Subj : Hurricane Rita
To   : richardw
From : Sam Alexander
Date : Wed Sep 21 2005 10:57 pm

  Re: Hurricane Rita
  By: richardw to All on Wed Sep 21 2005 06:40 pm

 > Well, I just spoke with my father.  He lives in Pasadena, TX.
 > Pasadena is about 20 miles from Houston.  He's packing.
 > 
 > They're going to stay with some friends in Austin, TX until the storm
 > passes.  They're supposed to be evacuated by 6pm today, but he said
 > they're not gonna make it.  They will be leaving in the morning.
 > 
 > He said the line of cars is already incredible.
 > 
 > Rita is now a category 5, one of only 3 to ever hit the US mainland, or so
 > I've read.  Sustained winds of 165mph, and likely to grow stronger before
 > it makes landfall late friday, or saturday.
 > 
 > It's good to know my father will not be in it's path.  I only hope he will
 > have a home to come back to.  Their home is fairly close to the ocean, and
 > he has no flood insurance.  The "surge" just might submerge the place.  If
 > not the water, I can't imagine what 165mph winds would be capable of.
 > 
 > It's certainly good to live in an age when we can see these storm comming.
 > 

My dad and step-mom are heading back to Waco from houston as I type, and my 
dad said traffic is stopped.  My step-mom's mom was in Houston with cancer 
and passed away this afternoon.  

My dad left the Houston medical district at 3:30pm and as of about 9pm he 
wasn't even to highway 6 yet.  This is normally an hour drive, but it's 
taken them over 5 hours, plus he said it took 45 minutes just to get gas.  

This is crazy, and to be honest I'm kinda scared to see what happens over 
the weekend when Rita slams into Texas.  I have some family (great-grandma 
and great-aunts and uncles) in Beaumont who aren't willing to leave.  As for 
us in Waco, we're stocking up on everything.

Anyone else in the path of this monster?

Sam

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