Just checking in from Houston...

[man4allcats]

Things are a bit edgy here. Wishful thinking led me to believe we might dodge this storm, but I guess not. Oh well. Lots of hurricane parties in progress. I never realized it before, but they do actually seem to have some utility. Relieves some of the tension as it were. Whistling in the dark I suppose, but what the hell?! Wish us luck. I'll check back in periodically assuming the power doesn't fail. Hope I don't killed, but as Paul Newman's character John Russell said in the closing scene of Hombre, "We all die. It's just a question of when." If the latter does unfortunately happen, let me say now I hope Obama and Biden win it. If they do, I'll be cheering from the gates of Hell. I doubt I'll qualify for anything more civilized. }(

[snappyturtle]

1. Stay safe! n/t

[malaise]

2. Stay safe and make sure you have a phone charger

in your car.

[man4allcats]

16. Good point! Thanks!

I thought about that today. I think I can still pick one up tomorrow at Radio Shack if I go early.

[csziggy]

29. Pick up an emergency weather radio instead

We got one when Fay came through. It gets the emergency weather channels, regular radio & analog TV channels (lots of help next year) and can recharge by turning a crank. AND it comes with a hook up for charging cell phones by turning the crank. Pretty nifty piece of technology.


Here is the one we got but there are other brands and models.

[man4allcats]

34. Cool!

Thanks! :hi:

[csziggy]

38. I was impressed at the one we got.

We obviously could not charge the built-in rechargeable battery but with a few minutes of cranking every hour or so it still operated - no quite as good reception or as much volume as with the regular batteries but good enough for emergency use. We did not need the cell phone charging system this time around, but could at some point.

It also has a clock with an alarm, so if you needed to do things at certain times, like re-fuel a generator, it would be great.

I know this sounds like an ad, but this emergency radio is definitely worth it when you need it.

[barbtries]

3. stay safe

evacuate if you have to....

[ColbertWatcher]

4. Hello Houston! Stay safe and I hope you don't get FEMAed. n/t

[tularetom]

5. Get your ass someplace safe and stay there

We can't afford to lose any DU'ers.

[texastoast]

6. I45 North is a slow parking lot

The air is so heavy and still it's hard to breathe outside.

[itsrobert]

7. Have you sent in your absentee ballot yet?

Good luck.

[man4allcats]

17. Well, you're right.

It does pay to be practical. God knows we can't afford to lose any votes! B-)

[KansasVoter]

8. IS GAS GONE YET?

[man4allcats]

18. I filled up at Costco around 6:30pm

without difficulty, but I saw long lines at other places and a refueling tanker at a Shell station so there is definitely a run on gasoline. I expect tomorrow will be rough for fuel.

[rurallib]

9. Invite everyone back for the Obama celebration!

[musette_sf]

10. here's hoping

that it's not an Alicia, and it's not like Alison that flooded everything including the downtown tunnels. take care, from a former Houstonian.

(i was living in NO when Alicia hit Houston, and had moved to Cali by the time Alison hit... just lucky, i guess.)

[ananda]

15. I moved from Houston to Austin a year ago.. whew.

I lived in a suburban city of Houston during Alicia and
went north to Spring and stayed with my aunt and uncle.
The storm didn't harm or flood my home, but it knocked
down a big tree in my front yard. Utilities were out
for two days to a week, and it was awful going a week
without air conditioning.

I evacuated during Rita, and nothing happened because
Rita turned. That was a seventeen hour driving nightmare.

I'm so glad to be in Austin now I can't tell you. We're
just hoping for some of the rain now.

I sub in schools a couple of days a week, and today I was
in a high school that is going to turn its gyms into
shelters. Tomorrow I'll be in another shelter high school.

Austin is ready to help the evacuees.

Ike is different from Alicia, and more like Carla in its
ability to send a huge tsunami-like surge over the Galveston
seawall. There will be huge and widespread flooding.

Blessings and good luck to all!

Sue

[annabanana]

11. Hang in there pal.

Check in with us on the other side.

[TBF]

12. We're waiting it out as well -

I've got a hotel room in Dallas tomorrow afternoon - Monday, but we spent 23 hours in the car with a baby & dog with the last evac (Rita) so we're not going this time if we don't have to. We're in Pearland.

