Hurricane Rita rant

[mikewilley]

I am amazed at the way people in the Dallas area are reacting to the pending arrival of hurricane Rita.  Make no mistake, my heart and my prayers go out to the people of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coast.  Rita will make an enormous mess, and will kill those who do not show the proper respect to this incredible show of nature's force.

What gets me, is the way people in my area are reacting.  
  - bottled water is now being rationed by many store owners
  - you can no longer find flashlights or batteries
  - otherwise sane leaders are cancelling indoor activities
  - people are preparing for extended power outages
  - staples are being emptied from store shelves

We live in North Texas, during the spring, tornadoes, gale force winds, thunderstorms and flash floods are NORMAL.  We are hundreds of miles from the coast and the worst that Rita could bring our way is something we are already used to and can handle in stride.

The reason this upsets me, is that we are in a position to provide assistance those along the coast who really need help. By wasting our energy on preparing for imaginary disasters, we are diminishing our capacity to help those who will be in need soon.

Thanks for listening.

cheers,
mike

[flyfisherman]

I hear ya ... !

What really gets me is how the news media is now hammering on and on and on  about how gas prices are now really going to soar. It has created a kind of panic around here and now we have some stations out of gas. With everyone in the country rushing to fill their gas tanks, little wonder there's a shortage in the pipeline; the news media is a major culprit of rising gas prices!

[Starryart]

I live in Victoria Tx, near Port Oconnor, which was slated for a direct hit from Rita on Tuesday. We started preparing and packing, expecting the worse when Rita had gusts of 210 mph.
    Our plan was to pack the trucks and pull our PU west 150 miles inland and stay with our daughter in her dorm room at college.The entire state of Texas had no hotel rooms...anywhere! We were not about to leave our precious camper at the RV storage yard where it would surely be destroyed. If worse came to worse and our house was damaged or destroyed we would at least have our camper to live in.
     By Thursday noon, our mandatory evacuation was changed to involuntary and it looked as if the storm was headed more north and we would be on the left of the storm(the lesser side).  By that time it was a 3 hour drive just to get to the next town 25 miles west because of the evacuation of Houston. The traffic was bumper to bumper even on "Farm to market" country roads. We decided to stay put and keep a very watchful eye on the radar. We are painfully aware that these storm can do a loop da loop and circle around. We got very lucky. I feel for those directly in its path.
   I have spent the day very gratefully counting my blessings and unpacking my belongings.
   God bless the people  who must deal with this terrible force of nature.

[mikewilley]

Starryart,

I am so glad that you were spared the brunt of the storm.  Living as close as you are to the coast, Rita would have been devistating.

I live in Victoria Tx, near Port Oconnor, which was slated for a direct hit from Rita on Tuesday. We started preparing and packing, expecting the worse when Rita had gusts of 210 mph.
    Our plan was to pack the trucks and pull our PU west 150 miles inland and stay with our daughter in her dorm room at college.The entire state of Texas had no hotel rooms...anywhere! We were not about to leave our precious camper at the RV storage yard where it would surely be destroyed. If worse came to worse and our house was damaged or destroyed we would at least have our camper to live in.
     By Thursday noon, our mandatory evacuation was changed to involuntary and it looked as if the storm was headed more north and we would be on the left of the storm(the lesser side).  By that time it was a 3 hour drive just to get to the next town 25 miles west because of the evacuation of Houston. The traffic was bumper to bumper even on "Farm to market" country roads. We decided to stay put and keep a very watchful eye on the radar. We are painfully aware that these storm can do a loop da loop and circle around. We got very lucky. I feel for those directly in its path.
   I have spent the day very gratefully counting my blessings and unpacking my belongings.
   God bless the people  who must deal with this terrible force of nature.