HURRICANE RITA

I'm wondering if I should change the title of my blog to "Hurricane Blog." Is this a sign of things to come? Are we in for monster hurricane after monster hurricane? What's up with this? I have no idea.

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

Rita turns farther from Houston

Hurricane Rita weakened this morning from a top-of-the-scale Category 5 hurricane to a Category 4 as it swirled across the Gulf of Mexico, and forecasters said it could lose more steam by the time it comes ashore late Friday or early Saturday.

And in the afternoon, Rita closed in on the Texas Gulf Coast and the heart of the U.S. oil-refining industry with howling 145 mph winds Thursday, but a sharper-than-expected turn to the right set it on a course that could spare Houston and nearby Galveston a direct hit. Instead, it looked as if Rita might come ashore near Port Arthur or Lake Charles, La., at least 60 miles up the coast.

But it was still an extremely dangerous storm — and one aimed at a section of coastline with the nation's biggest concentration of oil refineries. Environmentalists warned of the possibility of a toxic spill from the 87 industrial plants and storage installations that represent more than one-fourth of U.S. refining capacity.

And

NASA evacuated Johnson Space Center and transferred control of the international space station to the Russians. Storm surge projections put most of the NASA space center, situated about 20 miles southeast of downtown Houston, under water in the event of a hurricane above Category 2.

Click here for the rest.

Good news. For my friends and family, at least. However, my understanding is that Rita seems to be headed toward Beaumont, and that's still pretty close. Fortunately, my family all managed to get out. My younger brother somehow managed to get his boss to allow him to head up to College Station, but he'll have to go back pretty quickly. I think my email to my Dad did the trick: he's up in Austin at my older brother's place with my Mom and their dog. So, if worse comes to worse, my thousands of comic books stored at my folks place in Kingwood will be lost, but not my loved ones. Really, at a time like this, I wouldn't care if I lost everything I owned if the people I love are safe.

But it was hell for them getting out. My parent's exodus to Austin took twelve hours. You must understand, the trip from Kingwood, which is on the extreme northeast side of H-Town, to Austin usually takes only three and a half hours. The overall evacuation sounds like an even bigger mess than getting out of New Orleans was for most people.

Again from the Houston Chronicle:

Havoc from hurricane comes early to Houston's freeways

Sixteen hours to San Antonio and Dallas. Eleven hours to Austin. With over a million people trying to flee vulnerable parts of the Houston area, Hurricane Rita will be a nightmare even if Galveston doesn't take a direct hit. .

Trying to leave Houston on I-10, Ella Corder drove 15 hours to go just 13 miles today. Noticing cars out of gas littering the freeway, she turned off her air-conditioner to save fuel, but the 52-year-old heart patient worried the heat and exhaustion were taking a toll on her.

"All I want to do is go home," she said tearfully by cell phone. "Can't anyone get me out of here? "

Other evacuees' frustration turned into anger as the day wore on.

And

An elderly woman caught in a traffic jam in Fort Bend County died, apparently from the heat. Katy police, meanwhile, arrested a woman they said lost her cool on the freeway and assaulted another woman, who may have suffered a broken arm.

Click here for more.

What hell.

Of course, some of my friends either can't get out, won't get out, or aren't sure about whether to stay or leave. Here are some comments from the post below:

To leave, to stay. What a fucking mess. Pray for us all, Ron - I think we're gonna need it.

Anne Z

Anne is one of the two bigwigs with my theater home in Houston, dos chicas theater commune. She's extraordinarily talented, as is her husband Bob. Stay safe, ya'll.

Hey Ron, this is victoria. I was in your debate class your last year at Sterling.. I am sure you don't remember me, but I still check up on your website. I keep hearing different things about the hurricane--it's going to be a monster 5 and then I hear it is going to slow down to a 3. Things are always changing.. Almost everyone has left, but for those who decided not to, and then changed their mind, I think it's too late for them to leave(thanks to traffic), which is awful. I can understand how your dad is. Mine is the same, but he's working in El Paso, and my mom and I are stubborn, so he can't affect our decision to stay. We are just going to wait it out, and see how it goes. Hopefully, things go well. Of course, pray for all.

~~victoria

Actually, Victoria was one of my better debate students, and one of the most intelligent freshmen to ever come through my classroom over the years. I've forgotten lots of former students over the years - it's impossible to not forget some of them given the numbers - but I remember Victoria well. She's in Baytown, which is only about an hour's drive or so from Beaumont. Send her your good energy.

My buddy Mike, whose blog This is not a compliment is one of my daily stops, is also staying:

Yeah, there's no leaving now...

people are running out of gas before they get to Katy.

My friend Charlie has been on the road since 4 am and is only half way to Arkansas...

My car would overheat long before I ran out of gas.

So I've taped up my windows, and I'm about to head out to clean up the porch and then tomorrow it's moving things to the middle of the room, elevating what I can and covering records with tarps...

whoohooo!

I know a few folks here who REALLY didn't want to stay, but they waited too long and now they're giving up the idea of getting on the roads...

It's gonna be rough no matter what they do now, especially if they didn't prepare to stay before today.

My neighborhood Kroger was open still today, and they still had plenty of wolf brand chili and spaghetti-o's...so I'm all set...

and I've got Dr. Neil Frank to hold my hand and show me weather porn till I lose power...

and tequila, and whiskey, and the smoke...

I fully intend to be the king of New Atlantis by Sunday.

Mike

Mike, I hope to pay tribute and give you a courtly bow sometime soon in your aquatic kingdom. You stay safe, too.

Anybody who's interested can watch Houston's KTRK TV news coverage of the storm-event streaming over the internet--they've moved into 24/7 reporting, and it looks like they're bucking for some kind of award or something; they're doing good work.

Okay, I'm off to bite my nails.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$