[LonelyLRLiberal]

13. Hope you are not in the evacuation zone!

IIRC, Pearland is not in a low-lying area or close to the shore?

[TBF]

41. Pearland is a very long city in area, but is in

the north of brazoria county. But by midnight we had changed our minds anyway. 45 was clear at 6:00 this morning and we are in Dallas now. We have small children so we decided it wasn't worth risking it. The drive was under 5 hours.

[LonelyLRLiberal]

52. Good decision - I am sure you are watching this!

I hope your home is okay. My thoughts are with you.

[lastliberalintexas]

14. Evacuations as far east as Calcasieu parish now

This storm is still following Rita's path, and SW LA is under the gun again as well. They are telling residents to expect very bad weather as far east as Morgan City, LA, which was basically where Gustav just went in. You in Houston just *might* get lucky and dodge yet another bullet, if it keeps going east. For your sake I hope it does, for my sake I hope it hits Corpus or Brownsville. (no offense to anyone there, but I do live on the Gulf Coast and therefore can wish a hurricane on another without guilt, at least according to that email :) )


By the way, I love your sense of humor about this- it's the only way to deal with hurricanes. :)

[man4allcats]

20. Thanks for the comments. All of us Gulf Coast folks

understand about wishing these things would go somewhere else. "Hey no offense buddy, but better you than me." Hehe! Love your username! Many is the time I've thought I was the last liberal in Texas. :D

[TTUBatfan2008]

19. My parents, sister, and grandma...

are in Baytown. They said they won't be leaving unless they have to. I'm kind of worried about it. Baytown is 30 minutes east of Houston, and as you might imagine, is surrounded by water. It's located right on the Houston Ship Channel and Cedar Bayou runs fairly close to my parents' house. I told them to go to my aunt's in Pasadena (20 minutes further inland towards Houston) and I hope they take my advice. There is already mandatory evacuation orders for parts of Chambers County. Baytown is right on the edge of Harris and Chambers County. :(

[man4allcats]

21. Try not to worry.

I know it's hard, but everyone who lives around here knows the drill. I'm sure they will be fine. PM me if there is anything I can do for them or you.

[TTUBatfan2008]

22. Shit, just saw that their zip code is on the Mandatory Evacuation list...

77520.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/17447458/detail.html

And yes, I know the drill too. I grew up there. I am currently working and living in Midland. The only major storm I can remember was Allison and we got pretty lucky during that one. It only got up to our porch. There's pretty good drainage in Baytown, but then again we didn't get the amount of rain that some of the other areas like Pearland had to deal with.

[man4allcats]

24. "their zip code is on the Mandatory Evacuation list..."

Okay, in a way that's good because you know they'll be leaving. No more guess work about "should we go or not." That question has been answered. Get the hell out of there. Again, best wishes and of course, let me know if I can help.

[TTUBatfan2008]

25. Just talked to my sister...

She said they'll leave if they feel the need to. They have known about the mandatory warning since noon today.

[merh]

23. saying prayers and all sorts of good energie and thoughs out for

you guys - stay safe.

[man4allcats]

26. Thank you, merh, and thank all of you

for your kind thoughts.

[True_Blue]

27. Godspeed Houston!

[young_at_heart]

28. My daughter and son-in-law live in West U----I'm worried

Their zip code isn't being asked to evacuate but they're worried about flooding because they've had it before in that area.

[man4allcats]

32. Flooding is always a risk, but

since they know the danger they will be prepared. Try not to fret too much. Young folks are always very resourceful. I am amazed sometimes. Was I like that when I was younger? Maybe. It's hard to say now. I have to confess I don't remember anymore. I bet they will be fine.

[Tindalos]

30. Good luck and be safe. n/t

[Manifestor_of_Light]

31. I'm on the west side of Houston.

[man4allcats]

33. Me too.

I'm on Westview at I-10 and Gessner. Best of luck to me, and best of luck to you too! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[lonestarnot]

35. Hang on to your hat AYD!

[moriah]

36. If you hit the gates of Hell, can you tell Bin Laden that we said hi?

After all, he's supposed to be chased there, right?

Sorry, bad joke.

Seriously, stay safe, all Texas DUers are in our thoughts.

