We're safe
Jenn and I ended up weathering the storm with friends in Cy-Fair. We attempted to evacuate to West Texas on Wednesday in a caravan with her medical school friends, but I-10 was just insane. We ended up diverting to a house off Dairy Ashford owned by parents of some of Jenn's friends from medical school after several hours on the road. We were exhausted after driving all night, so we got a few hours of sleep and had some lunch while we planned our next step.
Jenn contacted our friends in Cy-Fair, Jen and Ted, and we planned a route on surface roads to get to their house. It's in northwest Harris County and is less than a year old, so it's built to the latest hurricane codes. They also specifically moved into that neighborhood because it is out of the flood plains. Jenn's friend Dan stayed behind at the first house, while Jenn and I and our friend, David, went on to Cy-Fair.
Getting past the I-10 overpass to get to Eldridge Parkway was easier than expected and, from there, it was almost a straight-shot without problems. We stopped at a grocery store and got what little good food and juice they had, then continued on. Unfortunately, Huffmeister is a finished road on all our maps... but not in reality. So, we had to make a slight diversion to swing around and get back on the other half of Huffmeister.
The next two days was almost like having a sleepover party. David ended up leaving to be with his family in San Antonio once I-10 cleared up on Friday, but Jenn and I stayed with Jenn and Ted. We boys did boy things, like play PlayStation 2 endlessly, while the girls did girl things... and we all did our best to avoid making funny smells, as Ted's Jen is pregnant and very sensitive to such things.
On Friday, before the storm came in, it was like a block party on their street. It was nice and breezy out, so everyone was outside. Some people were even grilling food. It even turns out that their neighbor across the street does business with my dad! So, we all chatted and enjoyed the first cool night in months... until the storm clouds moved in.
Ted and I had turned the upstairs game room into a storm shelter. There was enough bottled water to last us several days and we had filled both bath tubs with water. We had mattresses covering the windows, sheets filling the spaces between, and futons on the floor. Amazingly, we never lost power over the night. All we got was some heavy wind and rain.
Jenn's new car, which we had covered with a tarp tied down through the wheels, was a little dirty... but unharmed. Jen and Ted's house didn't suffer any damage. The only damage we saw in the neighborhood was to unfinished houses and the contractors' port-a-potties. :) We spent most of today hanging out with Jen and Ted, but we agreed to come home this evening and scout everything out before sundown.
The drive back was surreal. 290 and 610 were mostly empty, where they had been parking lots before the storm, and there was very little damage to be seen... even though there was an eerie stillness to everything. Our neighborhood has some minor wind damage, but there are no downed power lines and no roofs seem to be hit. Once we got inside our place, we found that the clocks were still on time... it appears that our condo never lost power. There was no significant flooding to our area, either.
We dodged a bullet this time, for sure. My thoughts are with those unfortunate people in Port Arthur and Beaumont that bore the brunt of Rita, though. While the outer bands of the storm significantly weakened before landfall, the area surrounding the eyewall hit hard and did a lot of flooding. Older houses that only sat on their foundations were washed away... some with people still inside. Fortunately, local and state governments seem to be well-organized and quick to respond here in Texas. We didn't wait for the federal government to get involved to get all our ducks in a row.
Fortunately, Jenn and I are home and able to move around in our neighboorhood. This whole escapade maybe expended a quarter of her Vibe's tank and my hybrid is about half full. We kept my car in one of the Medical Center garages to keep it safe during the hurricane. We both have fuel-efficient vehicles, but we'll just have to be careful and limit our driving until gas stations can be restocked. I'm just glad we were able to avoid the equally bad nightmare that will be the return of those 2.8 million people back to Harris County and the coast.
Jenn contacted our friends in Cy-Fair, Jen and Ted, and we planned a route on surface roads to get to their house. It's in northwest Harris County and is less than a year old, so it's built to the latest hurricane codes. They also specifically moved into that neighborhood because it is out of the flood plains. Jenn's friend Dan stayed behind at the first house, while Jenn and I and our friend, David, went on to Cy-Fair.
Getting past the I-10 overpass to get to Eldridge Parkway was easier than expected and, from there, it was almost a straight-shot without problems. We stopped at a grocery store and got what little good food and juice they had, then continued on. Unfortunately, Huffmeister is a finished road on all our maps... but not in reality. So, we had to make a slight diversion to swing around and get back on the other half of Huffmeister.
The next two days was almost like having a sleepover party. David ended up leaving to be with his family in San Antonio once I-10 cleared up on Friday, but Jenn and I stayed with Jenn and Ted. We boys did boy things, like play PlayStation 2 endlessly, while the girls did girl things... and we all did our best to avoid making funny smells, as Ted's Jen is pregnant and very sensitive to such things.
On Friday, before the storm came in, it was like a block party on their street. It was nice and breezy out, so everyone was outside. Some people were even grilling food. It even turns out that their neighbor across the street does business with my dad! So, we all chatted and enjoyed the first cool night in months... until the storm clouds moved in.
Ted and I had turned the upstairs game room into a storm shelter. There was enough bottled water to last us several days and we had filled both bath tubs with water. We had mattresses covering the windows, sheets filling the spaces between, and futons on the floor. Amazingly, we never lost power over the night. All we got was some heavy wind and rain.
Jenn's new car, which we had covered with a tarp tied down through the wheels, was a little dirty... but unharmed. Jen and Ted's house didn't suffer any damage. The only damage we saw in the neighborhood was to unfinished houses and the contractors' port-a-potties. :) We spent most of today hanging out with Jen and Ted, but we agreed to come home this evening and scout everything out before sundown.
The drive back was surreal. 290 and 610 were mostly empty, where they had been parking lots before the storm, and there was very little damage to be seen... even though there was an eerie stillness to everything. Our neighborhood has some minor wind damage, but there are no downed power lines and no roofs seem to be hit. Once we got inside our place, we found that the clocks were still on time... it appears that our condo never lost power. There was no significant flooding to our area, either.
We dodged a bullet this time, for sure. My thoughts are with those unfortunate people in Port Arthur and Beaumont that bore the brunt of Rita, though. While the outer bands of the storm significantly weakened before landfall, the area surrounding the eyewall hit hard and did a lot of flooding. Older houses that only sat on their foundations were washed away... some with people still inside. Fortunately, local and state governments seem to be well-organized and quick to respond here in Texas. We didn't wait for the federal government to get involved to get all our ducks in a row.
Fortunately, Jenn and I are home and able to move around in our neighboorhood. This whole escapade maybe expended a quarter of her Vibe's tank and my hybrid is about half full. We kept my car in one of the Medical Center garages to keep it safe during the hurricane. We both have fuel-efficient vehicles, but we'll just have to be careful and limit our driving until gas stations can be restocked. I'm just glad we were able to avoid the equally bad nightmare that will be the return of those 2.8 million people back to Harris County and the coast.