were driving around town, their radiator broke. When they approached me, they were at the end of their rope.

The man’s eyes filled with tears as he said, “I feel like such a beggar… but, I don’t know what else to do.”

It just so happens the lady manning the volunteer phone down the hall is the wife of the mechanic who has fixed my car time and again the last few years. I called down to that office and they sent her down when she returned from lunch.

While Volunteer Phone Lady with Mechanic Husband talked with the man about his car, I gave the woman all the info for our job ministry, which had received several calls from job agencies offering jobs today.

I love it when a plan comes together. If that man had cried, I would have so lost it, but as it was, their needs, for that day anyway, were met.

Score one for hope.