Well ya'll, with Rita bearing down on Florida, the citizens in Texas are taking no chances. I'm right on the LA/TX border and it seems that with everyting that happened with Katrina, people over here have learned to bug out well in advance. Let me just say that I have been very busy at work for the last two days as people are stocking up on gas, food, water, lights, candles, batteries, and flashlights. And also items needed for getting their pets out of town. My particular Walmart has run out of water, canned meat, pet carriers, and plastic containers. I was told by a customer that another store close by was already cleared of these same items. Galveston is supposed to start evacuating tomorrow. We were told that we can leave if we want without fear of loosing our jobs. It seems as though quite a few of the employees are leaving tomorrow. They don't want to fight with traffic.

I just get the overall feeling that no one here is going to be trapped like those in NO. Don't get me wrong..there are still some people staying. I'm not sure when I'll be going. Probably Thursday sometime. I guess it depends on when the schools close.

Wyntyr

San Antonio is gearing up to take folks in from whereever. I've got a feeling this one is going to hit around Rockport, and put down a lot of water as far inland as here. This is flood capital USA. San Antonio is already setting up our emergency centers. We have passed multiple bond issues over many years with little result.

I'm at 890' above sea level, plus 10 floors, but I still am putting up water. Bad juju, these storms.

High rise apartment? If so, mind the glass. Are there shutters you can get for it, or will you just be in another room when the wind's up?

I face the good way -- inland. But I still get wind, and when it looks bad, I tape up.

We could start a whole sub discussion about tempered glass, but . . .

Thanks for the thought. I gotta bad feeling about Rita. I've been litigating the aftermath of storms for over 20 years, and this one gives me bad vibes. Maybe not here, but somebody is going to get hurt.

For bug-in water containers, maybe people can use plastic wastebaskets if better containers aren't available. For bug-out, Ziploc bags work and aren't as fragile as you might guess, though you do have to be a bit careful with them. The kind with the sliding plastic thing across the top does leak a little in the corner (not enough to make them unusable). The older pinch-together type are a little harder to operate but are quite leakproof in my testing.

After being stuck in traffic for the better part of 12 hours to get less than 50 miles...I can say that I'm exhausted. I met up with my mother, aunt, and brother Thursday afternoon. Counting all of the kids and adults, there's 17 of us...and a cat. We packed into our vehicles with our important documents, plenty of water, food, pillows and blankets. (it's a tight fit) We had 3 cars and two trucks. On the way, one of the trucks broke down. My brother had to leave his truck at a gas station after towing it as far as we could go. This is only after my car started overheating and dieing in the middle of the road. This hasn't been a very good evac for us. We didn't get any real sleep and we were driving for 12 hours alone. We stopped for an hour and rested up. I myself got about 20 minutes of sleep due to a very unhappy 2 year old not wanting to let mommy go.

There's so many people on the side of the road. Running out of gas, fender benders, and just trying to get some sleep. If there's a way for you to evac without having to use major routes....I suggest you try the back roads. There's a lot less traffic and you'll move a lot faster.

Regardless, we're now in the south part of Dallas in a Holiday Inn and watching the meterologists from the weather channel show us what home looks like. This storm is hitting home almost head on. If anyone is watching the news, Beaumont and Port Arthur is where I'm from. I'm wondering what it's going to be like to go home after something like this. Is there going to be a home? I have a refinery less than a block from my house....I wonder if it'll protect my place from some of the wind.. Right now..there's an odd feeling of.....being lost. It's kinda hard to grab onto anything concrete as far as "normal" day-to-day life goes. Right now, the only thing concrete is that my kids and family is safe. What's really odd is that part of me wants to be at home. I guess that's the storm lover in me.

I guess we'll see what life looks like in the morning....I'm too tired to think anymore. Goodnight ya'll......I'm going to go hug my kids.

Wyntyr

Glad you and your family are OK -- best of luck down there and stay safe.

I cannot truly sypathize enough. My ranch got hit with 28 inches of rain in 1978. The landscape changed. We remodeled accordingly.

You are safe, sound, and dry. This is a life changing event. Confront your new life as an adventure.