Just watched a news report and it looks like Galveston and Houston are in the crosshairs for Rita.
Wanted to wish Ed and all his buddies good luck, I will be hoping and praying that all remains well and everyone comes through this with their health.
Chris
Thanks, Chris…
We will suspend operation of the PTRA sometime Friday…
UP and BNSF are already tying everything down, if it cant make a yard, its being put into any available siding.
Reports of possible 16 to 20 foot storm surge…so far, its a cat 4…don’t know if there is enough heat in the Gulf water to keep it at that level…hope not!
For those not familiar with the area, a 16 foot surge will cover Galveston Island, and flood up to and in some places, into the city of Houston.
Mandatory evacuation of most of the costal area is underway right now, Galveston is empting, and Freeport, Matagorda Bay, and every city and town on the Galveston Bay are heading north.
Will report more as time goes on…the irony of this… the people evacuated from New Orleans into Houston can, if they wish, be bussed to Ellington Field and will be flown, courtesy of FEMA, any where in the continental US…evacuating the evacuees from a hurricane, because of another hurricane…talk about jumping from the pot into the fire!
Ed
Arkansas has already started taking the folks in from Texas.
The Hurricane center shows it maintain strength and it is a monstor.
Houston is a pipeline source for gasoline and desiel for Arkansas… if that gets cut then we are in trouble. I have already filled up all of my vehicles and jerrycans.
If it aint in TEXAS it Aint…
But seriously… my prayers go out to the folks =)
Take care, Ed.
My brother rode out the last hurricane to hit Houston in the supermarket he was managing. Wasn’t as strong a storm as this one, but water everywhere.
We live on the northwest side of town, on very high ground…last cat 4 in the 60s didnt flood us…it aint the water , but the wind I worry about…
And if you aint bought your gas yet…your in trouble…all the refineries are shutting down and evacuating…Deer Park and Pasadena, both major refinery towns, are under mandatory evac orders…
Get it now, or wait and see if there are any supplies left after the weekend…
Ed
Ed, I used to live in The West Side, near the Katy Freeway, Memorial Drive, Westheimer, In Piney Point Village. That was in 1998, so we just missed The floods, but anway supposedly that side of the city was also high enough, so we wouldnt have been hit.
All those down there or evacuating, best of luck and wishes
Lots of traffic on I-10 this afternoon and evening. Some of the gas stations in Columbus ran out of gasoline late this afternoon. Last I checked here in Schulenburg, still gasoline, but no batteries or bottled water. All the restaurants are doing a real brisk business. I don’t think we’re gonna stay around. No sense taking a chance. And if you can get your cell phone to make or receive a call you’re lucky.
mike
Rita is now a Category 5. It is stronger and bigger then Katrina ever was…
I have a friend who is a RN at a hospital in Houston so I am very worried about his safety.
Who scheduled the Gulf Coast for an apocolypse anyways?
Maybe this is Gods way of getting back at us for firing Bum Phillips and selling the Oilers?
Ed[:D]
No Ed, it is chasing those people from New Orleans around. They are like a magnet or something.[swg]
Never been through a hurricane before, though we just had some severe thundrestorms blow through here this evening, which were a little scary. Thing is thunderstorms pass fairly quickly as do their strong winds. The hurricane just keeps scratching and clawing at everything for the better part of a day. Hopefully this one will weaken significantly as it makes landfall.
Batten down the hatches, and as Joe says, “Stay Safe”!!!
As of 10:00pm…
Projected ground zero between Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay, at 3:00am Saturday morning.
Currently cat 5, with 155 mph winds.
Projected 100mph winds as far as 120 miles inland.
All of Galveston County is under mandatory evacuation.
Hope she keeps right on moving…Allison just sat overhead and rained for 24 hours!
Ed
…Ed, I know you will take care of things and do what you must to protect your family…Will be saying prayers for you all…Wondering if you still plan on heading west…
All of the planes arriving in Tulsa from Houston today were full, no open seats.
Ed - I hope you and your family stay safe, and have somthing to back to when you return.
Gassed up the truck this afternoon for $2.82 so I will be good for a couple of weeks. Why is it that gas prices are so quick to rise and so long to fall? Its alright, I’m just glad that I dont live in Cooke City Montana, they are paying $3.40/gal for regular unleaded, If you don’t believe me, look at my Photobucket account under Geology Field Trip 2005, I will upload it in a little bit.
I certianly hope Texas fares better than LA. MS. and AL It will give a whole new meaning to Don’t mess with Texas [:)]
Ed- Hope for the best. Take no chances. Just reading on the FEMA website they are staging teams and materials in Texas ready to be used (by the way this was done in LA but no one heard about it[:-^]). Watching on our local ABC news channel out of Memphis that TN Task Force 1 is enroute at this moment to Texas. This is a good group to have coming. They have responded to several disasters including the 9/11 attacks at the Pentagon, Florida and just returned this week from Katrina.
As of 1am… 175mph winds… third strongest hurricane in the Atlantic… EVER…
They’re saying that New Orleans will get at least storm force winds and surge.
Ed, git yer tail outta there!
Randy
Can’t leave now…
All freeways out of Houston are jam packed…bumper to bumper for as far as you can see.
Had one Texas City couple on TV who got on the road last night at 6:30…and made it to IH45 and Loop 610 at 6:00 am that is a 30 mile drive, in 12 hours!
Average speed under 3 miles an hour.
Huntsville is sending on and one who manages to make it up there, the city is completely full already.
TV reports that over 2 million people are trying to leave Galveston and Harris county by auto right now, 6:09 am Houston time…some of the officials are recommending that if you are not north of the city and still moving already, don’ event try, you will get caught out on the road when it hits…the current idea now is to shelter in place.
All of the freeways have cars that have broken down, overheated, and due to the extreme stop and start driving, the brakes are failing.
Traffic is moving on IH10 west at less than walking speed…I45 is at a standstill…the entire system is gridlocked.
Anyone who has loved ones here, call them now…the cell phones will be jammed in an hour our so…
If you have folks here…tell them to find a brick or concrete block building to shelter in…Run away from any home on pilings and blocks, wood frame, and if you own a mobile home, take you personal things and run…
We couldn’t leave now if we wanted to…getting caught out in it one the road will be deadly.
A bunch of my neighbors are staying…so if you have someone here, email me with their phone number, and I can give them direction to the house…we are on the northwest side of Houston, wont flood, and have a pretty good sized living room, and a big den, they can bring a sleeping bag and we can put them up for a while…
The coffee is fresh and hot…and I make a pretty mean waffle!
Crunch time!
Ed
Ed
I wish you and yours and any guests the best of luck.we will keep you(as always) in our prayers.
stay safe
joe
Ed, we’ll be praying for all you, as always!! Take care, and please stay safe,
everyone!!
Saw on the news this morning that they plan to reverse the direction of the opposite lanes on the highways- seems to me that they should’ve done that long before now. That aughta speed up the evacuation, though. They’re predicting that the storm surge will be 12 feet HIGHER than the Galveston beach wall. Stay safe, Ed.