It's the end of the world as we know it
Or at least the way Houston knows it.
Today I was driving to work at 6:00 a.m. Nothing seemed amiss until I came to the freeway overpass and people on the feeder road at the intersection of 45 and 242 were blocking our way. Highway 45 is the main evacuation route out of Houston during this emergency. Traffic on the freeway was at a complete standstill. I turned south on the feeder road and while I was passing a Diamond Shamrock and saw people running down the hill from the freeway carrying gas cans. I took a second look and noticed lots of people milling around the parking lot. My guess was they had been sitting in traffic so long that they ran out of gas, and traffic was so slow they had time to get out of their cars, run to the Diamond Shamrock for a snack, then run back up the hill just in time for the traffic to inch forward again.
As the day went on the news kept reporting how people evacuating Houston had been sitting in their cars overnight just trying to get out of town. Gradually they were running out of gas all the while gas stations are closing as the owners and employees try evacuating too. People desperate for gas are pulling into gas stations and waiting, hoping that tankers will come and deliver gas today. Most gas stations are now only accepting credit cards so that they won't have a lot of cash on hand, making them less vulnerable to robbers or looters. Fights are breaking out as people try to cut in line, claiming their situation is more dire than the other 2 million people trying to flee as well. Others are being more resourceful and trying to bargain with people who have credit cards, giving them cash and having them put gas in their tanks.
Interesting factoid I saw on the news #1 - traffic out of Houston is bumper to bumper for 100 miles.
At work everyone was nervous as hell but trying to get through the day. Originally we were told to report to work Friday morning at 2 a.m. By today they said don't bother since most of our patients have evacuated. Still, lots of nervous patients were calling, wondering what will happen if they don't get their dialysis. We reassured them that for a day or two they'd be fine, but that if they began having problems they should go to the emergency room, but in the meantime watch their sodium, potassium and water intake.
So we got through the day okay, then secured everything we could and locked up the drugs, but thought about leaving the Lomotil unlocked to teach the looters a lesson. Then I drove home and it was a sweltering 100 degrees. Everywhere I turned there were people pulled over to the side of the road, out of gas, having car trouble, or just not feeling well and needing to lie down on the ground. Lying on the ground isn't such a great idea in these parts, what with all the fire ants around here. I'm pretty sure that fire ants would seem minor compared to sitting in a car with no AC with a bunch of bored, hot, cranky kids. Hell, I'd probably take my chance with the fire ants too! Still, it broke my heart to see all of this chaos taking place. I was only a few miles from home. I'm about 80 miles inland from the coast, and now that the storm is veering more towards Beaumont we won't be on the dirty side of the hurricane anymore, we can breath a sigh of relief.
By don't just take my word for it. Read about what's going on in Texas with regard to Hurricane Rita.
I've gone on quite enough and I need to lie down in a quiet place with my feet up, and soak up the last AC, running water, flush toilet, brewed coffee, internet and electric lights that I might see for a while. I'll keep you all updated with what's happening as things progress; sort or report from the ground.
Today I was driving to work at 6:00 a.m. Nothing seemed amiss until I came to the freeway overpass and people on the feeder road at the intersection of 45 and 242 were blocking our way. Highway 45 is the main evacuation route out of Houston during this emergency. Traffic on the freeway was at a complete standstill. I turned south on the feeder road and while I was passing a Diamond Shamrock and saw people running down the hill from the freeway carrying gas cans. I took a second look and noticed lots of people milling around the parking lot. My guess was they had been sitting in traffic so long that they ran out of gas, and traffic was so slow they had time to get out of their cars, run to the Diamond Shamrock for a snack, then run back up the hill just in time for the traffic to inch forward again.
As the day went on the news kept reporting how people evacuating Houston had been sitting in their cars overnight just trying to get out of town. Gradually they were running out of gas all the while gas stations are closing as the owners and employees try evacuating too. People desperate for gas are pulling into gas stations and waiting, hoping that tankers will come and deliver gas today. Most gas stations are now only accepting credit cards so that they won't have a lot of cash on hand, making them less vulnerable to robbers or looters. Fights are breaking out as people try to cut in line, claiming their situation is more dire than the other 2 million people trying to flee as well. Others are being more resourceful and trying to bargain with people who have credit cards, giving them cash and having them put gas in their tanks.
Interesting factoid I saw on the news #1 - traffic out of Houston is bumper to bumper for 100 miles.
At work everyone was nervous as hell but trying to get through the day. Originally we were told to report to work Friday morning at 2 a.m. By today they said don't bother since most of our patients have evacuated. Still, lots of nervous patients were calling, wondering what will happen if they don't get their dialysis. We reassured them that for a day or two they'd be fine, but that if they began having problems they should go to the emergency room, but in the meantime watch their sodium, potassium and water intake.
So we got through the day okay, then secured everything we could and locked up the drugs, but thought about leaving the Lomotil unlocked to teach the looters a lesson. Then I drove home and it was a sweltering 100 degrees. Everywhere I turned there were people pulled over to the side of the road, out of gas, having car trouble, or just not feeling well and needing to lie down on the ground. Lying on the ground isn't such a great idea in these parts, what with all the fire ants around here. I'm pretty sure that fire ants would seem minor compared to sitting in a car with no AC with a bunch of bored, hot, cranky kids. Hell, I'd probably take my chance with the fire ants too! Still, it broke my heart to see all of this chaos taking place. I was only a few miles from home. I'm about 80 miles inland from the coast, and now that the storm is veering more towards Beaumont we won't be on the dirty side of the hurricane anymore, we can breath a sigh of relief.
By don't just take my word for it. Read about what's going on in Texas with regard to Hurricane Rita.
I've gone on quite enough and I need to lie down in a quiet place with my feet up, and soak up the last AC, running water, flush toilet, brewed coffee, internet and electric lights that I might see for a while. I'll keep you all updated with what's happening as things progress; sort or report from the ground.