Well, most of Rita has passed. And passed well to the east of Houston, right at the border of Texas and Louisiana. Our neighborhood has almost no damage. A few leaves blown off my bamboo is all we have lost. The wind never really got blowing last night, maybe a couple of gusts in the 45-50 moh range, and no rain to speak of (2/10ths of an inch). Some areas of central and east Houston have lost power and there have been some structure fires. A few boneheads were caught looting a Target store, but that's about the extent of it. Some forecast models do show Rita turning around and heading back over us then back out to the Gulf. That could cause some flooding. We'll see.

I always get in trouble when I say this, but I'm a little disappointed. It was good to go through the drill however and test out my preparedness skills and equipment. Still, I would have liked to learn something from the experience.

...Just heard there is looting in Beaumont TX..

It's normal to feel a little "disappointment". Most of us would like nothing better than to say "I told ya so" to all those acquaintances who scoff at our preparedness efforts.
I remember back in 79 when I was living in military housing at Fort Stewart, GA, we experienced a small hurricane. I parked my beloved 78 Pinto on the back patio. It provided the car some protection due to the shape of the house, and it also allowed the car to shield the patio sliding glass doors. Although we had some gusts to 50 or 60mph and a LOT of horizontal rain, nothing bad happened. I sooooo hoped that all of my neighbors vehicles would be crushed by falling pine trees and their windows taken out by flying tree limbs. It was quite disappointing <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

In this case, all you have to say to those is to tell them to turn on their TV. I am sure that they will not have any problems finding "hard luck" stories on the news. Then say "That is why I prepare."