Then Came Rita

A bus has had an explosion and burned, near Dallas. It is said to have been full of elderly from Houston. One confirmed death.
Thousands are stranded on the highways, with truckloads of gas just now heading there from Austin (it took this long to put special nozzles on the tanks).
Most of the rain onshore is hitting Louisiana, including New Orleans.
It's looking like the eye may decide to pass closer to the TX/LA border than previously thought. If it does, that's good news for us, bad for places like Beaumont.

edgar can you pick me up a lap top somewhere... that's if you plan on foraging that is.... that's what they call it when you're white, right? The most powerful one you can get if you don't mind. I'll pay the shipping. thanks.

Lookslike one of the officials in charge of distributing aid from Katrina was caught doing some foraging of his own. He had quite a pile of stuff at his private home.

Just saw a story on The Houston Chronicle website about a ten year old boy, whose family accidentally drove off, leaving him at a convenience store.

Well I just talked to my friend in Texas, he said he was gonna get hit pretty hard but they are staying there.. He said there is a major gas shortage and he is watching as people's cars run out of gas and over heat because of traffic....

He is going to call me once everything calms down... I so worried though

It's definitely time to get situated and wait to see what else happens. There are signs it could weaken some more before it hits. Still, it's category four, stronger than Alysia was in '83.

You're in my good thoughts, edgar - hang in there.

I just saw a guy on CNN (think he was a representative from some government energy commision) say that because of all the oil refineries in the storm path, in a worst case scenario we could see gas go up to $5 a gallon, or even have no gas in places - spot shortages.

Yeah, Snood. And, lest we forget, the winter spike in prices is just around the bend.

Deaths on the bus explosion up to twenty. Thought to be oxygen tanks exploding in succession.

Just got a call from my daughter. She and family got to Dallas. No place to stay. Are now near Oklahoma City looking for a hotel.

It appears PDiddie did not make it to Dallas. He got 6 miles in 6 hours on I-45, and turned around and went back. He's going to stay with relatives on the NW side of Houston to ride out the storm ... per his blog entry of early this a.m.

oh no..

( mental note, call the diddys.. )

yes gus, IF the storm hits cooler water it will lose its steam.. BUT headed twords land, as the water gets more and more shallow, it is warmer.
Warmer water is what it feeds on. Not by much... but the warmer water COULD help keep it at a strong cat-4 or even re-boost it to a cat-5.
Either way, we will see.

Even this far inland, grocery stores are out of bottled water and many other small canned items and basic survival gear.. Batteries? jeezee.. if I were smart , I would have stocked up and sold them on Ebay for a hundred dollars a pop!!

we covered the basic things here. We have 3 gallons of water, 2 flashlights ( expected power outages are a given) and a large 2 hour battery supply for our phones if necessary. Thats it. I still feel that is too much for Austin, but as sunlover said, austin floods all the time.
With as many lakes and streams that are around, anytime it rains, one spills over. So basic stuff is needed.

My neighbor, some time in the night , roped down their trees, tarped and roped down the roof on their garage, and has small ropes tied to something in the ground to hold their chain link fence......

My daughter is asking if there is any way to get back home now, from Oklahoma City. As far as I know the highways are still outbound only. Anybody got any ideas?

I saw a reporter on I-45 who said they were going to make it two-way again. There were highway workers moving cones. But that might just be the section closer to Houston.

Why does she want to come back? Isn't she going to wait until after Rita comes thru?

Mac, are you IN Houston?

You're one of the smartest people I know so if you think you'll be fine I'm sure you'll be fine, but if you could explain a bit about why you'll be fine it'll help put my mind at ease...

I believe Mac is in a bunker.

Still holding my breath.....

When is the storm expected to hit landfall in your area?

This is encouraging, anyway:



I mean, not for the Beaumont or Port Arthur areas, of course... sigh...

I think my daughter would have been safe here at home, though at the time she left it was expected to make a direct hit on Galveston island.

New Orleans has been getting much of the rain so far.

Edgar


Edgar, why don't you contact Eva in Oklahoma and see if she help your daughter find a place to stay. I just e-mailed her to see if she can contact you to help your daughter.

BBB