Hurricane Rita DISers Update?

[Pam]

I see 4greatboys back on the boards!

Any new update from Rajah?

And what about Boston Tea Party? I've been very worried about her since her last post.

 

[Pam]

 

[Disney-Kim]

bumping up

 

[CourtasanSatine]

Bumping to lend a hand

 

[Boston Tea Party]

And what about Boston Tea Party? I've been very worried about her since her last post.

Awwww. I feel so special.

Been home since Saturday afternoon.

It took us 20 hours to get to our destination and then the damn thing was heading right for us! Massive flooding was forecast, so my dad came up with a plan.


We spent Friday running around, charging a ton of stuff on my credit card.

We left Saturday at daybreak, leaving behind my Beetle and my objects that cannot be replaced. I didn't know what we would face on the way home.

The truck was loaded with 10 five gallon gas cans (full), 24 gallons of water, enough food for a week, two way radios, a roadside potty, dogtags for the kids, and a loaded pistol in the side pocket.

We headed west to the main north-south road heading out of Dallas and then headed south into a driving rain and 30 mile an hour gusts.

We got home and there wasn't even a dang drop of rain here!

SOOoooooooooooooo, what have we learned:

A) NEVER rely on there being places on the road to get gas, food, money, or shelter.

B) If - God forbid - something ever happens here, evacuation will not be an option. We will have to shelter in place.

C) You MUST take care of yourself. No magical government agency is coming to save you.

D) My kids CAN be good in the car for an extended period of time.

Sorry to worry you.

 

[4greatboys]

A) NEVER rely on there being places on the road to get gas, food, money, or shelter.


D) My kids CAN be good in the car for an extended period of time.

We had full tanks, snacks and drinks but saw many ppl looking for those items along the way.
My 2 youngest 3 and 5 were sooooo good! It was a blessing in the middle of all the other bad stuff going on. They were stuck in their carseats for around 20 hours with only a short 15 minute break before we had to hit the road again.
I really hadnt wanted to leave but we are right outside of Galveston with the kids I just couldnt take a chance with us (then) facing a 4 or 5. Hopefully they will have a better plan next time.

 

[Pam]

Thanks everyone for the bumps during the day.

BTP - Thanks for checking in. Your last post as you were heading out the door and contemplating what you could take with you just tugged at my heart. That must have been a very hard thing to do.

I am glad that you and the other DISers are okay! Deena (4greatboys) checked in on another thread.

I am just amazed that the kids were so good during those traffic jams - I lose my cool after 15 minutes.....

 

[Boston Tea Party]

I could not believe some of the things I saw.

I cannot believe some of the things I did! Namely, squatting on the side of the road in view of others! DH said, "People can see you!" I said, "Well they better not look because I'm GOING!" My daughter would NOT go on the side of the road. She held it for 24 hours!!

Kids were awesome. Heck, I was awesome. I was awake for almost 24 hours, took a 1 hour nap on the side of US 59 then drove another 13 hours. Unreal. I hope to NEVER go through that again! I honestly felt like I was running for my life. When we were on the road it was still a 4 and supposed to come right through Galveston.

I can't imagine not having the financial means or transportation to do what I did. I know how helpless I felt, just sitting, sitting, sitting. I wasn't worried about money, or my car working. I can't imagine having that ON TOP of what I was going through.

I don't care what the propaganda machines say about it being a success. In my eyes, it was a failure. Contra-flow should have been started LONG before it was.

I have nightmares now. I dream that I am running from it and can't get away. I hope they stop soon. It's back to work tomorrow, so hopefully I can get my mind off of it.

 

[Pam]

Deena sneated!!

Can I ask a question - was everyone on the interstates or could you get off onto back roads? Do you even have back roads?

What a scary situation for all of you and I don't blame you a bit for having nightmares!

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Most everyone was on the interstates. We stayed on from 10 PM Wednesday until about 7 AM Thursday, then took off on the county farm to market (FM) roads. Some of those were busy, some had detours. My mother in law called me at one point and asked where I was. I said, "I don't know." I'm sure she thought I was being ugly. We then made our way back to US 59 after the bottleneck in the town where the big shelter was. Thankfully, we had a map. That's something else I won't travel without now.

It was quite an experience. I'm glad I was in a caravan with my parents. My dad put that ol' combat training to good use. "We leave at daybreak!" Go ARMY!

 

[4greatboys]

Honestly when we left our house the traffic was backed up and we knew it would take us longer but I never imagined 20 hours later I would basically be in the same spot.
It did take them way to long to open up the contra flow. They talked about it for the longest time. Had they done it Wed the roads would have never gotten so bad.
We do have back roads and I guess I better get to studying them so we have a better way next time. I was worried to veer off course to much because all we heard on the radio was there were no hotels anywhere so I just needed to head toward my aunts house so we would have a place to stay.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Speed Limit 70!

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Daybreak - People are looking for gas

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Think I'll pass on this station! DH's boss said he had a gun pulled on him at a gas station.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

I waited an hour at this station. The pumps were slow and you had to pay cash inside.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Mr Baby, sick with pneumonia.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Lunch on the side of the road somewhere. We had been on the road about 15 hours at this point. Hey, it was either laugh or cry. DH is doing his best to help out.

 

[helenabear]

Oh so glad to see both of you posting!!! I was thinking about you all weekend long actually!

Pam, I know that Rajah posted on a thread that a friend made for her thread

And per this thread they suspect the damage was minimal to their neighborhood and they will be back to their home sometime soon. Hopefully she'll be checking in to let us all know for sure

 

[4greatboys]

Oh no you had to do all that with a sick kiddo?!?!? That sucks. Nothing like being stuck in car when you already feel bad.
I didnt take any pictures but I did video our neighborhood before we left and all the traffic on the way. Maybe years from now we will get a big laugh out of it!
Hi Elaine

Okay BTP I have to ask what your sons name is. My 2 little ones are sitting here with me and they keep asking me what his name is, lol.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Yeah, he slept a lot, thankfully.

Kind of worked out since tomorrow would have been the first day I could go back to work since it is his first back to day care. That's four days I didn't have counted against me.

Glad everyone is OK. Sure scared the hell out of me, though. Could have been sooooooooooo much worse.