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September 22, 2005
Rita Planning Update
The plan as of now is to stay put in the house. Traffic is crazy even on city streets. It took Sarah's boyfriend 2.5 hours to make a 20 minute drive to Sarah's. Lots of people have run out of gas on the interstates. The state is trying to get some tanker trucks to spots where people can refuel, but they are encountering traffic problems themselves. As a result, we have many people sitting in their cars on the side of the highway in the 100 degree heat with the threat of a storm coming up from the rear. I wish I could go get some of them and bring them to my house, but then I would be just one more stuck driver. Mike and I have always said that we could evacuate Houston faster on a bicycle than by car.
TX DOT finally got I-45 and I-10 converted to use all lanes to get people moving out. I-10 is being opened to one-way traffic from Sealy to Seguin. But with 1.3 million people trying to get out of here, it is going to take a while to really unplug this mess. And as the storm wobbles to the east, more and more areas are being designated as mandatory evacuation zones. Meanwhile, the highways are just parking lots. Highway 290 will not be converted because they need an artery to bring resources in. It takes 20 hours to get to Waco. We can drive to Amarillo in 12 under normal conditions. Likewise, 59 North will not be converted.
The airports have run out of parking space for cars, and no one can fly out unless he/she has a reservation. Tickets are not being sold. The planes have just about reached capacity.
Praise God, the storm is weakening ever so slightly. We'll take what we can get. It is also wobbling off slightly to the east. Poor New Orleans is starting to get rain. Landfall might now be closer to Beaumont than to Houston, but it could change directions yet again and come back west. We are not in a storm surge area and we are not in a flood prone zone. Our neighbors, Lisa and Becky, and their five cats are staying put, too. Yes, we will have wind. But given the choice of riding out 75 mph winds in my car on a highway or riding it out here where we can sit in the inner hall -- I'll take the house. If we have problems with our house, we have the key to yet another neighbor's house. We will be fine.
We have taped the windows, cleaned yard debris out of the way of runoff water, tanked up on water and food, and are keeping in close contact with several members of our church who also have decided to stay -- mostly due to the traffic keeping them home. It is hot and dry outside, but in the last couple hours we have started having light cloud cover.
I expect we will have power until at least late Friday night, so we will stay in touch. Hugs to all.
Posted by susan at September 22, 2005 04:02 PM