And Now... Rita!
Thursday:
We are packing to leave our new Houston apartment. Joel says, "I just can't do this anymore" but we don't have any bottled water, or candles or canned food, and we DO have full gas tanks and reservations (now)in Hot Springs, AR. The TV news folks are showing that traffic heading north out of Houston is moving at no more than a crawl. There are stories of folks' running out of gas, their cars' overheating, or having been on the road fifteen hours or more already. The current temp is 93, (heat index 100) as of 11:30 a.m.
They have just begun the process of closing down the entry of south-going traffic onto the Houston freeways, so we hope the contraflow lanes will open soon. Remembering last year, I plan to pack a makeshift urinal. Katie and Joel will be taking the ice chest, so I hope I can find some appropriate water containers for water for the dogs.
I keep my sanity by reminding myself that I don't have to deal with it all at once. I'm not driving yet, I'm not stuck in traffic, I'm not lost--at this point, I am still in the air conditioning and I just have to straighten out the apartment, pack, and sign out online (we don't think we'll have in-room Internet access in Hot Springs.)
It's hard to believe that the wonderful people who gave so much of themselves in welcoming us to Angleton and West Columbia are now themselves evacuees just as we are. I wish we were back in Metairie, taking our chances on the levees' staying intact. But wishing won't make it so. We have no choice but to tough it out. I'll check in when I can.
Wednesday:
They say that, given where we are in town (inside the loop on the SW side), we are probably okay unless it's a Category 4 or above. Even a 4 would present more of a challenge to comfort by virtue of its lack of A/C than rather than a challenge to survival. We are banking a lot on the advice of our new best local friends, who have lived here for years. I'd been thinking I wanted to settle here, but if it reaches hurricane intensity here in Houston, I think I want to move to Albuquerque! (Joel refuses to consider it yet.)
As someone said a few weeks ago, if this were a made-for-TV movie, it'd be rejected for its lack of realism. At least we made enough contacts here to refill all our prescriptions. And if we need to move, it'll be easy to know what to pack. Ugh, if we have to leave Houston, the closest available pet-friendly motel room is in Midland--an eight-hour drive! Joel and Katie couldn't even find bottled water today. Tomorrow morning Joel has another appointment for his kidney stones, so it'll fall to me to continue the hunt for water and other supplies. I'm not panicking yet.
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