Gustav

[Sessie]

Anyone else on the run from this bastard? I took no chances this time...I'm already in Tennessee and on the way up to my mom's house in Ohio. Katrina was nothing compared to this thing. I can't imagine what the people in Cuba and Jamaica are going through right now.

They're talking about blowing up the levees on the Westbank to route the storm surges away from New Orleans...basically, sacrificing the less important aspects of the city. I grew up on the Westbank. Not that it's a particularly nice place (actually it's kind of a dump), but still...my old schools, old family friends' houses, grandparents' house, mom's old house...could it really all be about to vanish? Fortunately, I think pretty much all of my family and friends have evacuated by this point, so at least everyone should be safe.

Sorry for rambling; I'm a little stressed and I needed to vent. Thanks for reading.
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"I have an everyday religion that works for me: love yourself first, and everything else falls into line." --Lucille Ball

[Zag]

Well, crap. I hope everything works out ok for you. Let us know what happens.

[worm]

double crap...that's getting kinda close. i must be living under a rock, 'cause i hadn't heard anything.

sorry to hear about the possibility of losing buildings that are special to you, but glad you and your loved ones are safe. definitely sounds like evacuation plans for New Orleans are much better than with Katrina.

looks like quailman might want to follow your lead. anybody keep in touch with him?

[Quail*]

I am in Tyler, TX right now, but I'm heading back to the Houston area in a few hours. We live 60 miles inland, and had planned on making preparations this w/e, but we (Mrs. Q and my 2 sons) came to E. TX Sat. since my father-in-law is in the hospital. He's doing better and will be transferred to a nursing home next week.

Good luck to you Sessie. I'm guessing Meestee (sp?) got out also.

I see that many highways in Louisiana have been converted to one-way to facilitate the evacuation. I was sort of hoping the Houston/Galveston area would put their plan (revised after Rita 3 years ago) into effect. They're set up to convert I-45 to northbound only, but not until about 80 miles from the coast. I'm betting that there will still be a massive traffic jam if they don't make the change starting in Galveston.

I especially do not want to stay here. It's a long way off, but the current projection is for the storm to come ashore and move up through LA, and then settle in ove this rea for several days.

[Sessie]

Thanks for the well wishes, everyone...looks like it might not be as bad as anticipated, which is great. Now we just have to see what Hanna is doing. They say it's headed for the Atlantic, but I'm just not buying it.

Good luck to you as well, Q. Looks like it's still going to be pretty rough when it gets to you. Hurricanes suck.
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"I have an everyday religion that works for me: love yourself first, and everything else falls into line." --Lucille Ball

[Quail*]

I'm back in Houston. We got a light sprinkle this evening - about 5 minutes worth.

Hanna's current track has it going straight over Hilton Head Island, SC this Friday as a Cat2 (100 mph). My mom lives there, as does my sister and her family. My mom is in St. Louis this week, but my sister will be getting out soon.

Ike is still at least a week from the gulf, but it looks ominous.

[MNOWAX]

god i hate hurricanes..

one of the few reasons why i actually do love New York..
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The Man The Myth The Legend
MNOWAX

[Quail*]

Ike hit directly. No electricity. Luckily, no damage to my home - just a lot of small to midsize limbs down, and pool is a mess. Neighbors not so lucky. Several had trees fall on home, or larger limbs/trees down to clean up. We need to boil water.

Mrs. Q's father passed away Sunday PM (he had been going downhill for a while), so we left the mess to drive to Jacksonville, TX, S of Tyler. We drove more than 100 miles before we found anyone with electricity. Couldn't get gas until Palestine. My mother-in-law just got her power back. Still several people around here without power.

We just called a neighbor back home, and we may not have electricity for 3-4 weeks. School out until at least Thursday. What a mess.

More later...

[Sessie]

Eesh, a mess indeed. Good luck to you, and my condolences to your family on your loss. Keep us posted.

How did everyone fare with Hanna?
_________________
"I have an everyday religion that works for me: love yourself first, and everything else falls into line." --Lucille Ball

[Quailman]

Power at home not expected back before at least Thursday. Bah! I need to go back Sunday to start back to work. My kids' HS is still w/o power, so they are out beyond Wednesday.

[Quailman]

Returned home today. Still no power. We parked our camper trailer in front of our house and hooked up a borrowed generator. Unfortunately, it does not power the AC unit, as we need 30 amps and only get 20 from the generator, so it trips the breaker. We have lights and antenna TV, and the windows are open with two oscillating fans.

I just realized that we will be sleeping in the street tonight. I showered in the house, though. And it is really stuffy.

Tomorrow before I go to work I will try to find an adapter that will enable me to run the AC. Then it will get downright frosty in here.

[edit] Oh, and we got an automated call from the school system saying that power had been restored to the local HS, so my kids will go back Wednesday after all.[/e]