[Usrename]

37. Best wishes for y'all.

This one really scares me. Stay high and dry. Its is going to bring some really wild seas to your area, and its already a killer storm.

[elehhhhna]

39. Hola! We're preppng here in Sugar Land. Good luck & stay calm.

[leftyclimber]

51. My aunt's down there by herself and I'm worried about her.

She's had a stroke and two knee replacements and her husband is working out of the country right now. One of her daughters tried to get her to come stay in Pasadena with her but Aunt Diane decided she'd ridden out the other ones, so she could ride out this one. I realize Sugar Land is quite a ways inland, but I'm concerned about her.

While you can, if you could keep us updated on how things are going in Sugar Land I'd really appreciate it. I talked to my folks in Oregon and they're going to try to call down there tomorrow, but it would ease my mind a lot to hear from someone who's actually there.

All the best to you elehhhhna. I hope everyone rides this thing out OK. :hug:

[RB TexLa]

40. Good luck, but I don't think it is going to be near what everyone on the "TeeVee" says it is.

[TTUBatfan2008]

42. You're wrong...

Areas directly east and southeast of Houston right on the water are in a dangerous situation. The storm surge is going to be massive.

[TBF]

44. Inland shouldn't be too bad, but the islands are going to be bad.

The surge has already started. People in Houston proper held off and that was good to allow the coast to evacuate. Unfortunately I'm afraid it's not going to be pleasant.

[TornadoTN]

45. It certainly isn't looking that way according to experts

It's looking a lot worse than anyone imagined - especially in Galveston. We could be looking at something unimaginable come morning.

[SammyWinstonJack]

43. Party on!

:hug:

[man4allcats]

46. Update 9pm Friday

I am at home. I am not in a mandatory evacuation area. Winds are picking up. Much of the area is under a tornado watch in addition to Ike. No rain here yet in my part of town (West Houston), but it's still early. Things are supposed to start getting really rough later tonight. I will post more as conditions change and for as long as the power lasts. I did get a car charger for my cell phone today so at least I can keep my phone alive even if, or more likely when, the electricity goes. Wish us luck.

[Catherine Vincent]

47. Same here.

It's very windy outside. We're all here just waiting for this thing to come and get it over with. I'll keep reading and posting as long as the power holds.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

48. Yep it's windy. No rain yet.

N of I-10 near Wirt and westview.

[tpsbmam]

50. Most definitely wishing you luck &

thinking about all of you down there. Thanks for keeping everyone up to date! :grouphug:

[TBF]

61. Be safe, ayd.

I live in Pearland, but have small children so we decided to leave. We prepared the house best we could and left. What I've read on the internet is the area near us has suffered alot of tree damage, security fences down, but no flooding so far.

Thanks for the updates.

[Minimus]

49. Be safe!

And, you WILL be posting as soon as power is restored

[man4allcats]

53. Update 2am Saturday

Heard a loud boom about 15 min ago. Figured it was a transformer, but my lights are still on for the moment. Occasional flickering but so far I still have power. Wind is getting scary. There is some high pitched whistle going on. Started just after the bang. Don't know what it is. I would report it, but wouldn't know what to tell the power people. They have their hands full at the moment anyway. I looked outside to check for any fires. Saw none. Better post. Just lost power momentarily. Check better later hopefully.

[LiberalHeart]

54. Are you anywhere near the dome?

[man4allcats]

56. No.

I-10 and Gessner area. On Westview Dr.

[orleans]

55. are you in a basement? do you have a radio? and a cell phone?

take care anotheryellowdog. thinking of you--wishing you stay safe.

[man4allcats]

57. No basement, but

cell phone fully charged. Thanks for good thoughts.

[orleans]

59. can you see any of the live reporting on the tv or computer?

looks like it might be rough there until daybreak

maybe hang out in an interior room or hallway.

are you alone or do you have family you need to squeeze into a hallway?

edit: just heard on msnbc 1.3 million people without power in your area

[Liberal In Texas]

58. Good luck. I have people in Houston. I'm worried.

Keeping toes and fingers crossed for you all.

Sometimes whistling in the dark is the best thing you can do.

[entanglement]

60. Best of luck, friend

I hope you have a good supply of beer / rum / <beverage of your choice> to ride this one out :toast: